i feel your pain on that electricity bill. I have a measly 250 watt MH light, and i have a small apt....and my bill jumped from 59 measly bucks to 118. I try not to use any other light in the house, but its almost impossible. I dont think there's a way to conserve energy when using these lamps.....unless you tap into someone else's electricity, but thats just looking to get busted. I wonder if the cfl's would use the same amount of energy...