House Grow -- How big is TOO BIG!!!

[monsterbuds420]

Hey there,, First time posting.. I always look up good info on here for my grow so mad props to everyone who gives there expert advice from your individual experiences.. Very much appreciated!!

First off a little about my experience & set up.. Been growing for 5 yrs now in Southern Cali.. Been through about 8 strains and about 1.5 year ago I came across a absolute FIRE genetic and I've been growing just this 1 strain for the last 1.5 years.. The demand has been so much I can't keep up & want to go bigger.. I have always done pretty much the same setup with a 2500 sq ft rented house, 12 1k gavita lights divided between 3 - 4 rooms, mini split in the master bed and smaller portable a/c in the smaller rooms, & always upgrade all my electrical circuit breakers.. I get a solid 25 units per cycle & 3 cycles a year.. I don't do a 4th cycle just in case the property management wants to do a year end walk through and the 4th cycle just cuts it to close if the walk through is scheduled a few weeks prior to the end of the lease.. I'm super clean with everything I never do damage to the rented houses, when I leave a house I always return the house to exactly how I received it even if it cost a good amount of money..

Ok my electric is with Edison which I've heard, experienced, and pray it stays true they don't really give a fuck as long as you always make your payments on time they never report you.. I never steal power just to risky and I get top top dollar for my units so I could care less about the electric cost.. So anyway my electric per month is about 7k - 8k kWh and $2100 - $2400..

Ok so now my main question to all you other house growers.. How big is too big electrical wise in your experiences in a single house?? Let's say I go out and on my next rental go for a 4000+ sq ft house on 1 acre of land so neighbors and smell are no issue.. So instead of 12 lights I go for 20 - 24 lights, so that would double my electric output to around 16k kWh and at most $5000 a month.. Has anyone done this much in one house with Edison?? Or one of my friends said something about if you pull to much power you can some how blow out the neighborhood power, but I told him that doesn't seem plausible maybe if you were stealing power but not if its your own, I think maybe he was just bull shitting me..
So I just want to get any thoughts from house growers who have done 20+ 1k light set ups in a single house and any problems you have came across.. To be honest besides this and other forums I don't really know other growers so maybe a set up like this is normal but I just know what I have done so far and am not sure how big I should go on my next house.. Well anyway any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks

P.S. --- Not really interested in warehouse grows if that's some peoples suggestions.. I always get good deals on rented houses and I just don't want to do warehouses.. I know I could go even bigger with a warehouse but I will be 100000% happy with 3 cycles @ 40 - 48 units per cycle if that's possible with a single house.. Warehouses are just not my thing..

 

[fandango]

2lbs per light...impressive.

Going stealth=off grid ground mount solar system.

6 solar panels@240w each will run 1000w.
20 lights for 120 panels(28,800watts@1 dollar per watt material)or about 10 lbs of weed.

 

[shanepdx]

Most residential houses have a 200 amp service. That is enough for about 16 flower light room, 4 light veg room, 5 ton ac, dehuey, fans, etc. That is also without really living in the house and using most of the power, as I'm sure you have experienced. A bigger rental would work, I would just make sure to find one with 400amps of service, or alternate your cycles so 12 lights are on while another 12 are off.

 

[monsterbuds420]

2lbs per light...impressive.

Going stealth=off grid ground mount solar system.

6 solar panels@240w each will run 1000w.
20 lights for 120 panels(28,800watts@1 dollar per watt material)or about 10 lbs of weed.

Yea I was mostly messing around with OG's the first 3 years and getting 1 - 1.5 unit per light but I came across this Hybrid that would do 2+ units per light and is sticky, frosty, that good bright green in color & super dank nose.. I don't think I will ever need try another strain as long as I keep this one going..

 

[monsterbuds420]

Most residential houses have a 200 amp service. That is enough for about 16 flower light room, 4 light veg room, 5 ton ac, dehuey, fans, etc. That is also without really living in the house and using most of the power, as I'm sure you have experienced. A bigger rental would work, I would just make sure to find one with 400amps of service, or alternate your cycles so 12 lights are on while another 12 are off.

Thanks Shanepdx,, Definitily will take your advice and look for a bigger amp house!! I posted this question in a few other forums and one guy told me to devote one room to a veg which I don't do now that will give me for sure one additional if not 2 more cycles per year.. So that way I don't need to go so big maybe just another 4 - 5 lights or so.. What are your thoughts about Socal Edison?? Do they report if it gets to big?? Or as long as you pay on time they are happy taking your money?? Again thanks for your thoughts brother!!

 

[SupraSPL]

If money is no object, you can cut the current in half by using COBs. It would also reduce your heat load by 66%. Or you could keep the current maxed out and put down twice as much light. So you could pack more into a house that way, but sure would cost a few bucks up front.

Good call on the 12/12 flip flop to reduce current and easier to handle the heat. With that method + a veg room, you can get a harvest every month.

 

[Bubblegum31]

S

If money is no object, you can cut the current in half by using COBs. It would also reduce your heat load by 66%. Or you could keep the current maxed out and put down twice as much light. So you could pack more into a house that way, but sure would cost a few bucks up front.

Good call on the 12/12 flip flop to reduce current and easier to handle the heat. With that method + a veg room, you can get a harvest every month.

Sorry, what is COBDS?!

 

[shanepdx]

With a dedicated veg room, you should easily get 5 cycles a year. Or as said above, stagger lights and do a harvest a month. Spreads the work (trimming) out.

 

[Impman]

Thanks Shanepdx,, Definitily will take your advice and look for a bigger amp house!! I posted this question in a few other forums and one guy told me to devote one room to a veg which I don't do now that will give me for sure one additional if not 2 more cycles per year.. So that way I don't need to go so big maybe just another 4 - 5 lights or so.. What are your thoughts about Socal Edison?? Do they report if it gets to big?? Or as long as you pay on time they are happy taking your money?? Again thanks for your thoughts brother!!

they will not report you but law enforcement can access information from them easily ... if shit hits the fan then all they can do is send code enforcement out to your home and give you one week to comply (shut it down ) ... I go through SoCal Edison too

 

[fandango]

for the big boys growing out there buy a 60,000w propane generator...and build your new home next to the grow

 

[covert222]

Maybe I missed it but did you ever tell us what this new one strain you're growing is? I might like to try and procure it myself

 

[PotHead3]

S


Sorry, what is COBDS?!

nobody knows. sounds like a made up term.

 

[PotHead3]

If money is no object, you can cut the current in half by using COBs. It would also reduce your heat load by 66%. Or you could keep the current maxed out and put down twice as much light. So you could pack more into a house that way, but sure would cost a few bucks up front.

Good call on the 12/12 flip flop to reduce current and easier to handle the heat. With that method + a veg room, you can get a harvest every month.

why do you have to make stuff up and confuse people

 

[Getgrowingson]

Chip on board leds

 

[SupraSPL]

why do you have to make stuff up and confuse people

Dont take my word for it, have a look at CREE spec sheets for yourself. They are manufacturing COBs that make well over 200 lumens/W in 3500K and they are available to growers in small quantities here. @Growmau5 recently pulled over 2grams/dissipation W in a documented grow, with a light that he built himself. Amazing tech and it has been getting much better and cheaper in the past few years.

 

[PotHead3]

Chip on board leds

thank you i just had to troll in order to make people use effort to explain what cobs is.

 

[PotHead3]

Dont take my word for it, have a look at CREE spec sheets for yourself. They are manufacturing COBs that make well over 200 lumens/W in 3500K and they are available to growers in small quantities here. @Growmau5 recently pulled over 2grams/dissipation W in a documented grow, with a light that he built himself. Amazing tech and it has been getting much better and cheaper in the past few years.

gotcha thanks cause searched google and rollitup and no where can i find cobs was starting to think it was some kind of corn device. i dont doubt the power of leds. and too much calculating to see what stuff is. for now i will stick to 1000w hps lights. but curious if you mind answering my this. 1000 w set up in 3x3(total 9 hps lights) in a 12x12 area of canopy of hps lights 18inch above plants i can get about an even coverage of between 8000-11000 lumens everywhere in there. how many do i need to do the same with cobs? and how much would it cost? fyi. I have 2 rooms myself and also help 2 other people setup same kinda rooms. but my room isnt actually 12x12 in coverage but for hps that would be what i want in terms of almost best effiecent use of light for hps. which with certain strains i yeild about 18lbs

 

[intenseneal]

Yeah imo and im not expert by any stretch, cobs would rock for your setup. Your cost in power would drop considerably. You could build your own but in the scale you are doing you would be building lights for a few weeks. There are a few companies making really nice cob led lights some even do custom builds. The up front cost will be high but it will pay for itself really fast with power bill saving. A second option is doing 1000w de lights, their output and coverage blows away a normal 1000w se hps coverage is better as well. So you would need fewer lights. You could veg with 400w mh cutting the cost in kwh. Just throughing some ideas out there.

 

[PotHead3]

Yeah imo and im not expert by any stretch, cobs would rock for your setup. Your cost in power would drop considerably. You could build your own but in the scale you are doing you would be building lights for a few weeks. There are a few companies making really nice cob led lights some even do custom builds. The up front cost will be high but it will pay for itself really fast with power bill saving. A second option is doing 1000w de lights, their output and coverage blows away a normal 1000w se hps coverage is better as well. So you would need fewer lights. You could veg with 400w mh cutting the cost in kwh. Just throughing some ideas out there.

Thanks now you got me interested. Seems i have to look into this. how much would it cost just for 1 light to replace a 1000w hps in coverage area with 8500-10000 lumens? i know with this i can get a more even coverage area.

 

[intenseneal]

Glad i was of some help. Im the wrong person to ask about leds. I know just enough to get me in trouble. I will point you to the led section, someone there will be able to answer all your questions. Look into it for sure.