Leaving lights unattended

Do you leave lights on unattended?

  • Yes, I leave lights on unattended if I have to.

    Votes: 52 91.2%
  • No, I never leave lights on unattended.

    Votes: 5 8.8%

  • Total voters
    57

UncleBuck

Well-Known Member
thought i'd see where everyone else is at, especially with the holidays (and probably some traveling) coming up.

i refuse to leave any HID lamps on without being at home (or having someone at home). CFLs can be left on while the house is empty, but never HID lamps.

whenever i have to go out of town, i hire a trusted friend to stay at my house. if i can't find someone who is able to stay over during lights on, i leave the lights off, even if it means a week in the dark. the worst i've had to do so far is 3 days in the dark and it didn't seem to hurt anything.

just wanted to see where everyone else is at on this one.
 

unlucky

Well-Known Member
​why not leave them on ? fire fire stop thinking shiz and stop being pazzy you silly fecker
 

UncleBuck

Well-Known Member
​why not leave them on ? fire fire stop thinking shiz and stop being pazzy you silly fecker
if my house burns down, so do my 5 cats and tortoise. the dog usually gets to tag along with us, but if he's home without us, he's dead too.

not to mention the awesome headlines: "pot grower burns down house with grow lights".

we don't need that shit.
 

unlucky

Well-Known Member
all if if if if if sssshhhhhh leave them on, do you keep looking in your grow box every 5mins or keep sniffing to see if you smell fire.....what are the odds on it setting on fire, getting others to look after your grow is bad as they might grass you up if you ever have a fall out with them........ i run 8x 600w hps and only have to go in my grow room every 5 days to fill the water tanks. its been like that for the last 3years. chill bucky ;-)
 

willowpinnerblunt

Active Member
So glad to see this poll. I ALWAYS am petrified to leave even my lil 400 watt hps on....luckily I, or a family member is usually home to make sure no fire starts by bad luck. We would all be heartbroken if our dog was trapped in a house fire/lost our house. BUT I also feel that if you don't have some shoddy wiring, or modified outlet/circuit you should really have little worries correct?
 

ru4r34l

Well-Known Member
3 x 1000W (12/12) + 2 x 600W(18/6) for the last 17 months, I visit my grow every 2 weeks and work in there about 3 hours; the rest of the time I don't really know what's happening in there. ;-)

regards,
 

bluntmassa1

Well-Known Member
as long as you do a good job you shouldn't have a problem just don't set your magnetic ballast on a stack of news papers. lol, my lights and ballasts aint going no where. you shouldn't worry so much life is short you don't wanna die from a heart attack.
 

spandy

Well-Known Member
Do HIDs just explode and cause fires or something?

I have a metal halide on the side of the barn thats been up there for, geez, probably over 20 years. Only replaced the bulb once sicne we bought the place a decade ago.


How are they going to start a fire anyway without someone doing something careless first?
 

SOMEBEECH

Well-Known Member
The only problems ive had in over 10yrs inside is ballast problems,if I was tht worried id build a fireproof box for just them and check connections often.

Beech
 

inhaleindica

Well-Known Member
To be honest, the technology these days are awesome. If there were going to have a trip and start a fire usually the breaker will trip and shut off everything that is plugged in that room. I have had it happened to me several times when my electrical plugs were heating up due to improper installation by the maintance man around here. They are lazy fuckers. Everything shut off and I had to check for loose wires and plug it back in bam its working again. Breakers will trip before a fire starts most of the time. Have faith brother. Like you said hire someone to check on it once a while to be sure everything is in working order.
 

budbro18

Well-Known Member
even cfls could cause just as big of a fire as and hid lamp.

it just depends what causes it. if the wires in your wall fry because a ballast goes or because a cfl gets too wet and shorts or a fan or heating mat shorts out.

there are just as many things inside your house running that have a better chance of causing a fire. hell your pilot light could blow out and then a random spark could blow your house up. but it could have been from something completely unrelated.

so basically if your house is up to code and electrically sound and youre not over loading any breakers or outlets youre more than good

worst case you blow a breaker/fuse and your plants get shocked/stressed.
 

UncleBuck

Well-Known Member
well, i'm surprised.

i just can't trust a lamp burning at 100+ degrees so close to plywood, nor can i trust a magnetic ballast, even if it is in a metal box to protect it from fire.

and, my house (and the electric specifically) being decades old and not well done, i can't put a lot of trust in that either.

the stuff is my house can be replaced, but my bundles of fur? not taking any risks with those guys.
 

UncleBuck

Well-Known Member
Plywood? We're suppose to have plywood? I knew I was doing something wrong :/
i built a few grow spaces, and the walls and ceilings are made of plywood painted flat white. the lights don't directly touch the plywood or anything, they hang a few inches away and on the other side of a reflector, but still. by the time i turn the lights off, you can feel the plywood is slightly warm.

i guess i'm just overly cautious.
 
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