Increase In My Electric Bill

Oh my! I received my utility bill for January 2011 and the electric increased more than double. I have been running the lights for my grow on the 18/6 schedule. In December I was running fewer CFL lights on the 24/0 schedule and my bill increased about $8 for the month of December. The lighting for January was as follows: (2) 42 watt 2700k, (2) 23 watt 2700k, (2) 42 watt 5600k, ( 23 watt 5600k, (1) 14 watt 5600k. Total CFL watts about 400, along with Blue and Red LED and a White LED. My electric bill increased for lighting more than $80 over December's bill. I was using CFLs thinking that I would use less electric, which is better for the environment and cost to operate. I subtracted $20 because of additional home heating since it has been really cold (I use natural gas for heat), but still about $60 a month using CFLs and fans. I think I am going to start saving for two 400 watt convertibles. I have concerns about having and using the separate ballasts, but if the lighting is better for bigger buds and the cost is basically the same, I am converting. I know that the 400 watters will also increase my bill, but I'm thinking only another $10-$30 a month. This is an expensive "hobby" and I am at the bottom end of it, the cost are a lot more than I planned for and expected! I need two jobs if I am going to continue to grow

$80 thats it?, lol

damn my 400 box is only 30 bucks a month and my 250 box is 20 thats 50 bucks a month hope your results are worth the extra cost.

Mine went up double july's bill!!! Im not worried about the cost, what i am worried about is being flagged!!!! I use 400 watt hps and several side lights 26 and 62 watt cfl's, but I also at the time had some t5's for a vegging room. I decided not to use both rooms at one time anymore to try to save. But still in flowering with 400 hps and 3 cfl's with fans and stuff put my bill an extra $250, still doesnt seem right, but what can ya do. Good luck!

LOL u pay 80 bucks to run 400 watts? 1000watter only runs an extra 50 bucks where i come from.

So whats the problem?

I used to run 8 x 1,000 W in my last show, plus a 400 W exhaust fan running from lights on till lights off. Plus pumps, aerators, oscillating fans etc. etc.

This was about 3 years ago, but my bills were only around $200 a month.
But in the end....so worth it. 16+ lb every month and a half or so, depending if I maintained my schedule properly. Never had issues with the hydro (electric) company. They only seemed to care that you paid the bills. Probably be quite a bit higher rate now. ( I don't even see an electric bill at my current house)

I would think twice about running that many lights again nowadays though.

Good luck OP with your switch. HID is the way to go in my opinion. Not big on the CFL thing myself. I tend to "go big or go home" when I grow, so CFL's would be impractical.

Okay...I guess I'll shut up and add this to the cost of growing. I didn't realize that my electric bill would increase that much from running fans and lights for extended periods. Sounds like some of you are paying much more and you are alright with it, from here on so will I. Now I know

Not to make light of your finacial situation but I run two 1000w lights one 600w light and all the fans about 6 and my CFL clone/seedling box. My power bill went up $100 dollars the first month then $100 MORE the next month and I am afraid to get this months bill! LOL No worries though I think I will be able to find some way to pay for it considering I am harvesting 6 plants a month! LOL

No one should worry about being "flagged" by the electric company unless you're a dumbass and don't pay your bill on time. The general rule of thumb is that you're within the "normal" limits of electrical use if you keep to about 1000w per room in your house, and about 1000w per person, so if you're living alone in a 5 bedroom home, 5000w won't raise any eyebrows, but 25,000 probably will pique some interest at the electric company.

Also OP, don't forget to factor in your normal routines into your electric bill, your bill could be higher because its dark out longer and you have regular lights on in your house more, if you've been snowed in (like half the US has been for a few days) remember you're also HOME more and watching TV browsing RIU and spending hours DLing pron will all increase your energy bill too. Don't forget that just because you started growing the rest of your house didn't cease using energy lol

as long as you are not stealing power you are a good customer to them.

Gotta agree with you MsBBB, Start saving for HID lighting. I started with 4' 2 bulb shop lights. By the time I was running 12 of those for veg the heat was becoming an issue which I couldn't properly exhaust and I'd already spent as much on flourescents as an HID anyway. Happy growing!

hey waz up! i gotta Q for yall .. i have a flower room that is 4ft x 30in x 8ft .. i'm thinking a 600w hps, a buddy thinks i should run a 1k hps. i think heat and cost for the size room i'm using the 600m would be good to go, he thinks i'll grow legs instead of arms LOL
operating cost would be roughly 40% more with the 1k over the 600 ?

Luck you! Mine went from $80 a month to $900! I run 12 600w hps and 10 440w t5ho's in the veg room and all the other fans a/c's and heaters...

xXOnyxXx said:

hey waz up! i gotta Q for yall .. i have a flower room that is 4ft x 30in x 8ft .. i'm thinking a 600w hps, a buddy thinks i should run a 1k hps. i think heat and cost for the size room i'm using the 600m would be good to go, he thinks i'll grow legs instead of arms LOL
operating cost would be roughly 40% more with the 1k over the 600 ?

Click to expand...

The 600 watter is more energy efficient, meaning more lumen per watt. It also runs cooler and easily covers a 4' x 4' tent and produces about 90k lumen. That's 5625 lumen per sq foot. 5000 lumen a square foot is ideal. A 1k watter will just waste power. You'll pay more for light that isn't needed and then have to pay more to cool it down.

thanks Serapis, that was kind of my thought that the 1k would be overkill.

I have posted this before and will probably post again. This helps me with determining how much light is needed for an area. It is not the bible for lighting, but it is a good starting point.

A "general rule of thumb" for selecting the correct wattage grow light is to determine the size and shape of your garden area. Since grow lights emit a relatively square pattern of light, it is best to consider each light as covering a square of garden. Here is a list of the coverage each size grow light will provide.