Electric bill

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SSHZ

Well-Known Member
I used to run 2 rooms, 2000 watts in 1 room and 1200 watts in the other. Then add in fans, exhaust, timers, pH meters, etc along with the regular stuff in the house- my summer bills were near $600, winter less at around $425 or so. My rates are in the $.09-$.11 range depending if it's winter or summer time. I've since reduced down to only one room and have been more careful about leaving lights on, etc. A/C only comes on when I can't stand it anymore. I get notices from my electric co I used to be in the 99 percentile in usage, that's why I reduced.

When I have the extra cash, I'm switching to the best LED's or LEC's.......
 
MattMA

MattMA

Active Member
Ya I'm using one spare bedroom as a perpetual grow room... I have a tent w 2 x 1000 hps cool tubes inside and then I have 4 x 400 hps (open hood, non air cooled) I also have a little florecent light I think is 2x55 watt in my closet that use to root clones .... I use 3 inline fans a 4" for intake in the tent and a 6" for exhaust/cool tube and an 8" in the veg area that the other line ties into and exhausts everything out of the room but it's gotta be the 10,000 btu window unit( rigged up so its inside the tent) or the 9,000 btu portable that sits in the veg area and seems to spend all its energy barely cooLing anything ... Oh and I've noticed it was starting to exhaust some smell out the window I'm exhausting the portable ac out of
 
Red1966

Red1966

Well-Known Member
MattMA said:
Ya I'm using one spare bedroom as a perpetual grow room... I have a tent w 2 x 1000 hps cool tubes inside and then I have 4 x 400 hps (open hood, non air cooled) I also have a little florecent light I think is 2x55 watt in my closet that use to root clones .... I use 3 inline fans a 4" for intake in the tent and a 6" for exhaust/cool tube and an 8" in the veg area that the other line ties into and exhausts everything out of the room but it's gotta be the 10,000 btu window unit( rigged up so its inside the tent) or the 9,000 btu portable that sits in the veg area and seems to spend all its energy barely cooLing anything ... Oh and I've noticed it was starting to exhaust some smell out the window I'm exhausting the portable ac out of
Click to expand...
Those portable A/Cs use room air to cool the compressor motor, then exhaust it outside.
 
REALSTYLES

REALSTYLES

Well-Known Member
MattMA said:
Ya I'm using one spare bedroom as a perpetual grow room... I have a tent w 2 x 1000 hps cool tubes inside and then I have 4 x 400 hps (open hood, non air cooled) I also have a little florecent light I think is 2x55 watt in my closet that use to root clones .... I use 3 inline fans a 4" for intake in the tent and a 6" for exhaust/cool tube and an 8" in the veg area that the other line ties into and exhausts everything out of the room but it's gotta be the 10,000 btu window unit( rigged up so its inside the tent) or the 9,000 btu portable that sits in the veg area and seems to spend all its energy barely cooLing anything ... Oh and I've noticed it was starting to exhaust some smell out the window I'm exhausting the portable ac out of
Click to expand...
The 4 hps 400w is your main problem. What hoods are you using for the 400's? Can you post a pic? I've gone to led for that reason, heat.
 
Cobnobuler

Cobnobuler

Well-Known Member
Those are the exact same thing I run. 2 of them. Those ballists have run for 3 years now. Knock on wood.
Anyhow depending if I'm veggin 18-6 or flowering 12-12 I pay somewhere in the 120.00 range monthly. No AC's though.
We didn't have 'em when I was a kid growing up so I figure I dont need them now.
 
MattMA

MattMA

Active Member
Ya they r def worth the money I paid for them .... Kinda wish I got air cooled hoods tho so I didn't have to run an ac unit
 
Carolina Dream'n

Carolina Dream'n

Well-Known Member
mr sunshine said:
My buddy said the same thing..(best grower I know).. I can't wait till the winter so I can run my lights without glass. .
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You will be blown away by it if you have always air cooled. Keep a oscillating fan right around bulb level and it helps disperse the heat throughout room. Run a mh the last one to two weeks. I like the 10k finisher spectrum for this. The density and resin it produces is outrageous.
 
WeedFreak78

WeedFreak78

Well-Known Member
I've cut holes in the top of those style hoods and attached a flange for ducting right above the bulb. It sucks most of the heat away from the light, not a true cooled hood, but way better than nothing. In one case we just put a 6-8" "chimney stack" on top of the light which just allowed convection to carry the heat up away from the light. I've got into the habit of drilling a few 1" holes or cutting some slits in the tops of any lights I've retrofitted( I've converted a few doz high bays/shop lights over the years). Just giving the heat an escape, rather than holding it in a pocket under the hood, makes a huge difference
 
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