Hi everyone,
What are some good lights for growing indoors that won't make my electric bill extremely high and possiblely won't have to switch lights
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Hi everyone,
What are some good lights for growing indoors that won't make my electric bill extremely high and possiblely won't have to switch lights
Came to the right place for opinions on what kind of light, there's a supporter of each one here. Take your pick, do some reading. Good questions get good answers. I SURE haven't found the silver bullet. Change mine three times during a three month grow. And number one still complains about the electric bill, the power company put me on a level payment plan, ten years ago!
Best bang for your buck for a closet type grow would probly be a 400w HPS... it will use about the same as your refrigerator for electricity.. and will give you proper light for 4-8 plants depending on strain and how long you let them veg for. HPS works fine for veg and bloom.. some people use Metal Halide for veg... but Ive found this to produce thin wimpy stems that just cant seem to produce as well as the thicker stems when using HPS. LED will use less power.. but in my experience.. less power = lower yield.
XXXJAYXX thanks man..How about high output T5s? I was looking into 8 4ft high output T5s with 8 grow lights and 8 bloom lights plus getting like 3 CFLs
You could do that... But why? 8 HoT5 bulbs at 54 watts a piece = 432 watts.. with way more hassel... lol.. If anything.. go with a 400HPS on top.. and get a couple HoT5's to run along the bottom on either side... this will help your bottom buds fill in.. Honestly.. don't worry about the different spectrums for veg and flower.. In a small space with proper lighting.. you will only be in veg for 10-14 days at the most.. And honestly.. the plants tend to do much better in flower when they are vegged under HPS.. the thicker stems allow more nutes to flow to the buds (and helps hold the big buds up!).. and the bigger fan leaves allow for more light energy conversion by the plant itself... A more blue spectrum of light will produce more "vegetation" on the plant.. but thats not necessarily a good thing... a bunch of small leaves will produce a bunch of small buds... a few big leaves.. will produce a few MASSIVE buds!
Ok thanks for the help looks like i will order a 400w HPS. Now whats the diff with lamp & bulb ?
The lamp is the holder for the bulb.. There are typically 4 main parts to an HPS setup.. the ballast.. the bulb.. the lamp (mogul).. and the shade or reflector... Some places have them as a complete kit. You may want to consider an air cooled shade.. or "cool tube" to help control heat in a small space. Tons of good deals on ebay for this kind of stuff...
ok cool my set up is a large agromax grow tent its 55x55x79 i have two 6'' clip on fans,two 6'' inline duct fans and a 6'' tall boy inline fan & carbon filter combo(raptor odor control system) thanks thats enough fans lol or should i use one of the inline duct fans for the light..I owe u bro your helping me a lot trying to do this on my own have no help out here
Do some research on T5HO, there is thread on here somewhere where they put them side by side and the T5HO offered more lumens for the money and beat out the 150 watt HPS, in. A tent heat is a big issue and T5HO is not quite as hot- just my opinion tho- which we all have and they are all correct! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Mrgreenthumb530
light bulb conversion:
(1) 400 watt HPS = (10) 54 watt T5HO = (5.5) 125 watt CFL = (42) = 40 watt T12 = (84) 60 watt incandescent lamps = about 50,000 lumen
Now, lumen is relative to our eyesight but PAR is another unit of light radiation used by plants. So usually, a lamp specific for growing or blooming should outperform a standard lamp. I'm now using Eye Hortilux 400 watt HPS Enhanced lamps.
Thanks for the conversion Shovel- your plants show me you know what your talking about! ;)
I still prefer the T5's - only because of energy pull and heat issues though- if those were out of the equation I may switch…..electric bills are a big way that people are busted here….
I completely agree crystal. You CAN pull some great bud's with T5's....and they do run cooler with more useful spectrum. Combined with sidelights and proper placement, they will do a fine job from start to finish. Having said that, HID's do have their place. Currently it's in a box to make room for another bank of T5's! ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by crystaliscious
I just gotta be different....Lol
I wonder sometimes, you guys flowering under t-5's, then you are adding side lighting, and on the floor lighting, and now another bank, but your worried about electricity and heat.
I have 2 banks of them- one on the wall and one above- running 14 tubes mixed colors and temps stay around 80 degrees- it adds up to a little over 65,000 lumens with no noticable change on the electric billā?¦.Quote:
Originally Posted by tlranger
I like HID but the heat gets me and have used it before with a 300.00 increase ( increase) on the utility billā?¦..that said that is why I stay away from them now. I do agree they have thier place and if I ever get to ( when I get to) be somewhere legal I will absolutely use them in conjunction with the tubes..
Now for LED'sā?¦.that is my next stepā?¦.hehehe
This actually comes from experience, 300 is more than my all electric home, plus headquarters and my grow tent(4000w), plus 2banks of 4x6 t-5's, plus fans and pumps, and shop. Last person to tell me a story like that, I told him better check his wiring, his house burned the next week.Quote:
Originally Posted by crystaliscious
Really??? It is really what happened and everything else seems to work….maybe I will check that wiring…on the lamp or in the house?
I only run a 6 bulb 4 foot in bloom. 324 Watts makes 1/2 the heat of that 150HPS light...and I really don't need the sidelight due to the way I open and prune my plants so there isn't a bunch of low growth. That way penetration is less of an issue. as well as the need for a sidelight. My sidelight is only a 2 foot 2 buld T5HO...you get more heat from a 26 watt CFL than that put's out.Quote:
Originally Posted by tlranger
For small cabinet/closet grows with heat issues I don't think there's a better option other than LED. I'm thinking about doing a straight watt for watt comparison with the T5's and an HPS....we will see.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OMB
Been here, done this. :D
Leds win, hands down!
(In most cases.
There are strains that don't do well under any artificial light.)
HPS vs LED, watt for watt?
Because LEDs can target the most efficacious wavelengths and waste no Watts on poorly used wavelengths, it is almost, but not quite, 2:1.
It's less dramatic with T5's but there they win with tighter buds and superior penetration.
Been usin' mine since 2006.
Very happy with them.
Aloha,
Weeze
up in the northern tier of the US the costs of heating in the winter can be staggering. It's often the best time for some northerners to grow indoors. two birds/one stone when your lighting is providing a useful by-product (heat). A ya
well i was looking into 8 4ft high output T5s a total of 40,000 lumes think thats enough or would i need more? was going to go with a 400watt hps, with two high output T5s in the bottom corners for the growth on the bottom or two CFLs for the bottom. what do u think of that?
One Love....:rasta:
Quote:
Originally Posted by OMB
u guys think 8 4ft T5s would be enough for my grow tent? i think the would be a total of 40,000 lumes
55x55 should get good coverage.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mrgreenthumb530
Ok cool just really looking for something with not a lot of heat right now. Just want to get my first indoor grow right all of u are helping a lot, great info.Quote:
Originally Posted by tlranger
One Love...:rasta:
Understand the winter summer deal, my air actually cost more than my heat. Till I went under, I shut my indoor growing in May, out buildings were to hot without anything(100 in the shade is not uncommon). I have had some massive bill due more to that than the lights I was running, I know the lights make a difference, but when that air never shuts down, or the heat runs constantly, that's when the big bills come.
Think I'm kinda lucky, power company showed early, questioning my usage, showed them my shop, aircompressure, car lift, tools, and hot tub. They said we're gonna but you on a level pay plan and never came back. Running about 280 but I'm not working it like I use to.
Crystal going to say, for sure check your room first, fires occur at hot spots plug ends and sockets, wall out lets, any place your connecting two wires.
Next do you get shocked when you touch a faucet, or any appliance, a short eats money 24/7. And a short can be to ground, saves you but not your money.
Don't burn your grow room, makes for funny u-tube when the firemen get stoned(cali, very recent) .
You lab rats can do me an experiment. By measuring the power usage of each of the grows (kWh) just the grows, no other stuff, and plot it against harvested dried weight. My experience says the big dog wins. Love for you to prove me wrong and save me some money. Throw in amortized equipment cost too.
"You lab rats can do me an experiment. By measuring the power usage of each of the grows (kWh) just the grows, no other stuff, and plot it against harvested dried weight. My experience says the big dog wins. Love for you to prove me wrong and save me some money. Throw in amortized equipment cost too."
We pay > 40 cents per Kwh. here.:(
Believe me, I've done the math.
It would be much less expensive to pay street dealer prices, than to grow indoors here with HPS or MH.
Since I'm legal, I get to use sunlight for flowering, and a measly 100 Watts for Vegging. :)
LEDs are very efficient and 100 Watts is plenty for my plant limits.
The lights were expensive to build, but amortize over 50,000 hours, and there is no bulb replacement cost.
So, they amortize to 4.8 cents per month.
They run about $20 per month for electricity at our present rate.
The fans and air pumps are less than $5 per month.
I do not charge for a labor of love, so plant care gets called a hobby.
So, even if I amortize the greenhouse cost and factor the coco, ferts, PH down, grow bags and misc. expenses,
I pay about 1/10 of the street prices for my medication.
Good thing too!
My antisocial insecurity barely keeps me fed and dry. :D
Aloha,
Lab rat.
Er, I mean, Lab 'zard
Ok lab'zard, neither I nor my ladies Attachment 298078 can find any flaws in your logic. I will agree that my cali-Humboldt greenhouses can out produce any light system that I can come up with. No power company, but the sun is my friend. Little gas to pump water, and buy some bat shit, the rest is organic compost. And number one ships quite a lot to the islands because the price is so high there.
But here on the sly, temps at freezing, I can do 50 plant sog, 1mo Veg - 2mo bloom, and expect to get 3-4lbs, for right at a dollar a day. With one 12hr/day 1000w hps. And I do like to veg under t-5's which I think saves me a little.
Want to try leds, but to do my 5x10 tent, or headquarters, would take a bunch of lens focused ufo's, have thought of trying to make one out of a 4x8 sheet of peg board, waiting for one of you guys to do a tutorial for me, not just a wiring diagram.
Wow, just did the math..we pay.63 cents per kW plus .21cent fuel charge.....84 cents kW..... TVA fuckers!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Weezard
Thought the tva was hydro?
One of the first persons to get a mmc in my state nearly burnt the tentament down due to poorly planned wireing.luckly the fire dept. was close byQuote:
Originally Posted by tlranger
They actually control all the water of the southeast, which the 'use' to make power for the entire southeast....they are Federal...and as usual started as a small experiment and grew into a conglomerate mess! They aren't our friends....Quote:
Originally Posted by tlranger
So they charge a fuel surcharge for your water in your lake.Quote:
Originally Posted by crystaliscious
not only a fuel surcharge - Just found out there as of Jan. 2014 there will be a new customer service charge we will see on our bill but they haven't put the amount out anywhere that I can find- will have to wait a week or so….Quote:
Originally Posted by tlranger
TVA has damned all the waterways here in the area- and we have a lot! Only one lake in the area is natural- the rest are dammed ones. Here in TN our lakes are considered federal property- so the Coast Guard is on them and they are watching for as many BUI's as possible….
Many of the federal drug cases from TN come from someone growing in the woods and diverting a creek - this is very bad according to TVA - it gets you a few extra charges…I see the diverted creeks in every area I have hiked in ( and that is most of the middle to eastern part of the state) - it is what gets many outdoor growers caught in the area….
But I think I have my answer- since I am paying more than twice what you are paying it does show up….looking towards NM where I have a brother who livies on top of a hill and is a 'handy man' by trade… ;)
Oh wait water is a REAL issue there isn't it…. lol
Yep, the bad thing about living in the desert. But while thinking about it, bring water to ladies we love doesn't sound like a bad trade off. Bud will find a way.
Out in the call woods you get into more trouble cutting down certain trees, than growing the pot.
Hi guys im about to start my 1st indoor grow my 2nd ever i grew Hawaiian snow from ghseeds n i dont know wether i was lucky r just kept what i read in mind i used soil from a bag n miracle grow i bought a cheap plastic greenhouse i also bought a 600whps with reflector n ballast but i never used it it was such a nice summer my mum would put them out everymornin on her way 2 work god bless her n i brought em in at night less pests indoors was my logic they were 6.5 ft when i harvest them 1but this time mum wants me 2 grow indoor cos of how big last 1s got should i use my 600whps rcool n warm flouros any suggestions to good bedroom strains ?THNX for any help
Should i use my 600whps r Coolwhite n warmwhite flouros