Growing Without Mains Elec.. Generator or watt??

ezystevie · Sep 22, 2008

kk...
So here's the deal. I wanna grow out in the middle of nowhere, on a buddiez dad's farm. I wanna grow on a pretty major scale, but aint gonna be able to have access to mains electric.

Thinkin of a generator, but still mappin out if it would be cost efficient, and how much more per day it would be to run;

12 x 400w lights
2 x CF fans for extraction
2 x input fans
2 x interior fans (through fans)

I've looked at the 3,000w long runnin gen, which I can get hold of for about £500. That baby can run for 18 hrs, so would give me enough time to get a full day before re-fill.
Anyways, I'm only mullin the idea over, and its gone from an idea in ma head, to that of doin a bit of research. If any of u guyz have an experience or idea's, please gimme all ya got....

Ezzzzzy....

p.s smokin ma 1st doobie of ma new Space Queen tonight... i'm sooooooo friggin stoked!!!! :bigjoint:

Tamzi · Sep 23, 2008

it has been mentioned before about using a generator for power. worked out cost of fuel was the killer.

im looking into a set of parellel wired solar panels and a deep cycle 12v battery, this would run my pc fans in my cab via the battery and the panels would slowly top up battery. the same idea could be added too an outdoor grow too power a water pump fitted too a timer. delivering nuets and water too plant without the need too visit site only too top up the nuet res.

main things with generators is Noise and fuel

jojobone · Sep 23, 2008

It would be cheaper to run a .5 kilometer cable and pay your buddies dad for electricity.
This cable would run u around 1000euro.
A 10/3 cable would get you 30 amps/ 240volt x 30amps = 7200 watts.

la9 · Sep 23, 2008

Your best bet would be to let the sun do its job and do a normal outdoor grow, in the middle of nowhere that is your best option.

s0high · Sep 23, 2008

Do not even consider a generator unless you are buying a large 100% duty beast. Get a diesel motor. Unless you are spending in the area of 5k U.S, dont expect that generator to last to long.

ezystevie · Sep 23, 2008

Cheers for the comments guyz. The outside grow is a no-go. I live in the coldest ass place in the UK, otherwise, I would be gorrilla gardenin with the best of em. The noise aint an issue, coz the operation will be underground in a ISO container (the big fuka'z ya get for shippin). The idea of takin a cable to the op is out, coz like I said, its miles away from anywhere. From what I've gathered so far, I recon at least 1 5kw gen for every 6 450w lights, with some kinda aux fuel tank. Prolly one otha gen for other fans etc.

Sound tite to you guyz???

Ezzzzzy

potlike · Sep 23, 2008

have you considered solar power?

-potlike

ezystevie · Sep 23, 2008

Hey Potlike...

Theres plenty of rain here, but i doubt there's enuff solar energy to lite a single 40w bulb, leavde alone a stack of grow lites. Unless solar Ngy has improved since the last time i looked, i recon that mite be a dead end.... Any UK tolers tried 2 use solar power to any effect????

Ezzzzzy

ElBarto · Sep 23, 2008

ezystevie said:
kk...
So here's the deal. I wanna grow out in the middle of nowhere, on a buddiez dad's farm. I wanna grow on a pretty major scale, but aint gonna be able to have access to mains electric.

Thinkin of a generator, but still mappin out if it would be cost efficient, and how much more per day it would be to run;

12 x 400w lights

2 x CF fans for extraction

2 x input fans

2 x interior fans (through fans)

I've looked at the 3,000w long runnin gen, which I can get hold of for about £500. That baby can run for 18 hrs, so would give me enough time to get a full day before re-fill.
Anyways, I'm only mullin the idea over, and its gone from an idea in ma head, to that of doin a bit of research. If any of u guyz have an experience or idea's, please gimme all ya got....

Ezzzzzy....

p.s smokin ma 1st doobie of ma new Space Queen tonight... i'm sooooooo friggin stoked!!!!

last time i checked 12 x 400 = 4,800, which means a 3,000w generator won't even be enough for your lights.

basic math dude.

and keep in mind you'll need to change the oil every 25 hours of running time

la9 · Sep 23, 2008

Have you thought about it like this ?

Too complicated and added risks, time to move on and find a place with less problems.

theeggman · Sep 23, 2008

find a diesel generator and make your own bio diesel if you really want to get fancy...instructions are all over the net

lorenzo08 · Sep 23, 2008

jojobone said:
It would be cheaper to run a .5 kilometer cable and pay your buddies dad for electricity.
This cable would run u around 1000euro.
A 10/3 cable would get you 30 amps/ 240volt x 30amps = 7200 watts.

this sounds like the best plan. solar is great when it works, but would cost an arm and a leg to install enough to power your lights. you should check with a knowledgeable electrician first on the wire size. they don't need to know what it is for, say a hunting cabin or something.. the cable will have to be pretty thick to handle the juice. maybe just have a 100 amp service put in, seriously!

if you're not powering lights, solar wouldn't be so bad. just power a few pumps and fans. I love 12 volt. a bunch of solar panels to a few deep cycle batteries, to some 12 volt pumps and fans.

at my cabin, I have 3 solar panels on a single truck battery. 2 weeks of charging is enough to power a 15 watt cfl all night long. this is just off the top of my head from experience, no calculations involved.

ezystevie · Sep 23, 2008

ElBarto said:
last time i checked 12 x 400 = 4,800, which means a 3,000w generator won't even be enough for your lights.

basic math dude.

and keep in mind you'll need to change the oil every 25 hours of running time

Hey Elbarto,

Thanks for ya comments fella, but on this learnin journey, I put in a previous post on this thread, ...

'I recon at least 1 5kw gen for every 6 450w lights...'

Didn't mean just 1 gen either. Thanks anyways man.... Whats all the 'changin the oil' abt? I didnt know I'd be needin to give the gen a change of lube every day.... are u referin to the Diesel, or do ya really mean I'm onna have to tip a can of expensive oil every day....??

This is purely a research ex, call it a feasabillity study if ya like...

Ezzzzzy

ezystevie · Sep 23, 2008

la9 said:
Have you thought about it like this ?

Too complicated and added risks, time to move on and find a place with less problems.

Hey LA9...

Thanks for postin, but the risks are very minimal, thats the reason y I wanna put the op in the middle of nowhere. It will be smell free, noise free and wont cause any spikes in the electricity. so there goes the main risks of gettin caught, so cant see ya point there. I aint doin this to be a smart ass, I'm doin it this way to eliminate as much risk as poss. Its ezy to say dont bother, but I dare say thats the POV of people who cant be arsed to go to the trouble of not to gettin caught.
The complication aint so bad. Provided I can get a reliable, relatively efficient elec supply, it will be the perfect set up.

Thanks anyways LA9..... :lol:

lorenzo08 · Sep 23, 2008

ezystevie said:
The complication aint so bad. Provided I can get a reliable, relatively efficient elec supply, it will be the perfect set up.

if efficiency is what your goal is, try a case study on solar for pumps and fans only, and use the sun directly for light. low voltage timers is the only thing. where would you find what you need? grab an old pentium 133mhz lap top, connect everything to that! just a thought.

ezystevie · Sep 23, 2008

Hey GGman...
I like the sound of the bio-juice. I dont mind makin a sound investment if the return is good. I'm gonna do sum googlin n see wots watt.....

Thanks man.....

Ezzzzy

ezystevie · Sep 23, 2008

lorenzo08 said:
if efficiency is what your goal is, try a case study on solar for pumps and fans only, and use the sun directly for light. low voltage timers is the only thing. where would you find what you need? grab an old pentium 133mhz lap top, connect everything to that! just a thought.

Hey Lorenzo...
BIG thanks for both ya posts. I'm a lights n soil man, aint ever tried hydro, but I'm beginnin to think that it will be far more NRG efficient. The big lights are a hell of a drain, and solar pumps and fans cud be a solution. The natural sunlite is a no go. The op will be underground...

'grab an old pentium 133mhz lap top, connect everything to that!'.... sorry Lorenzo, but I dont understand wot ya mean.... are ya sayin control the op with a laptop instead of timer switches??? If I'm bein dumb, sorry .... ha ha ha :dunce:

lorenzo08 · Sep 23, 2008

ezystevie said:
'grab an old pentium 133mhz lap top, connect everything to that!'.... sorry Lorenzo, but I dont understand wot ya mean.... are ya sayin control the op with a laptop instead of timer switches??? If I'm bein dumb, sorry .... ha ha ha

timers that you can buy in stores like walmart are always powered by 120 volt ac. this would be a problem trying to add timers to a 12 volt system. inverters can be used, but that would cause a constant drain on the batteries and aren't very efficient. I'm sure there are other options to be found, but one would be an old lap top hooked up to the pumps and fans. the printer port isn't to hard to hook into for someone with a little electronics knowledge. the goal of this idea was just to keep everything running off 12 volt. or maybe a single digital 100 watt inverter or something would be ok, and use digital timers with backup batteries in them. I'd do what you can to keep the power usage down.

ezystevie · Sep 23, 2008

Oh.... and re: layin a power line... that aint in the runnin, coz ..

a) its too far away from the mains to run
b) I want alternate method of power, not mains.

BIG thanks anyway

Ezzzzzy

ezystevie · Sep 23, 2008

Lorenzo...

I like the idea of a laptop electronically runnin things, but I'll have to get ma head round the 12volt sytem. That'll mean binnin all ma growin experience and learnin to grow hydro stylie. It looks like its a far more efficient way of growin from wot u've said. If ya can do it run the op from 12v, then it HAS to be.

Also, remember I'm in the UK, and all we get is cloud and rain.... not like u sun drenched Americans.... ya recon I could gen enough voltage over here???

Ezzzzzy

Growing Without Mains Elec.. Generator or watt??

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