Moistvonlipwig
Well-Known Member
Yikes that rate is like 31 cents per kh converted to us money .. my rate is 9.6 cents and I thought I was getting the shaft from the power company...
Help do you work out the cost of your grow.
- Thread starter CraigMk
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Here in the People's Republic of California, Southern District, I cost it at 45¢.
Screenshot of the data (from Kasa) for my grow light.
and the AC Infinity heater that keeps temps at 76° during lights out.
"Breakfast weed" is $250 an ounce. That price takes some of the sting out of 45¢ per KwH.
Moistvonlipwig
Well-Known Member
just out of curiosity .. how much does your electric bill run for the whole house.
i am considered total electric but i am cheap so i heat with wood .
august is usualy my most expensive month with air conditioning , a high bill will be like $250 , my average bill is $90-$110
i am considered total electric but i am cheap so i heat with wood .
august is usualy my most expensive month with air conditioning , a high bill will be like $250 , my average bill is $90-$110
I don't know, to be frank, because my other half pays the bill but I think it's $100-$150. We rarely run the HVAC because of where we live and because of the cooling effect that El Nino's have on Southern California. The temps in the house are rarely outside of the 70's so there's not a lot of need to run either the heater or the A/C.
The 45¢ figure was accurate last Fall and was a value between peak and off peak. Recently
I don't know your particular situation but I do follow certain topics and I would stay away from moving to be more dependent on electric power if possible.
Very simply and completely off the top of my head, it's not going to get cheaper; it's highly susceptible to the whims of politicians who frequently, repeatedly, and vocally demonstrate their complete ignorance about energy policy; it is delivered to the consumer at the tail end of a very long series of energy-wasting processes; and our intellectually-impaired betters can take us back to the Stone Age with the flick a switch.
There may be reasons to move in the direction of using electric appliances, for example, but, per above, there are significant downsides.
Here's an example of the incredible idiocy that's being inflicted on the people in the state of New York. The best summation of this lunacy is in one of the comments to that article, to wit:
"It's time to move on to why Nut Zero is continuing when it is so obviously not feasible or affordable. The reason has to start with the assumption that Nut Zero was never a real engineering project. It was always a political strategy to control people by controlling their energy use. "
I don't care for the appellation "Nut Zero". To me that's childish and detracts from the rest of message that he's trying convey. Overall, though, I think it's an accurate perspective.
Wood? Sure a lot of folks will scream about it but biomass is "renewable" so you're gold.
Seriously, if you can use wood to warm your home, that's an excellent way to solve a problem. And if you're on acreage and can grow your own, that's even better.
Moistvonlipwig
Well-Known Member
I live in Ohio , things aren't so bad here . My house was total electric when I bought it 30 years ago and living out in the boonies the only other feasible option is propane ... gosh it fluctuates so much in price I'd hate to rely on it .
But living out here in the unregulated boonies if I'd need to make an energy source switch I can just do it , none of them pesky things like permits or inspections to deal with .
I use a fair bit power outside of the house , I have a small machine shop in what used to be my garage . If I don't use the shop my bill plummets to $40-50 a month as long as the a.c. isn't used .
But living out here in the unregulated boonies if I'd need to make an energy source switch I can just do it , none of them pesky things like permits or inspections to deal with .
I use a fair bit power outside of the house , I have a small machine shop in what used to be my garage . If I don't use the shop my bill plummets to $40-50 a month as long as the a.c. isn't used .
coreywebster
Well-Known Member
That's the route I'm taking soon.
Over sized Hybrid system with battery bank but can pull from the grid when needed, which I'm hoping will be never..
They charge us about 25p a kwh but only pay about 3p if we sell it back.. so no chance I'm putting it back into the grid on those terms
Nutty sKunK
Well-Known Member
Just a thought but I managed to charge my sons solar night lights in my grow tent.
There wouldn’t be a way to link a solar panel in the room and collect the energy when they are young before they cover the whole canopy?
DeadHeadX
Well-Known Member
I currently run a 300w light in an 3x3 tent, and in the winter a low wattage heater. Costs are a couple hundred per grow, including soil and seeds. I’ve tried to do the math once, but aside from all the personal pleasure, $175-$250 (random but reasonable estimate) for 1/2 to 3/4 pound is a bargain. Soil (4x 5 gallon container; seeds @$12 per, electric. I would like a bigger tent, lol
amneziaHaze
Well-Known Member
Buy one of those bendy solar panels haha but dont expect a full return on energy
Blue_Focus
Well-Known Member
Not me. I don't want to know how much it cost me. If I did, I'd probably quit. 
Nutty sKunK
Well-Known Member
Hey even 10% return is 10% you never had
coreywebster
Well-Known Member
I've actually thought of this, like for Recirculating pumps or something..
But I bet you could rig up something to power a few fans by losing one reflective wall in the veg tent or something.
I used to have a solar powered pump in a DIY ebb and flow bucket for a tomato plant in my garden. I'll have to see if I can find it
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If you're out in the boonies and can harvest your firewood, that will help. And it's especially attractive if you don't need permission from a government official.
Re. "propane ... gosh it fluctuates so much in price I'd hate to rely on it ." - the value of goods and services changes in a viable market. That's good. Prices are determined when a buyer and a seller come to an agreement and the price for the good or service is a signal to other buyers and sellers about the value the good or service. When demand falls, prices go up, and other suppliers will tend to move into the market to supply demand. That's a healthy economy.
There's no reason to not purchase something because the price changes. The wise decision is made after determining if the product provides sufficient value to me today and in the foreseeable future for me to give something in exchange.
Propane vs electricity - propane is an energy source, electricity is not. With a big tank of propane at your disposal, you're a long way toward providing a source of warmth, light, and being able to cook food that you control and that will be available for years.
When you're using electricity to provide those basic needs, you're completely at the mercy of someone else creating energy, putting it into a wire and then shipping it to you. There is no cost effective way to store it long term - it's either use it or lose it.
Again, it's very situational but when you're using electricity, you're depending on someone else to generate the energy. When you have that propane tank on your property, you have more control over your life. There are tradeoffs, as with everything in life-it's a question of what you're willing to trade off to get what you want.
Sure you can. There are 'balcony solar' setups, even with battery storage, which have a solar panel input and put out normal voltage you can plug lights etc in.
It's just... Not ideal? A good solar panel is more than 1 square meter, so probably larger than your tent. Then it has an efficiency of 20 %? Coupled with the 50 ish % efficiency of your LED it will never recover its cost.
Tolerance Break
Well-Known Member
Rates also fluctuate. I spe
Its like pointing a fan at a small wind turbine. It's a cool proof of concept, but the benefits stop there.
Cost doesn't outweigh the benefits.
Its like pointing a fan at a small wind turbine. It's a cool proof of concept, but the benefits stop there.
Battery storage is cost effective in europe. With a good sized solar, an adequate battery (or an EV with a smart charger that dumps excess production into that battery) and maybe even governmental incentives.
amneziaHaze
Well-Known Member
You can make free electricity from wind sun and water.tell me how you make your propane? Since we are dependant on sombody else and you are not?
"cost effective" - functioning long term without government subsidy, for starters.
It would be great if there was but the laws of physics make it really, really hard.
amneziaHaze
Well-Known Member
Make a gravity battery if you want to store electricity for a long time