# just got first electric bill



## cyberquest (Jan 18, 2007)

well we been waiting on it to come to see how much of a difference there would be in the bill. not too awful bad, but still makes me nevous cause its out highest one we have ever had. 

this time last year our bill was about $85 and it was $124 this month, only about a $40 jump but the KWH (kilowatts per hour) towers above the rest. out company has a usage history chart and our highest compairison was in march of 06, at around 1430 KWH and this months was 1635 KWH. 

we have one 400w HPS on 12/12 and 12 26w CFL's on a 18/6, and two four foot flouro on 18/6.


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## cyberquest (Jan 18, 2007)

oh yeah, plus two exhaust fans, two breeze on plants fans, and two intake fans.


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## Brouli (Jan 18, 2007)

dammm  man you need watch-out   
it only depends what state you in, some states lie mine   if your bill jump over hundred and stay like this for few monts you will get a call and visit


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## justagrower (Jan 18, 2007)

are you running it 120 volt?


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## justagrower (Jan 18, 2007)

and dammmm is it a house or apt?  i have a house and my bill is like 250 a month right now!


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## irish rasta (Jan 18, 2007)

brouli said:
			
		

> dammm  man you need watch-out
> it only depends what state you in, some states lie mine   if your bill jump over hundred and stay like this for few monts you will get a call and visit



what states?how about massachussettes?i really have to cut back on electrcity


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## cyberquest (Jan 18, 2007)

yeah its a 110 volt one. 

we have here the past week or so been making EXTRA certain we turn off lights when not in use, also we used to leave the computer on all night but have got in the habit of turning it off after we are done with each use. i think i can get it down a little more. 

its only a $40 jump so im not sweating too bad yet, keeping it paid up will help too i think, we let it go a couple months here and there but it will now be a top priority bill. 

plus i am unemployed now so i am home most of the day on the computer, i am getting ready to start a job so the house will be empty again for 8 or more hours a day with nothing but the grow lights on.


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## justagrower (Jan 18, 2007)

are you in a house? if you are and you run your 400 watt mh at 240 volt it would cut the cost in half. its not that hard to run a 240 volt line


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## irish rasta (Jan 18, 2007)

justagrower said:
			
		

> are you in a house? if you are and you run your 400 watt mh at 240 volt it would cut the cost in half. its not that hard to run a 240 volt line



how wud i do this a transformer or sum thing?


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## justagrower (Jan 18, 2007)

you get some wire and run it strait to your elect panel. i could walk you thru it...it isnt to hard


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## pussum (Jan 18, 2007)

justagrower said:
			
		

> you get some wire and run it strait to your elect panel. i could walk you thru it...it isnt to hard




All I could think of after I read this was Stoney B's post about the fireman asking him if it was his house that burnt down and saying "arrest that man" or something like that, hahah. 

Runing a wire straight to the panel is asking for 4 am carbon monoxide poisoning coupled with smokeinhalation and a big *** fire burning the **** out of you.


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## irish rasta (Jan 18, 2007)

justagrower said:
			
		

> you get some wire and run it strait to your elect panel. i could walk you thru it...it isnt to hard



please if you dont mind i could do with bringing my electric bill down a bit


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## justagrower (Jan 18, 2007)

All I could think of after I read this was Smokey B's post about the fireman asking him if it was his house that burnt down and saying "arrest that man" or something like that, hahah. 

Runing a wire straight to the panel is asking for 4 am carbon monoxide poisoning coupled with smokeinhalation and a big *** fire burning the **** out of you. 
lmao...im a licensed electrican...i wouldnt tell him something that wasnt safe...anyone whos handy (a man ) can run some wire to a panel land a breaker...and ta da!! it aint rocket science!!:rofl:


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## longtimegrower (Jan 19, 2007)

You are correct justagrower. I had a friend that used to have a fare size grow in the shed building in his yard but to keep his bill low and too keep  his bill from raising the red flag he  bypassed the metter and used all the wattage he wanted without it showing up.  All he did was run a short piece of wire from above the meter too the main lead below the meeter bypassing the meter itself. He never had any problems. Good luck. Slim


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## krotch (Jan 19, 2007)

you can find quiet generators that will run like 8 hours per gallon of gas, and not touch your electric bill. you can also baffle around the generator to quiet it more, i highly recommend doing that. a cop can read these posts till he's blue in the face. Pay cash for the generator, 200 bucks at most


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## MrOysterhead (Jan 19, 2007)

ok reading this **** is starting to scare me... i leave in a small town , my electric bill is like lil over a hundred , and im have my furo, going 18 hrs, and my computers are always running , But im planning on getting a 400 watt HPS , i dont want to get a visit , whats the odds


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## THE BROTHER'S GRUNT (Jan 19, 2007)

*OK everyone needs to relax with this bill crap. They are not looking for small growers like most of us on this site. They are looking for people who's bill jumps from $200 a month to $800 a month. Not bills that jump from $85 to $124. Relax everyone just relax. *


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## doc_goggles (Jan 19, 2007)

justagrower said:
			
		

> are you in a house? if you are and you run your 400 watt mh at 240 volt it would cut the cost in half. its not that hard to run a 240 volt line


 
read the sticker on your ballasts. If you run 240 volt you will NOT drop your bill. You will only be able to run more lights on the same amperage circuit. Do a search on OHMS LAW and it will explain that regardless of your voltage the usage will be the same.

let me find a blurb real quick.

Here you go:::

*120 volt or 240 volt, am I saving electricity?* 
This is the biggest myth in the indoor gardening world. There is absolutely no energy savings by using 240 volts instead of 120 volts. Remember back to your high school science class, you learned something called "Ohm's Law", that states P = I * E. In this equation, P = Power (watts), I = current (Amps), E = Voltage. To demonstrate, a typical 400 watt HPS lighting system is rated at 3.8 Amps at 120 volts or 1.9 Amps at 240 volts. (This information can be found on the electrical label found on your lighting system's ballast unit). Therefore the energy used for the 400w HPS light for the different voltages is: 120v = 3.8 Amps x 120 volts = 456 watts 240v = 1.9 Amps x 240 volts = 456 watts While there is no energy savings associated with using 240 volts, there is an advantage for indoor gardens that are utilizing many lights. Basically you can operate twice the amount of lighting systems on a 240 volt circuit than you can on a 120 volt circuit.


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## pussum (Jan 19, 2007)

Guys seriously. It is all just a matter of taking precaution. If you are worried about your electric bill jumping start practicing conservation around the house. Don't leave the lights on and make sure that you don't leave your computers on when they aren't in use. Small things like that will add up.


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## BSki8950 (Jan 19, 2007)

hahaha


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## Brouli (Jan 19, 2007)

pussum  i agree, but to start computer  you need more power then run-it for 2 hours


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## pussum (Jan 19, 2007)

brouli said:
			
		

> pussum  i agree, but to start computer  you need more power then run-it for 2 hours



Ok, well turn it on when you get home from work and turn it off before bed. Problem solved. Don't turn it off an on, but don't keep it on all day. I guess that would be a decent sollution to the problem. The real issue is turning lights off. That is an electric bill killer right there.


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## cyberquest (Jan 19, 2007)

TBG thanks for the reassuring note 

like i say i am not too awful worried about it, i dont think $40 jump in my bill will make my electric company want to phone the police. not to mention the fact that it jump right after x-mas, i very well could have gotten a x-mas gift that uses a lot of electric, maybe we have a washer and dryer now and didnt before, maybe we installed base wall heaters cause its colder then a witches titty. :rofl: 

i think as long as i keep it paid they would care less if it was a little higher. i mean after all this does mean they get to make more money.


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## Bojok (Jan 19, 2007)

You can use a fire place to heat your home as well if you have one instead of using the heater. Have your grow lights come on during the graveyard shift as some electric companies charge different rates on a different tier 2-3 different times of the day. Especially during the summer thats how it works where I live. You can BBQ more outside instead of running the oven. It always helped me but I also ran 3500 watts of lamps back in the day..........


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## oneplantwonder (Nov 9, 2009)

in arizona does anyone kno if the company would come out to check up or maybe my apt. complex ppl check up why we are jumpin on electricity


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## dirtyolsouth (Nov 9, 2009)

dude...  she paid the bill over TWO years ago...   this thread is ancient!   If you pay your bill you'll be golden.  People get busted by telling others about their grow or something leading to an investigation that causes them to look at power records for evidence in the investigation.  Don't steal power and pay your bill and you'll be good.

Peace!


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## IRISH (Nov 9, 2009)

welll. since it's dug up, could'nt hurt to add taking a look at your water heater. if you have an electric water heater, and it's turned up past halfway on thermostat, this one appliance can easily run you 50-75 a month with only two people using it...

theres a few things you can do here to save on this end...

#1- turn the thermostat down!!!(it is inside the panel cover on the side of the unit) just 10* down will save you at least 25 a month, then you could easily justify running a 4-600 watter...

#2- most big box stores ( ie... home depot, menards, lowes ), sell water heater blankets, you simply wrap aroung your unit. this saves on cost by keeping the water that is already heated, heated longer before cool down, and turning back on frequently to re-heat what was already heated once... ...

Tip #69. whenever possible, shower with a friend... ...Irish...


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## ArtVandolay (Nov 9, 2009)

Good advice again, there, Irish .  You should be MVP :hubba:.  Wait, what?

I'll tell you something funny... well it's wasn't funny to me but I've learned to laugh about it :hubba:.  My wife always uses "hot" water to rinse a bowl or a knife or something.  Here comes the funny part - she doesn't wait for the water to get hot.  Funny, right?


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## dman1234 (Nov 9, 2009)

is this thread a joke that i missed somewhere,

seriously, the power usage you people are talking about is tiny,

a 400w and a 600w are never gonna cause you any trouble from the power company, 

you got a 125 dollar bill and your worried?????

dont be, your fine imo


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## OldHippieChick (Nov 9, 2009)

My bill used to be outrageous till I unscrewed that bulb in the fridge.


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## Flyinghigh (Nov 10, 2009)

I ran electric heater last yr during the cold months because Propane is to expensive to run and propane ran 300 a month starting Jan.
My electric started to go up in Dec. from 125 to 298 by the time march came around and start to go down after march and I freaked over the electric bill and cause alot of head ache with the wifey and all.

If one has a shop on the property the electric company Won't do anything because of the shop, But if in a house and there No shop then Still won't be a problem either because people turn there garage into a work shop to run tools and stuff..
I think if one electric bill jumps up 50 bucks Don't worry the electric company Won't do anything,  Now if you have a BIG BIG jump in usage then I would be worry... Don't Hot wire your grow and you be fine.....

Another thing after starting your grow and the electric jumped up 50 bucks or so,  Keep the jump up always and never shut down for very long that way electric company won't see any Big ups and down in cost..
The longest my lights been off is a week of each grow for clean up..


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## zipflip (Nov 10, 2009)

> Another thing after starting your grow and the electric jumped up 50 bucks or so, Keep the jump up always and never shut down for very long that way electric company won't see any Big ups and down in cost..
> The longest my lights been off is a week of each grow for clean up..
> __________________


  thats a good concept to keep in mind i agree.  never thought bout that but it makes total sense.


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## oltomnoddy (Nov 11, 2009)

We run the A/C all summer long without a grow, then once it starts getting cooler
I start the winter grow. 2 400 watt lights equal the electric usage of the A/C in the summer.


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## The Effen Gee (Nov 11, 2009)

my power bill was $1456 this month.

top that.


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## Flyinghigh (Nov 13, 2009)

The Effen Gee said:
			
		

> my power bill was $1456 this month.
> 
> top that.




Good God did you win the Lottery, and now you Don't Worry about the cost..?
I would TOTALLY have a heart Attack....


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## Flyinghigh (Nov 13, 2009)

zipflip said:
			
		

> thats a good concept to keep in mind i agree.  never thought bout that but it makes total sense.



It is best to keeps lite going even if not growing at the sec because of clean up or repairs, that sudden drop wouldn't be good I don't think..
If my 400 watt 18/6 isn't going then my 1000 watt 12/12 is, and been doing this for couple of yrs and it started with the CFL's..


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## LEFTHAND (Nov 14, 2009)

*ever since i got rid of my CFL lights and threw in smaller HPS lights to veg with my power wnt down 35$... i was vegging 24hrs with a 400W. 2 inlines going water pumps, a couple smaller HPS lights for mothers and my power bill is 95$.. from  130$ using CFL for my long veg with mothers and what not... CFL is better played on the feild..
LH*


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## BIG-TYME (Mar 20, 2013)

I have 4 1000 hps bulbs mounted in a 6 inch cool tube with a 8 inch 800 cfm vortec fan sucking outside also using 6 inch 600cfm to push from carbon filter. Is this gonna control my heat and make lights not too much for my cannabis which I will be using a aero 60?:farm:


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## trillions of atoms (Mar 20, 2013)

U dug up a thread from 2009, about electricity costs and your asking about cooling capacity?


I recommend starting a thread in the grow room and design forum.... With more information too.


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## jmansweed (Mar 21, 2013)

Brother's Grunt is right. There needs to be lots more draw to attract attention imo.


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## WrEkkED (Mar 23, 2013)

lol i Know this is 6 years old but I think it's funny a "licensed electrician" is telling some guy to run 240v instead of 120v to to a live panel to lower power consumption.

600 watts is 600 watts. Whether it's 240volts and 2.5amps or 120volts and 5 amps


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## trillions of atoms (Mar 23, 2013)

^yup


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