Power HPS or WH with a battery?

[ifsixwasnin9]

Is it possible to power a 250-400 W bulb with something like a motorcycle or ATV battery? Motorcycle batteries vary around 50-80 amps and 12V. Guess it would have to be charged every week or so. (My electricity is in my landlord's name and he wants to keep it that way. I don't want to alarm him with a large bill or have to present myself before a Judge with several marijuana plants as "Exhibit A"). I'm an engineer - I should be able to figure this stuff out but maybe someone has useful input. Thanks.

 

[LEFTHAND]

hey ifsix.
i run a 600w and a 400w 3 inlines varying from 743cfm to 200cfm..
all run 24/7 along with my water pump a ton of T5's and a few osculating fans...

i would say my power has jumped up 50-70$ max...
if thats all you plan on running i wouldnt be too concerned on the huge jump..

mind you your kw used will be a lil higher.. this a decent sized place...
if so then i wouldnt worry bout it..
but if its a smaller bach pad then i would just slowly start using more power. then start er up and cut back on the power you were jacking up before...

as for the battery i have no clue lol..
LH

 

[dman1234]

Those batteries will produce DC and not enough, you need AC, it wont work, i am with lefthand, most people over estimate their electrical cost, it wont jump that much for 1200 watts for example.

 

[PuffinNugs]

your 250watt bulb will maybe increase your bill $5-10max if running 24/7. most tvs use more wattage than that, you could just say your tv been on for a few days, IF they even would notice such a small increase. 400 watts probably be around $20-25

the battery will die in a matter of hours, maybe minutes.

 

[ozzydiodude]

I was doing a little expermenting for moving off the grid and found that, A 400 watt light killed a Exide Orbital 36 deep cycle marine battery in 26 min.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Is it possible to power a 250-400 W bulb with something like a motorcycle or ATV battery? Motorcycle batteries vary around 50-80 amps and 12V. Guess it would have to be charged every week or so. (My electricity is in my landlord's name and he wants to keep it that way. I don't want to alarm him with a large bill or have to present myself before a Judge with several marijuana plants as "Exhibit A"). I'm an engineer - I should be able to figure this stuff out but maybe someone has useful input. Thanks.

Really not doable. Like Ozzy says, a 400W will drain a battery in no time at all. I do not know of any vehicle battery that will run any light of any size for any period of time....every leave your dome light on overnight? Did your car start the next morning? And that is a little tiny light.

You can figure out (quite easily) just how much a certain amount of watts is going to raise your electricity bill. At the same time there are many things that people can do to lower their electricity consumption--take shorter showers, change lights bulbs to CFLs. Turn electronics OFF when not in use. Turn the thermostat down in winter and up in summer. Hang your clothes instead of using a clothes dryer. Let your hair dry naturally instead of using a blow dryer. There are a lot of ways to offset the power used by a 400W light.

 

[Teamster6]

Well it could be done but the cost would be phenominal. Kind of like running a household with a battery bank. Basically something like that would require a huge bank of batterys to run effeciently and something like a large electrical windmill to keep the batterys charged and a converter wired to your house wireing.

t6

 

[Classic]

Well it could be done but the cost would be phenominal. Kind of like running a household with a battery bank. Basically something like that would require a huge bank of batterys to run effeciently and something like a large electrical windmill to keep the batterys charged and a converter wired to your house wireing.

t6

And if the wind doesn't blow for a day or two, you're out of luck. You could throw in a few solar panels for back up.

Seriously, this idea can't work unless you have a small fortune.

 

[OGKushman]

12v to 120v is 10x the voltage. It won't produce the output needed and it will need an inverter. All of this stuff costs money, and it will all wear out and have to be replaced. A 12v lead acid battery drained till empty will dead short a cell real quick. I couldn't imagine the cost it would take to supply 400w X 12hrs X 10 weeks from a car battery. Better off buying digi ballasts and equipment.