NEWBIE QUESTIONS?

[morning glory]

Hi all,

just wondering does a 250w lamp run at 0.25kwh? so 4 hours being a killowatt....12hours = 3 killowatts?????and if it cost say 10 pence a kwh does this then equal 30 pence a day running cost (12/12) also i want to set up a stelth grow (who doesnt) but worried about the police helocopters with thermal image, is a 250w setup anything worth worrying about? is it best to stick to envirolites cfl (low heat) i mean i live in u.k do the pigs even scan attics in this country? i dunno...

any information will be greatly appreciated..

morning glory

[evertking]

i use a 250 and didnt notice anything on the bill really..

[TheGanjaKing420]

I'm using a 400 and since I've been running A/C everyday my bill jumped to 130 a month. Without the A/C it was around 70. During periods when I'm not set up, the price is about the same, ever since I switched all the light bulbs in my house to CFL's. That more than offset the cost of the 400 watt light and fans. Now if there was only a way to get cheaper A/C...

[Al B. Fuct]

Hi all,

just wondering does a 250w lamp run at 0.25kwh? so 4 hours being a killowatt....12hours = 3 killowatts?????and if it cost say 10 pence a kwh does this then equal 30 pence a day running cost (12/12) also i want to set up a stelth grow (who doesnt) but worried about the police helocopters with thermal image, is a 250w setup anything worth worrying about? is it best to stick to envirolites cfl (low heat) i mean i live in u.k do the pigs even scan attics in this country? i dunno...


Your calculations are spot on, except when you get to your terminology. A 1000W load running for 1 hour = 1 kilowatt-hour (kWh). Your 250W light is indeed .25 of 1kW and does take 4 hours to consume 1kWh.

Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR) thermal imaging isn't magic nor is it an X-ray. FLIR can not see through walls. FLIR can only measure the temperature of a surface it is 'looking' at. If your lighting is permitted to warm an uninsulated exterior wall or roof, it would show up as a warm spot on FLIR but FLIR isn't going to see an outline of your grow op through the wall. I wouldn't worry about thermal signatures until you're running more than 3-4kW. You can totally mask your op's thermal signature just by insulating the walls that surround the grow and by cooling your exhaust air by mixing it with some cooler air once it has left the op airmass or distributing the exhaust to several points to reduce the heat concentration from the exhaust.

[Al B. Fuct]

Now if there was only a way to get cheaper A/C...

There can be, kinda. If you have off-peak electricity service for your water heating, you can tie into that. If you have off-peak service, it will be noted on your bill and you will most likely have two power meters in your breaker box. Some newer electronic metering systems only have one digital-type kWh meter. These systems are a little harder to grab an off-peak power feed from.

Off-peak is usually only about 25% the per kWh price of normal household service because it can be switched off by the power company when the loads on the generation stations are too high. This is done by sending a radio signal down the powerline which controls a device called a 'ripple control receiver,' which is a remotely controlled power switch.

If you know a bit about AC wiring, you can grab power in the breaker box after the off-peak meter but before the ripple control receiver. This way, you are pulling power through the off-peak rate meter but your supply won't shut off when the power co turns off the water heaters on the off-pk svc.

Don't do this unless you really have a clue about AC wiring- but if you can, it'll save you ~75% on your power costs. It may also save you from a charge of 'stealing electricity' if you get busted because you ARE paying for your power... just not at the rate the pwr co wants you to pay. ;)

Bridging out a power meter is never a good idea. If your meter doesn't spin between readings, the pwr co will send out a techie with a new meter. If the new meter doesn't spin, the techo will go looking for why this is so- and the really big trouble starts from there!

[TheGanjaKing420]

Well I do know quite a bit about AC wiring because I worked as an installer for quite some time. But my electricity company doesn't offer off-peak rates. This is the first house I've ever had with central air, so I just enjoy it too much to complain about how much it costs.

[Al B. Fuct]

my electricity company doesn't offer off-peak rates.

Bummer. Off-pk saves me big bux- 75% off compared to the std residential rate. 'Course, my whole op runs on off-pk. Would never be able to consider running a pair of 1000HPS without it. Real sorry you can't use it! :(

Damn good advice on CFLs for household lighting. We changed to CFLs and added solar water heat, which reduces the usage of the regular hot water tank by more than 70% here in my sunny part of downunda. The solar water heat cost about $3k to put in but all by itself reduced the power bill by within a few % of the amt that the grow op raises it. Figure that my water tank has a pair of 4.8kW elements, only one which runs on off-pk... and my op draws a max of 3.5kW when everything's running, which happens for 12 hours a day, of course.

Good that you've got some solid AC wiring experience. It'll keep you safe. :)

[morning glory]

nice one cheers all!!