Sure .. and if you are in veg your lights come on at 9:00am so it appears to be more normal but they go off at 3:00am, or not at all if you veg on a 24/0 instead of 18/6 cycle. So lights on until 3:00am or on 24 hours a day will be less of something noticeable than lights coming on earlier in the morning then say … 9:00am?
　
I someone is worried about someone spotting light coming from their home have they stopped to think how many homes, some for decades, have or now have timers on lights in different rooms so it appears people are home when they aren’t up home and awake late so possible criminals will think someone is awake and alert and think they should look for a safer easier place to break into? It is not like only growers have lights of some type or another on timers set to turn on and off early or late.
　
Again if someone is concerned about someone spotting lights on at odd hours, well aren’t most grow rooms light-proof, as in no light leaks where light can come in during hours of darkness? Wouldn’t that also work the other way around? If someone grows in a closet and has to have the door open or partially open when the lights are on for heat issues and there is a window in the room, block it off. If it has venetian blinds/mini-blinds close them as tight as you can and then inside that, on the room side and not the window side, put a sheet of light blocking plastic between the blinds and the curtains. It won’t be seen from the outside and it won’t have to be looked at from the inside and light will not be seen outside any hour of the day or night.
　
If someone is worried about power consumption unless you are burning one or more pretty high wattage lights it really is not a big deal. If someone uses a lower wattage light, say 250-watts, that’s like only 4.1 60-watt bulbs burning. I collect lava lamps. I have roughly 35 or 40 of them now, one 3-feet tall with a 150-watt bulb in it. When I turn them all on that’s like 850 to 950 watts being used just by lava lamps.
　
In most cases the electricity used by grow lights can be made up for with a little thought and effort. Unless someone is in a small apartment or a tiny home normally they leave enough lights on at times, sometimes even in the day, that aren’t needed to be on. People leave lights on in rooms they are not in and leave porch lights on every evening, and sometimes all nigh. Get in the habit of turning off all lights in your home other than what is really needed at any given time. Switch to CFL bulbs in every light socket you can, that will make up for some energy use right there so when you combine using them less because you turn lights off when they are not needed (home lighting lights that is) and when they are on they will be using less electricity that will offset some usage of electricity by grow lights.
　
Many people keep the temperature of their homes colder in the summer than they heat to in the winter. If you are one of them turn the temperature setting on your thermostat up two degrees when in A/C mode, that will save a lot more electricity usage than most people would ever imagine.
　
Unless you keep your home cold in the winter turn down your temperature setting one or two degrees. If you use natural gas/propane or oil it will not save a ton but even with those types of heat the fan that circulates the heat throughout your home runs and they are no little computer fans so you will save some electricity usage there alone. But if you heat with electricity, heap pumps or hot water heat with an electric boiler or some other form of heat that uses electricity in fairly large amounts and you lower your winter temperatures by one or two degrees the amount of electricity used will go down a good bit and offset most grow light usage. So you wear a sweatshirt and thick socks in the winter. Would that be worse than wearing an orange jumpsuit for maybe five or more years?
　
If you have an electric water heater install a timer so it will begin to heat water about an hour or forty-five minutes before you wake up so you have hot water for a shower and have it set to go off when you leave for work, or just an hour or two later even if you do not work. If you have a job where the first thing you do when you get home is shower then set the timer to come back on an hour or forty-five minutes before you get home so you have enough hot water again. If you don’t shower or bathe again until you go to bed set the timer to come on later, like an hour or forty-five minutes before the earliest time you go to bed and you have hot water. Also put a double layer of insulation on your water heater and even heating the water only twice a day will give many people hot water for all day, unless they do a lot of loads of dishes and or clothes and the dishwasher and washing machine run a whole bunch and if you wash in hot or warm water. If you can easily or half easily get to your water pipes, at least in as many places as possible buy the slit foam insulation that just slips onto them and insulate your hot water pipes and that will make your heated water last even longer. Electric water heaters, or just water heaters in general waste a lot of energy, though it is sometimes gas/propane because they heat the water tank more times than most people need it to be heated in a day considering their amount of usage and time of usage.
　
When I went to a 400-watt light I was half concerned about the additional electricity usage, not so much for reasons of detection but more because I just don’t like spending my money on things that are not fun and saw no reason to give the electric company anything extra. I did only some of the above and even with the 400-watt light my electricity usage/bills went down instead of up.
　
In some areas the electricity companies offer programs where instead of one flat rate for the price of electricity used they offer lower rates for electricity used in what is not peak times of the day and higher rates for peak hours. If your electricity company offers a program like that, get on it, and then use as many things that you need to use that consume much of your electricity during those hours. Some programs will have all weekends and all holidays at the low rate 24 hours a day so on those days you really save. Do your laundry in off peak hour times, set a water heater timer so the water is only heated in off peak hour times, cook as many meals as you can in off peak hour times even if that means cooking now and then re-heating it at another time when you eat.
　
Depending on your financial situation and where you live there may be other programs/deals offered by your electricity company. A friend of mine in California who has a low income qualified for a program his electricity company offers where they upgraded his heat pump to a brand new high efficiency unit, replaced all his windows with high efficiency low-e windows, replaced all his other electric appliances and added insulation to his home … all for free. California has a major problem generating enough electricity and some electricity companies realized that upgrading homes making them far more energy efficient for people is a heck of a lot cheaper than building more generation plants so some will do it if you qualify.
　
Of course you couldn’t have a grow going when the would be in your home upgrading things but you just time it so after you harvest and cure you tear down and have them come in and do the work and then set up again. Wouldn’t that be more than worth the effort to get all that stuff for free let alone for the savings you would get from it? Check with your electricity company and see if they offer something like any or all of those programs mentioned and if you qualify or not and if you do apply for all of them.
　
Just keeping blinds/curtains/drapes closed will slightly insulate your window more and keep your house at a more comfortable temperature longer so your heat or a/c won’t run as often so close them. Check the weather stripping around doors. If it is old, replace it. If you have metal doors purchase the magnetic weather stripping that is like what is used for refrigerator doors and that will seal them tight and cut way back on heat – a/c loss and that means your heat – a/c will run less and you use less electricity and again all these things can and will offset your grow light electricity usage pretty much to even more than they use.
　
Some electricity companies have a program where during peak usage hours of the day they will credit you a certain amount if they can install a system where they can turn off your water heater during those hours, mainly hours most people are at work and do not need freshly heated water. Add a timer and have it turned off more hours than the electricity company would ever turn it off but also collect the credit from the electricity company on your bill. That doesn’t save more energy but you get a few bucks a month taken off your bill so they can turn off something you already have turned off so if nothing else you save a few bucks per month. If they offer it why not take advantage of it?
　
Look at many people’s computer systems/setups. Many will have a printer and a scanner and other devices that will not turn off when they turn off their computer. Plug them into a different power strip and only turn them on when you use them.
　
Any electric device with a remote control never actually turns off when you turn it off, it only goes into standby mode but it still uses some electricity so when you hit the remote it comes on. Ok, go old school and use a power strip or some type of switch and actually turn it off. Sure you have to walk over and turn it on and off now and then but those things will not be using electricity when you are not using them.
　
Every electric device, regardless of it being turned on or off by a remote control, has a small amount of power leakage. Think about all the things you have plugged in that are seldom used. Unplug them and only plug them in when you use them and then unplug them again and save stop that leakage that does add up over time.
　
Other than in extreme cases or where a home is new and is ultra efficient it is not difficult to offset your growing electricity usage by doing as many of the above things, and more that just do not come to mind right now so why not do them and stop worrying about your usage going up and waving a red flag? You might even, as I did, lower your usage by more than your setup uses and save money in the end. Doesn’t that all sound wise to you?
