Safe Amount of Useable Electricity

[Perfextionist420]

currently researching setting up a hydroponics apartment grow and have been running over the safety aspect of it, i have odor control down due to my apartment not using a vent system (radiator and ac units) and contained grow rooms with a febreeze bucket in the hall.

i keep coming back to the aspect of safe electricity usage. Primarily how much i can use without bringing attention to myself. I have decided to use fluorescent bulbs for cloning and vegging in one room to minimize power usage so i can focus on putting the wattage in the flowering room where it really matters. My idea is three 400 watt high pressure sodium bulbs, each suspended over sets of 6 plants each set with its own reservoir. i would produce 6 clones and 6 vegged plants every 3 weeks and cycle them into the flowering room so that i can harvest about a half pound every 3 weeks ish . (9 week flowering period to be safe). would 1200 watts running 12 hours a day plus 2 ac window units for co2 intake plus water pumps and fans for circulation plus about 300 watts of cfls running 18 hours a day and regular household appliances (clocks tv microwave etc) be to much electricity?

sorry for the above paragraph being so sloppy

im trying to make the most of my apartment without crossing the line of dangerous power usage.

side notes--- my power is covered as one of my utilities in my rent but if my power usage gets a bit over whats expected (once i have my flowering room fully operational) would it be safe to say something like my friend and i (sharing the apartment and grow) are extreme video gamers or something and offer him an extra amount of $ per month for the electric?

 

[Eharmony420]

I would load up on extra comp towers or video games or something then, lol. I in apt and thank god i have the fortune to pay my own bills. mayeb you could do it if you tell him beforehand. Good luck. You gonna hve to make sure your circuit breakers can handle all that. Sounds like alot for the way my apt is wired. Check that otu and read the threads on electricty maxes. Lotta amps for a 15 amp breaker and such.

(somone else has that avatar)

 

[unforgiven1420]

thats alot of power to be pulling out an apartment. and alot of smell to worry about. the frebreeze bucket aint gonna cover it. you're thinking way over scale for what can be "safely" done in any apartment, especially one where electricity is included. that just means they'll watch it more closely than if you paid seperate electric IMO

 

[dgafaboutanyone]

yeah i duno just pay yo shit >_<

 

[Eharmony420]

whoa febreeze, lol! no way, yer gonna have to buy some odor machines, charcoal or ozone or both. that;s my 2 cents.

 

[cruzer101]

So your looking at 1200w plus 300w plus AC/fans/pumps? I would guess your power bill would increase by about $75 a month. 15 amp breakers would work if you ran an extension cord from a plug in another room thats on a different breaker and split the power usage. Have the lights go on after 7pm when power is cheaper.

Even after all that, your probally going to double your power bill. I think your idea of telling your landlord you will be using more than average power is a must.

Thing is gamming doesn't take that much juice. A washer, electric heater, large appliances might.

I would say around 100w of t5 flouros for veg and 400w hps flower would be the safe line your lookin for.
That should yield at least an oz a month.
​

 

[unforgiven1420]

So your looking at 1200w plus 300w plus AC/fans/pumps? I would guess your power bill would increase by about $75 a month. 15 amp breakers would work if you ran an extension cord from a plug in another room thats on a different breaker and split the power usage. Have the lights go on after 7pm when power is cheaper.

Even after all that, your probally going to double your power bill. I think your idea of telling your landlord you will be using more than average power is a must.

Thing is gamming doesn't take that much juice. A washer, electric heater, large appliances might.

I would say around 100w of t5 flouros for veg and 400w hps flower would be the safe line your lookin for.
That should yield at least an oz a month.
​

you have no idea where he is so there is no way you can even estimate his power costs. my electricity costs me $.14per kw hour + taxes and nisc fees. when you add those in it comes out to almost $.18 / kw hour. so with your calculations you obviously pay no where near that. could be $75/month could be alot more than that or alot less. keep in mind the a/c, fans, pumps, and 300w cfls will still be running almost 24 hrs a day. power prices change all over the country and some electric companies even charge you more per kw hour the more power you use. some way of punishing people for not conserving.

 

[Perfextionist420]

wow thanks for all the feedback on checking in, yeah i cant exactly only get an oz a month i plan on this set up to supply myself my room mate and help to pay for some stuff which is why im growing big bud for max yields and such a big set up.

i will definitely run an extension cord from another room to split the wattage and relieve stress on the circuits thanks for the idea.

also i think i will speak with my landlord and let him know that im going to be using extra power and will pay for it, hope hes ok with that but dont know why he wouldnt be

 

[ViRedd]

I knew a friend of a friend who grew in a spare bedroom in an upstairs apartment. I actually saw the grow a few times ... 25 plants under three 1000 watt lights, hurricane fans, two carbon scrubbers, one window air conditioning unit, pumps, timers ... the whole shebang. Very stealthy with sound proofing and everything. It was a recycling bucket system with a 50 gallon rez. No problems at all. Just kept producing huge crops cycle after cycle. No smell, no sound, no flooding ... just stealth.

Pay the electric bill on time ... and don't steal the power from your neighbors.

Vi

 

[Perfextionist420]

I knew a friend of a friend who grew in a spare bedroom in an upstairs apartment. I actually saw the grow a few times ... 25 plants under three 1000 watt lights, hurricane fans, two carbon scrubbers, one window air conditioning unit, pumps, timers ... the whole shebang. Very stealthy with sound proofing and everything. It was a recycling bucket system with a 50 gallon rez. No problems at all. Just kept producing huge crops cycle after cycle. No smell, no sound, no flooding ... just stealth.

Pay the electric bill on time ... and don't steal the power from your neighbors.

Vi

i <3 you

 

[la9]

If it says hispower is paid for in the contract then it isn't his problem to worry about anymore, I'm sure there is a clause in it somewhere, I'd see what it said first.

If you want, get a 150 watt metal halide grow fixture and put in the living room with some lettuce growing under it and tell him that is what you are doing and you expect the electric to be a little higher than most others and if that would be a problem. He shouldn't know th difference between the price of one light running and all 4. Once you tell anybody you are growin anything they assume you are growing weed. Go to any greenhouse and ask for Hydro Nutes and see the look on their face when you ask. The other thing would be to get an aquarium and run 175 watt over top a 29 gallon tank, grow some aquatic plants for extra cash. That would probably be better story.

 

[nickfury510]

fyi.......the average familyu will use 1000w+ per room....a hair dryer alone pulls 1100-1400w.....just pay the bill and you will be cool

 

[la9]

fyi.......the average familyu will use 1000w+ per room....a hair dryer alone pulls 1100-1400w.....just pay the bill and you will be cool

That was the point of this thread was the electric was included in the rent and he wanted to know whether to tell them ahead of time about using more electric than most.

 

[Bangers999]

I knew a friend of a friend who grew in a spare bedroom in an upstairs apartment. I actually saw the grow a few times ... 25 plants under three 1000 watt lights, hurricane fans, two carbon scrubbers, one window air conditioning unit, pumps, timers ... the whole shebang. Very stealthy with sound proofing and everything. It was a recycling bucket system with a 50 gallon rez. No problems at all. Just kept producing huge crops cycle after cycle. No smell, no sound, no flooding ... just stealth.

Pay the electric bill on time ... and don't steal the power from your neighbors.

Vi

Good set up and even better advise, always pay the bills on time, never give the elec man the run around. happy growing.

 

[bobbyboy34]

definitely run the AC units from a power outlet in a diff room, otherwise you will be using too many amps, each 400watt ballast is about 4 amps, the AC units are more than likely between 3-8 amp

be careful man, please

i would recommend ditching the window AC units as to thats more power. What i did was made a hole in the wall the size of the ducting i needed and connected it to my AC that came with the place.

You might think this is extreme, and when you are about to drill that hole, it feels that way...but this way works well, you can run a 1000watt bulb, have your lights 18" away and still be at 77-80F...and for you running three 400, you can almost have those bulbs as close as flos

Even though its an Apt, you can still drill that hole, unless you are using a whole room for growing then you don't need to drill a hole. To repair the hole go to your local hardware store and buy stuff, total cost will be under 30 bucks.

block of some other vents in your apt or close them, that way air focuses into your grow area, you'll still be getting c02 if you leave windows open in your house, the AC sucks air from inside most of the time, and if not then that means its sucking from outside, even better

 

[Perfextionist420]

definitely run the AC units from a power outlet in a diff room, otherwise you will be using too many amps, each 400watt ballast is about 4 amps, the AC units are more than likely between 3-8 amp

be careful man, please

i would recommend ditching the window AC units as to thats more power. What i did was made a hole in the wall the size of the ducting i needed and connected it to my AC that came with the place.

You might think this is extreme, and when you are about to drill that hole, it feels that way...but this way works well, you can run a 1000watt bulb, have your lights 18" away and still be at 77-80F...and for you running three 400, you can almost have those bulbs as close as flos

Even though its an Apt, you can still drill that hole, unless you are using a whole room for growing then you don't need to drill a hole. To repair the hole go to your local hardware store and buy stuff, total cost will be under 30 bucks.

block of some other vents in your apt or close them, that way air focuses into your grow area, you'll still be getting c02 if you leave windows open in your house, the AC sucks air from inside most of the time, and if not then that means its sucking from outside, even better

thanks for the suggestion but i dont have vents in my apartment only a radiator for heat and window ac units for cold. im actually happy i dont have vents because it makes odor control so much simpler that it wont spread into the rest of the building.



thanks to everyone for all the feedback ive determined that im going to run my full set up and just be very careful to split the power usage. i have a 2 bedroom 1 bath living and kitchen room apartment. im actually using both the bedrooms for growing because i pretty much live in my living room anyway (couch is more comfy than my bed). so splitting the power between the 2 bedrooms should be good and i could always run more power with a cord from the kitchen. i live in the apartment with my friend and we dont mind sleeping in the living room cause we usually pass out there anyway.

thanks 2 everyone ill keep checking in here for ideas much love to all the help im getting, my grow wouldnt be possible without this site

 

[bobbyboy34]

happy growing, make a journal so we can all see your beauties

 

[ViRedd]

thanks for the suggestion but i dont have vents in my apartment only a radiator for heat and window ac units for cold. im actually happy i dont have vents because it makes odor control so much simpler that it wont spread into the rest of the building.

Wanna bet?

Your main problems, as I see it, will be odor control and noise dampening. If the bedroom you'll be growing in butts up against your neighbor's living/sleeping quarters, you're going to need to control the noise of your fans, bubblers, etc.. You'll need a couple of top quality carbon scrubbers as well.

Remember, don't cut corners with the costs of setting up. Use top quality components all the way. In fact, use over-kill. A good way to get caught is flooding or constant electric outages due to over taxing your system. Using inferior (not a big enough gauge) wiring, sockets, plumbing and all of that can cause fires and floods. Do it right the first time. Extra expense yes ... but its the outcome you're interested in ... especially if you're in it for a profit.

Set everything up just like you have a cop living in the next apartment ... because you just may have.

Vi

 

[Perfextionist420]

ok well after doing extended odor control research because of Vi's comment i have come to the conclusion that carbon scrubbers will not work for me because my flowering room is literally one whole bedroom in my apartment. because of this there is no duct system to attach a carbon scrubber to.

i decided on what looks like a cure all odor control miracle called an ozone generator. I found a cheap plug in one on htgsupply.com that should be able to de odorize (lol i make up words) my flowering room/apartment and keep it from seeping into the rest of the building. That and the walls will help.

heres a link just in case http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=53129

many thanks will check back

EDIT: since the o3 once bound with odor turns into oxygen and co2 i can see this even being beneficial in giving my plants some extra co2

 

[super2200]

ok well after doing extended odor control research because of Vi's comment i have come to the conclusion that carbon scrubbers will not work for me because my flowering room is literally one whole bedroom in my apartment. because of this there is no duct system to attach a carbon scrubber to.

i decided on what looks like a cure all odor control miracle called an ozone generator. I found a cheap plug in one on htgsupply.com that should be able to de odorize (lol i make up words) my flowering room/apartment and keep it from seeping into the rest of the building. That and the walls will help.

heres a link just in case http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=53129

many thanks will check back

EDIT: since the o3 once bound with odor turns into oxygen and co2 i can see this even being beneficial in giving my plants some extra co2

You may want to read more about the ozone generators and properly use it. They will make you sick and not good for pets if not setup properly