how to keep Electricity down

[iliketv]

How do people in here keep the Electricity down? I ask cuz dont that set off an alarm to the cops or someone that can make your day really bad? Or is that not really a problem?

[lowryderulez]

well i always turn off everything by the switch rather than putting it on stand by coz that wastes alot per year, and i turn everything else im not using like if the lights are on in another room im not in. Just the little things that can build up that ever growing electricity bill

[2MC5]

police cant get a warrant just cuz u got a big Electricity bill

[Cyclonite]

If you plan on running a couple 400 watt lamps the bill isnt really that much....your AC in the summer is way more

[faithlessxxx]

On a related but somewhat enigmatic note, and after a lot of browsing before I ask, what does a Line Conditioner Voltage Regulator do? How does it work?
And how well?

[Cyclonite]

That just smooths out the current/voltage spikes on your circuit. Unless you are running extremely sensitive equipment don't bother.

[iliketv]

ok, but couldnt that be a start to an investigation and possiblely getting watch, talking about two 1000 hps

[MegaOctane12]

well i always turn off everything by the switch rather than putting it on stand by coz that wastes alot per year, and i turn everything else im not using like if the lights are on in another room im not in. Just the little things that can build up that ever growing electricity bill

Good stuff, everyone should be doing that anyway. On a related note, you can buy electricty adapters that monitor how much your using on that particular socket. Their quite expensive, but for some people, it would be useful to minotor how much your using, where and when.

[Cyclonite]

that might bump up your bill $150 a month at the very most....look at how much you get charged per KW...so 1080KWs a month if you go 18/6. So .10 per KW would be $108 a month. You probably get charged less than that.

[iliketv]

I'm not worried about cost just, the watching eyes

[harris7]

police cant get a warrant just cuz u got a big Electricity bill

umm, yes they can. and they do. As well if they get complaints they might check your bill and see which combined is definitely enough.

I've read several stories in the papers about people getting bused from this.

[bejay]

you can use smaller lights for veg stage, using flouros or a smaller hps like a 400 will help alot and save your 1000 watts for flowering only so they are only on 12 hours a day.
just try to conserve electricity in general by turning off lights that are not being used, shut the computer off instead of leaving it in standby mode, even replacing some of your household lights with more energy conserving ones will help and it all adds up.

[iliketv]

sounds good thanks

[harris7]

this might help. Its from my power provider they are trying to lower demand in the area so they dont have to build as many plants.

http://www.bchydro.com/powersmart/elibrary/elibrary615.html

[2MC5]

umm, yes they can. and they do. As well if they get complaints they might check your bill and see which combined is definitely enough.

I've read several stories in the papers about people getting bused from this.

shit man i just had to say thanks:thumbsup: i think ill look into it

[Racerx]

Didnt read any other responses...but here are mine.

Save energy wherever you can. One thing that saves 50 cents every bill...well times that by 20 things and its another $10 off your bill, everything counts. CFL for house lights, be conscious of leaving lights and computers on, consider using your stove instead of your microwave, etc.

For the grow room, digital ballasts save a healthy amount of energy, especially when you consider that they produce more lumens so you can move down in watts but keep the same light intensity. Fan controllers to turn your fans down when temps are manageable. Use fluroescents for vegetative growth, and never run more then 18/6.

[Buddahbear]

I'm replacing my fridge with a mini fridge, not running the dishwasher and replacing every lightbulb with like a 3w CFL

[iliketv]

Did all that Lights droped from $256 to $143 nice.

[harris7]

shit man i just had to say thanks:thumbsup: i think ill look into it

dont be too freaked out. i've never read about them busting anything under 400 plants using power bills.

just think of how much power they must be using.

at least 12 1000W me thinks

[iliketv]

That’s true to, I’ve had bills for $210 and all of it was legit. I guess I’m just a lil paranoid

[oldnslow]

iktv, thats a nice savings. Good job!
Most of us could do a lot to cut our power usage if we really want to. Run huge loads of wash and dryer, and using cold water helps.
"Energy vampires" are all those little lights that are lit on appliances, tv's, stereos, and almost any appliance in the home even when not being used. I unplug those until needed.
Keep the heat down {if elec is a large part of it} Close off rooms that dont need heat, but dont let any pipes freeze in winter.
Use your lites as heat for the house as much as possible, Even running them at nite if needed. Good luck

[smokybear]

Thatâ??s true to, Iâ??ve had bills for $210 and all of it was legit. I guess Iâ??m just a lil paranoidparanoid,yes is that a bad thing or a good thing,honestly i think its good if it dont pry you away from reality.great tread and we must get more concrete replies,i believe most of us has the same thought when it comes to this issue

[the image reaper]

here in northern CA, a 1000-watt, 18-hour-a-day light cycle ,would run you about $61.38 ... definitely not going to raise any suspicions ... :smokin:

[Whos Carl]

I wouldnty think electricity companies would notice if you had 2x 1000w lights.

REMEMBER aswell if you have a 1 bedroom flat and 4x 1000w lights running that may look suspicious but if your in a 3/4 bedroom it wouldnt be as noticeable because 4 bed houses use more electricity.

So bigger the house the more electricty you can use without them noticing.

[soundslikewill]

what i figure is that most computers have 300-400w power supplies so wouldnt a computer take up as much as a 400w light?

[G.Diesel]

Never turn on your light's and buy Tap-Lights =].

[yaarea41510]

no.... computer takes very little even if run all the time. iliketv...i kno alot of ppl pumpin $1000 elec. every month for yrs..and they still doin it..I kno a lady whose electricity is $3000.00 (swear to god) and she been doin it for 1 yr..(not saying that's smart) but ppl these days especially in northern cali are cultivation so if they were gonna investigate they gotta investigate alot of ppl..they don't have time for that shiet..pge jus wants their money..My boi in LA said its a whole different story in so CAL. If ur elec. is high..their gonna raid u. so it all depends ur location and other factors but in bay area should be okay..2-3 1000w no problem at all...hope this is peace of mind

[Motobuds]

i know some people that just put low wattage light in rest of there house to off set the cost of the higher wattage ones.....Hope that makes sences

[Perp]

Electric companies are starting to install new, digital meters for their customers. These meters allow the meter reader to just drive by the house to record your usage. Also, they are able to monitor when you use your electricity because the companies want to charge more for usage during peak times (during the day), and less for after hours usage. That means these new meters will be able to detect usage patterns for individual homes. EG. from 9 PM to 9 AM every night Joe Blow's usage spikes by 2400 W or whatever.

Naturally, you are going to want to save money by running things at night, but these patterns are what cops will look for if they have probable cause to investigate you, not necessarily the amount of electricity you use.

So, stay safe all.

[spankey]

they tried to do the variable rate thing here in washington but the state stopped it because of all the complaints.

[punkabilly]

i know i was nervouse about it for a while but if you make sure that your spike in energy usage is on the same basic schedule as everyone else E.G.330pm-330am. you will be ok .

[JamaicanHerbMan]

I would love to hear the pro's view on this thread. I've been reading around this site and see people running 4-1000watt here and 3-600watt there plus fans and all the other stuff. So how do they power all these lights and keep the pigs off there backs. This is a concern for everyone in the game... everone need big lights to grow thus taking alots of power. If we can hear feed back from people running lots of lights and are running safe the same can be applied to the small man. With that said i have a word on heat scopes, personal to me this seems like total bull sh*t. From personal experience i've seen 3 grow op on one block in BC and the smallest had 35 lights just for veg and flowering. Yah i know the media is dead-on when they say ever fourth house in BC has a grow op. Now if heat scopes could really screw us over. All they would have to do is just do a bunch of fly by or drive by and all there grow op worries would be over. While in BC last year i spoke to a cop that was apart of the op and he said that the only way they can find a grow op is from tips,rats or extremly large scale power use. I'm still in heaven when it comes to growing. But i still need to know about how things are for future plans. :rastasmoke: :thumbsup:

[jawndoe]

With that said i have a word on heat scopes, personal to me this seems like total bull sh*t. From personal experience i've seen 3 grow op on one block in BC and the smallest had 35 lights just for veg and flowering. Yah i know the media is dead-on when they say ever fourth house in BC has a grow op. Now if heat scopes could really screw us over. All they would have to do is just do a bunch of fly by or drive by and all there grow op worries would be over.

In July of 2001 in the United States the supreme court that thermal imaging devices to detect HID lighting was illegal. The pigs can;t do that shit so as I read in an Ed Rosenthal book,.. no sensible judge would issue a search warrant on the basis of electrical consumption alone,...but then again we do have the patriot act which kinda means the feds can do anything they want... yikes...

Go with generators though if you're paranoid about electricity usage. But enjoy refueling em all the time.

[evlme2]

A police officer cannot obtain a warrant of any kind on just a high electric bill. They may use a high bill to start an investigation, drive by your place alot, check out your finances etc, but , and thats a big BUT, as long as youre squeeky clean than thats as far as the po-po will get. (They may pull you over and assk you stupid shit or even ring your door bell, NEVER let them in and dont let them peek over your shoulder)
The usual tip from the electric company is because they found proof of tampering. Even with the new digital meters, peak power/time is still the same. Call your company and ask them and try to time your usage when its off peak rated. Use cfl bulbs in all your house hold sockets, They absolutely save $$$.
Think of it this way, big grow opps USUALLY get popped from loose lips or stealing electricity. Pay your bill on time and youre fine. Peace

[JamaicanHerbMan]

After reading around i've seen some people running lots of lights and say they use a PF equalizer to offset there power bill. But knowing about electronics i thought i'd put this device to the test.A few weeks ago i got PFC EnergyWise-1000 unit, a 1000watt magnetic ballast and a electronic ballast. I also got a few test equipment form a old buddy of mine. I hope this helps to shed some light on actually whats happening and when to apply a PFC -Power Factor Correction as it applies to us as growers.But lets start with alittle background, all discharge lamps, such as fluorescent , High Pressure Mercury Vapour , Sodium Lamps, Metal Halide Lamps, etc., require ballasts (chokes) or transformers for their operation. These devices are inductive in nature. When a discharge lamp is switched on, it draws apparent power from the mains. This apparent power (VA) has two components; one is the active power (W) actually being consumed by the lamp for illuminating it, and the other is the reactive power (VAr) feeding the electromagnetic circuit of the control gear. Basically all thats just said is that all PFC device does is give a divice the capability of soft start, and soft stop, among other things, saving on energy costs. However after testing the 1000watt magnetic ballast with the PF equalizer connected to the circuit there was only a 1% power saving on a 48hr run cycle. Being dissapointed at the result because i had high hopes on this, i got 6 more magnetic ballast and did a 12 hr run cycle hoping i'd see a 7% reduction in power usage after having the 7 ballast running to my suprise after doing the calculations over 20 times and getting outside help. I found out that higher inductive loads didnt affect the power reduction on the circuit. I tested the PFC with the electronic ballast and have a 19% power reduction over the magnetic. The funny party about this whole thing was after removing the PFC the saving was even more. I was now getting a 25% reduction in power usage on various tries. After looking at it ..i came to find out that the theory of the Power Factor Correction only holds true for older devices. Having one of these 10 years ago would have saved you alot but with today's technology its useless for efficency compared to a electronic ballast.All they do is give you are soft start and soft stop to aviod voltage spikes. Which the new electronic ballast have intergrated with 20 times more efficency. I hope this helps to save you guy on wasting your money on the so called PF equalizer. Go get a electronic ballast, you'll get more lumens and save way more on your power bill, so you'll have more for beer.:rastasmoke:

[fishman3811]

Jaimaicaman those electronic ballast actually save energy wow i would never of thought i run 2 1000 watt hps so what do u think my % of energy would be?

[fishman3811]

ALSO whats the differance between a electronic ballast and a digital ballast?

[JamaicanHerbMan]

ALSO whats the differance between a electronic ballast and a digital ballast?

NB# I used a digital ballast NOT a electronic ballast as stated in my above post.

Fishman they are not the same but they are very very similar actually the only different i actually saw when i looked at the circuit schematic was that the digital ballast has a voltage regulated microchip, apart from that they are exactly the same. The only advantage a Digital ballast have over a E-ballast is that if there is a failure or major distortion on your line it will correct it , while the E-ballast just wont light the bulb until the voltage meets the right parameters. So for growers the E-ballast is just as good as a digital ballast because a regular house line doesnt really have much distortions on the line. As for actual power comsumption saving i can safely say you'll save between 10-15% on power comsumption however these test were done with a Lumatek 1000watt digital ballast vs Magnectic ballast. All the circuits are made on the same principle but performance might vary. So i'm only stating for the brand i have tested. I also liked that the Lumatek 1000watt only used 240V, which makes it extremly safe agianst overloading a circuit. 240V uses half the amp a 120 would use making your room alot safer agianst electrical fires. hope this clears up the difference between digital ballasts and E-ballasts

[fishman3811]

Jaimaican thanks i kinda thought they were almost the same thing but wasnt too sure...Iguess they also make E ballasts for 120v also but ill have to look around the local hydro shops in my city if i can save 10-15% on my bill for the ballast usage i should save around 6 bucks which is good.My total electic bill is around 100-110 a month with 2x1000hps and a family of 4 but thats with gas heat also.peace bro

[Lanietheberner]

Digital ballast dropped our power usage by 30%. We are also using a time-of-use meter, which helps as we run out light during the non-peak hours.

Magnetic ballast are much less efficent than the digital units and it will take about 3-4 month to pay for the digital units verses the magetic units.

Then you save MONEY!!!!!! Wahoooooooo!!!!!:thumbsup:

[jawndoe]

The best way to save on electricity is to have a green house.

You can use opaque materials that still let in so much light that HIDs still can't compete.

[JamaicanHerbMan]

Jaimaican thanks i kinda thought they were almost the same thing but wasnt too sure...Iguess they also make E ballasts for 120v also but ill have to look around the local hydro shops in my city if i can save 10-15% on my bill for the ballast usage i should save around 6 bucks which is good.My total electic bill is around 100-110 a month with 2x1000hps and a family of 4 but thats with gas heat also.peace bro

Glad to help bro, the saving might be indeed be more than 10-15% as Lanietheberner stated he had a 30% saving. We actually had a 25% saving but i like to quote less so just incase i wont be accountable for giving wrong info. So look for 15% but it should be more. I've check around and i've seen the lumatek ballast listed as both e-ballast and a digital ballast. However it does have a micro processor so it is indeed a digital ballast. Happy growing:rastasmoke:

[postmandave]

Exellent thread peepo.the postman.do you know anything about the power consumtion of the sulphur plasma lamps.Ive been following the progress of these lamps for a while now and they will be becoming a more affordable prospect for us indoor growers, just wondering if what i have heard is true that they will be cheaper to rune than the current hid lamps ie hps/mh.the postman.

[JamaicanHerbMan]

Exellent thread peepo.the postman.do you know anything about the power consumtion of the sulphur plasma lamps.Ive been following the progress of these lamps for a while now and they will be becoming a more affordable prospect for us indoor growers, just wondering if what i have heard is true that they will be cheaper to rune than the current hid lamps ie hps/mh.the postman.

If you are talking about sulphur microwave lamps by narturelite which i think you are i dont think so. This is just a thought though dont hold it to heart get other opinions. The basis on how they state that you will save on power is by cutting total lights on time while producing the same photoponic output. So lets say with veggi or other stuff who dont depend on light cycle to trigger flowering that will save you. But with us no matter how much photoponic output you have you still need the 12/12 to trigger flowering. And based on the formula they use to charge you at the end of the month .....a 1000watt SP or a 1000watt HPS will cost the same. Your cost of energy X The total watts of your lighting system /1000 X The total operating hours = Total Energy Cost per month. So the only way to save power with these is if they cover more space than a regular HPS/MH. Thus using less energy to cover a given area. But until they test them for growing cannabis i cant say.
I think they will produce some fat ass bud though because of the photoponic output which they say is twice the output of a regular HPS. Hope that answered your question somewhat.:rastasmoke:

[Shovelhandle]

Good information on the HID ballasts. Thanks, folks!

Shov

[fishman3811]

If you are talking about sulphur microwave lamps by narturelite which i think you are i dont think so. This is just a thought though dont hold it to heart get other opinions. The basis on how they state that you will save on power is by cutting total lights on time while producing the same photoponic output. So lets say with veggi or other stuff who dont depend on light cycle to trigger flowering that will save you. But with us no matter how much photoponic output you have you still need the 12/12 to trigger flowering. And based on the formula they use to charge you at the end of the month .....a 1000watt SP or a 1000watt HPS will cost the same. Your cost of energy X The total watts of your lighting system /1000 X The total operating hours = Total Energy Cost per month. So the only way to save power with these is if they cover more space than a regular HPS/MH. Thus using less energy to cover a given area. But until they test them for growing cannabis i cant say.
I think they will produce some fat ass bud though because of the photoponic output which they say is twice the output of a regular HPS. Hope that answered your question somewhat.:rastasmoke:

So if they give out twice the photoponic output of a hps doesnt that mean a larger light footprint so instead of 2 hps covering 4x8 you could just use 1 plasma light???

[JamaicanHerbMan]

So if they give out twice the photoponic output of a hps doesnt that mean a larger light footprint so instead of 2 hps covering 4x8 you could just use 1 plasma light???

I have no proof to back this fishman but yes theoretically you are right, and practically you might be wrong. Reason being is HID light intensity is different from Sulphur Lamps. I'm not sure under what conditions or distance from the plant the two times HID photoponic output holds true, But i think its under the same coverage area as a HID if they are comparing. This is a whole new can of worms though,because we are not dealing with light waves as in HID and Fl. The Sulphur Lamp emits microwave without using a electrode, while HID lamps produce light by striking an electrical arc over a electrode. I'm just trying to show the contrast between both lights so there are alot of variables to take into consideration before we can accurately say it will light double the space of a HID at the same efficiency.

[cornwood gardens]

how ya doing pops iv got me grow on the way
licky is sweet the people who lived here befor
us there boys was allways leaveing all the lights
on ther mum was never in heating was on 24/7
sommer as well thay had 100w bulbs in all the
rooms there bill was comming in at around £50 aweek
iv put in 20w in each room thay lived hear 10 years
and thay wasent growing,,,,
iv got one 400w and one 125invirow and a 150 inviro
and there on 24/7 lecky is working out about £60 amonth

later pops take it esey son !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[fishman3811]

I have no proof to back this fishman but yes theoretically you are right, and practically you might be wrong. Reason being is HID light intensity is different from Sulphur Lamps. I'm not sure under what conditions or distance from the plant the two times HID photoponic output holds true, But i think its under the same coverage area as a HID if they are comparing. This is a whole new can of worms though,because we are not dealing with light waves as in HID and Fl. The Sulphur Lamp emits microwave without using a electrode, while HID lamps produce light by striking an electrical arc over a electrode. I'm just trying to show the contrast between both lights so there are alot of variables to take into consideration before we can accurately say it will light double the space of a HID at the same efficiency.

Good point bro,i guess we will just have to wait awhile before we see any evidence of the effectivness of plasma lights.

[oliwog]

all i know is with 2 x 600 watt hps lights thats 1200 watts alltogether i use between 10-15 units a day inc everything else my electric bill is high about £100 a month maybe a lil bit less
they did quesion the amount i was using but i jus said i got a big ass tv an always washin an loadsa shit
they didnt seem to really care
i know if your doing a big grow in the uk say like 200-1000 plants on a commercial scale, wot they do is run the electric on a meter so they buy cards to run it but they have to rewire the meter to bypass the electric company as the meters send data to the company about how much electric they use
believe it or not most peoples large grows get busted due to the electric company knowing or finding out the meters bypassed an then reporting this to the police as its illegal.
the other way which is more common is that people end up setting fire to the grow room or meter as the rewireing wasnt done correctly, so when the fire an police show its pretty obvious wots happened

[JamaicanHerbMan]

Stealing power or rewiring a meter is Bad bad bad idea !! Stay within a normal usage range and you'll be fine, worse case they do call and ask about the usage, just give them a good story. But stealing will get you busted, the company wants there money and they will use any means to find people who steal. Grow safe and smart

[jamstigator]

I have an old Dell XPS computer with a power hungry video card and a 450 watt power supply. Because of the circuits in my house, in the summer I have to turn the computer off to turn my 400 watt light on, and not blow a breaker. So yeah, one 400 watt light is basically about the same as one good-sized computer. There are no laws against having four or five such computers either. In fact, I have friends who have half a dozen or more such computers, so their power bills are kinda high.

My power bills this summer are running about $450/month. That's running central air, a big window AC unit, two computers, three LCD televisions, three stereos, a 432 watt eight-bulb 4-foot Teklight 24 hours a day, two refrigerators, a 400 watt HPS light (digital ballast) 12 hours a day, and a 1000 watt HPS light (magnetic ballast) 12 hours a day. Had no probs, and don't expect any, as the bills are always paid on time, and have been for the last 30 years or so.

I have started converting the entire house to CFLs, and it's helping. Every time I go to WalMart, I buy half a dozen 13w CFLs and replace incandescents. Last bill was more like $420, so the CFL conversion is starting to have an impact.

[wowman5]

Electric companies are starting to install new, digital meters for their customers. These meters allow the meter reader to just drive by the house to record your usage. Also, they are able to monitor when you use your electricity because the companies want to charge more for usage during peak times (during the day), and less for after hours usage. That means these new meters will be able to detect usage patterns for individual homes. EG. from 9 PM to 9 AM every night Joe Blow's usage spikes by 2400 W or whatever.

Naturally, you are going to want to save money by running things at night, but these patterns are what cops will look for if they have probable cause to investigate you, not necessarily the amount of electricity you use.

So, stay safe all.


Use 15 watt CFL lights in the whole house, and for the garden have the lights on with your alarm clock, they come on when your alarm clock goes off and turn off when you go to bed. Theory is, the electric used will show that at 4:00am you get up and at 10pm you go to bed, nothings running while you sleep. Also put it behind your furnace to off set FLIR hot spots, If they use FLIR they will see your furnace and water heater glow.:)

[aikidoisbudo]

police cant get a warrant just cuz u got a big Electricity bill
perhaps not but it sure arouses their curiosity!

[khyberkitsune]

$60/mo power bill with LEDs, in the desert of SoCal.

BUT LEDs are expensive. Well, not so much now (but the cheap ones are still ones to be wary of.)