400 watt hps question!

LETS BAZE

Well-Known Member
If im using 400 watts of cfl light and i switch to a 400 watt hps... Will there be a difrence in the light bill??? Ould the hps use more electricity?
 

WolfScott

Well-Known Member
How much does it cost to operate my indoor garden lighting system?
Below is a table based on operating the light only 12 hours a day at 8 cents per kilowatt hour. Check your electric bill for your electric rate. Wattage Estimated monthly cost 150 $4.97 250 $8.28 400 $13.25 1000 $33.12 To calculate your energy cost you will need to know 3 things: A: Your cost of energy (usually identified as "KWH" charge on your electric bill) B: The total watts of your lighting system C: The total operating hours ("ON" time) of your lighting system per month. Formula = A * B/1000 * C = Total Energy Cost per month So for the above table: A = $.08 , B = 460, C = 360 hours (12 per day * 30 days) = Total charge of $13.25:bigjoint:


http://www.htgsupply.com/faq.asp#19
 

Jay_normous

Well-Known Member
How much does it cost to operate my indoor garden lighting system?
Below is a table based on operating the light only 12 hours a day at 8 cents per kilowatt hour. Check your electric bill for your electric rate. Wattage Estimated monthly cost 150 $4.97 250 $8.28 400 $13.25 1000 $33.12 To calculate your energy cost you will need to know 3 things: A: Your cost of energy (usually identified as "KWH" charge on your electric bill) B: The total watts of your lighting system C: The total operating hours ("ON" time) of your lighting system per month. Formula = A * B/1000 * C = Total Energy Cost per month So for the above table: A = $.08 , B = 460, C = 360 hours (12 per day * 30 days) = Total charge of $13.25:bigjoint:

Thats just melted my head...:leaf:
 

mange

Active Member
Mabee this will help.400 watts of cfl vs. 400 watts of halide. the mh uses 400 watts of power as it states, however the cfl is based on equivalent wattage. flourescents use less power that's why there so efficiant. hence. 400 watts of cfl's is actually less "power" than 400 watts of halide. I use 420 watts of Flouresent power for veg. when I changed to 400w mh. my power bill increased by $23.00 per month 12/12;-)
 

mange

Active Member
one step further...a 23watt cfl is equivelant to a 65 watt bulb. same amount of lumens, less wattage. a 65 watt cfl is equivelant to 100 watt incondescent bulb. flourescents use less wattage...they are based on equivelant. light produced"lumens"vs power consumed"wattage"
 

stumps

Well-Known Member
skip the equivelant bs 400w is 400w. I use 100w and 80w cfl's for veg and use 42w cfl's for side light in flower. I stand by a watt is a watt.
 

vh13

Well-Known Member
one step further...a 23watt cfl is equivelant to a 65 watt bulb. same amount of lumens, less wattage. a 65 watt cfl is equivelant to 100 watt incondescent bulb. flourescents use less wattage...they are based on equivelant. light produced"lumens"vs power consumed"wattage"
mange, don't confuse the marketing hype, 400 watts == 400 watts. A 23w CFL uses 23 watts, and the equivalent rating is only compared to incandescent. No one here successfully grows with incandescent, so it's not even worth mentioning.

A 400w HPS will put out about 50% more light then an array of 23w CFL's for the same wattage. Higher wattage CFL's are also less efficient, while higher wattage HPS are more efficient.
 

Hemp4Victory

Well-Known Member
mange, don't confuse the marketing hype, 400 watts == 400 watts. A 23w CFL uses 23 watts, and the equivalent rating is only compared to incandescent. No one here successfully grows with incandescent, so it's not even worth mentioning.

A 400w HPS will put out about 50% more light then an array of 23w CFL's for the same wattage. Higher wattage CFL's are also less efficient, while higher wattage HPS are more efficient.
I agree that the equivalent wattage stuff is useless in this context. However, what I dont agree with is that the higher wattage HPS are more efficient comment. At a certain point the bulb is so big and so hot that you cannot get it close enough to the plants for maximum efficiency.


To answer your original question, if you are using 400W of CFL and you switch to 400W of HPS you are still using 400W and therefore will see no change. If you are actually only using 150W of CFL but you got confused by the marketing mumbo jumbo of equivalent wattage vs real wattage then you will see an increase in cost because your usage increased.
 

vh13

Well-Known Member
However, what I dont agree with is that the higher wattage HPS are more efficient comment.
What is there to disagree with? It's a simple fact, light output to watts consumed ratio:

400w HPS lamps are less efficient then 600w or 1000w HPS lamps.

23w CFL's are more efficient then 125w or 250w CFL's.
 

Single White Pistol

Well-Known Member
400w = 400w. Doesn't matter how you look at it. The only reason why they say CFL's save you money is because the light output is higher in ratio to the energy (wattage) being used.

If you have to choose between 400w HPS and 400w CFL, do the HPS! You're spending the same amount of energy, therefore spending the same amount of moneys.
 

Single White Pistol

Well-Known Member
400w HPS lamps are less efficient then 600w or 1000w HPS lamps..
Acutally, 2-600w HPS lights are more efficient than 1-1000 just because you have greater light distribution even though you're 200 watts over the thousand watt


........watt ratio light watt watt ratio watt light lamp watt watt......
 

T.H.Cammo

Well-Known Member
400 watts of CFL's may actually be 400 watts on "the bill", but a 400 watt HID certainly is not!!!

HID's use a ballast that adds about 10% to the 400 watts - about 7% if you use a digital ballast.

But the good news is, for a very modest increase in actual electrical power consumption; you get about twice the amount of usable light!
 
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