photo cycle question 6-on 2-off?

[teddy d]

this might sound stupid, but could i run 6 hours on and 2 hours off continuously for a total of 18hours of light within a 24 hour period?

the only reason i would do this is to control the temp during down time.im in a basement in the winter without heat and the light is my only heat sorce... 18/6


i dont want to run my 400w mh 24/7 to reduce my energy usage and electric bill.

my thought is that it will confuse the plant..... will it? or is this a possible?

thanks

 

[Locked]

I hve not been doing this for a long time..(about a year) but I hve never heard that question before..lol I want to say no it wld be bad for whatever reason but other then maybe it wld stress them someway... Maybe bring out a dormant hermie gene that might otherwise not hve shown...I honestly cld not say for certain that it wld not work...I look forward to people with a lot more experience and knowledge then I hve....

 

[ozzydiodude]

IMO the only thing doing this will do is cause your plants the Hermi

 

[Icex420]

Im sure nobody can answer your question correctly because they havent tried it.

You try it. You tell us =)

 

[Locked]

IMO the only thing doing this will do is cause your plants the Hermi

That's the only thing I cld see happening...and I don't mean every time someone wld do this but that if there was a chance your beans wld Hermie this wld make sure it did hermie...either way I don't see it doing anything but hurting growth....on a chemical level it can't be healthy for a plant to keep switching back and forth between day and night like that...

 

[captain1]

:holysheep: NO NO

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Yes, it will confuse the plant. If you are in a basement and there is no other heat, you should consider running the light 24/76 as it is probably too cold during lights out (have you checked the temps?). It probably costs $.02-.03 per hour to run a 400W light. IMO, it is not worth the risk to screw with the light schedule like that for $.08-.12 a day.

 

[captain1]

Another thing I do is run the lights at nite so it stays warm at nite also eletricity is usually cheap off peak times.

 

[zipflip]

for the wattage you would use from a lil space heater even, you could divide your grow into two parts throw in another 400 or even a 600 (for the wattage them lil heaters use) with some panda film (blk/wht poly) and do one lights on while the other side is off. and each will keep the other warm at all times that way.
but if you cant afford a second lite etc then just do a lil heater :aok:

 

[Icex420]

My little heater is 1500 watts. Brand new from the bread company sunbeam actually.

Just run it at night.

 

[zipflip]

just think how much people worry bout the power consumption and how it'll affect their electric bills but yet we all run something or another or many in our homes we woulda never thunk taht consume 2-3 times taht of an average HID grow light.

i too was oblivious to this whole realization until recent when i was cleanin my heaters and never until i started growing have i ever really paid attemtion to the power ratings stickers on appliances i use. and i looked and said 700 watts on low and 1500 on high setting and i been worried bout my puny lil 400watt'er all this time :doh:

 

[teddy d]

i knid of think about how much i would use with an hid and save the same amount of power by neglecting anouther aplliance some times.

 

[captain1]

Theres a sticky some where that breaks down electrical appliances. Crazy some of the stuff I have running that doesnt need to be like the PS3 or my dvd player thats always on even though im not using it. Thats the stuff you can make up on.

 

[BBFan]

Interesting question Teddy.

Not sure it would cause any stress since you are still in veg. If you do it, I hope you will post here what happens.

Really though, for about $7.00 per month, is it worth risking? Raise the temp 1 or 2 settings on your refrigerator (or if it's an older unit- clean the coils) and you'll save more than that. Then go 24/0. You'll still need a solution when you switch to flower.

Good luck.

 

[Smokey Mcpotster]

Teddy, 1/2" dense foam insulation on the floor and any cold walls would help hold heat in your room. I run my lights at night to help offset the temps. -20 here right now. Also, is your furnace in the basement? Look to see if you have a vent you could open to let some heat in down there. Tin snips or a dremel and you could put one in yourself. The foam insulation brought my temps up about 5-7 degrees, before the cold snap. If it's really cold, you could draw your intake air from the cold air return to the furnace, that would give you some warmer air in the room. GL, on the plus side, not much chance for bugs with the cold weather.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

IMO, it is silly to put a space heater into a vegging space to heat when the lights are out--just keep the lights on 24/7and/or get more lights in there. That space heater is going to gobble up 2-4 times as many watts as your light and do nothing for the growth of your plants.

If you change out ALL your incandescent light bulbs for CFLs, you may save enough electricity that you see little or no rise in your electricity bill. There are other things you can do to lower your power bill, like keep it a bit warmer in the summer and cooler in the winter, turn your water heater down a few degrees, take shorter showers, actually TURN OFF appliances/devices not in use, etc, etc.

 

[Locked]

THG is right...a few simple things can save you enough energy that leaving the lights on 24/7 will not even be noticeable...I am guilty of leaving my desktop and laptop computer running all the time...I hve to remind myself to shut them down when I go to bed at night..I left my PS3 on all night last night...I am sure that cost me in electricity...lots of ways to conserve electricity...

 

[iamtd]

So much stuff gets left on in my house. 2 fridges. 2 compters. 2 tv's on standby, DVD players on standby. A printer that we never use. No less than 2 lights. Man. I'm turning everything off tonight.

 

[leafminer]

As usual, THG is right on the nail.
You might like to consider using foam insulated pots. That will keep the soil temp near constant. Same for DWC.

 

[legalize_freedom]

my 400w running 24 hrs 7 days a week increased my bill by $20 a month, I'm sure if I would have taken some steps to conserve in other areas, as mentioned in this thread, I probably could have reduced my overall bill to below the price of when I started growing. Did that make sense? I meant lower than it was before I plugged the 400w in. I know just adjusting the hot water heater will make an incredible change in consumption.

Unfortunately we can't grow indoors without electricity...my grows have more than paid for themselves. I'm not takeing a cold shower!...lol