just got first electric bill

[cyberquest]

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.

 

[cyberquest]

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

 

[Brouli]

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

 

[justagrower]

are you running it 120 volt?

 

[justagrower]

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

 

[irish rasta]

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

 

[cyberquest]

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.

 

[justagrower]

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

 

[irish rasta]

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?

 

[justagrower]

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

 

[pussum]

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.

 

[irish rasta]

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

 

[justagrower]

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:

 

[longtimegrower]

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

 

[krotch]

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

 

[MrOysterhead]

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

 

[THE BROTHER'S GRUNT]

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.

 

[doc_goggles]

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.

 

[pussum]

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.

 

[BSki8950]

hahaha