400 watts too risky?

alright, so i have a few cfl's and the cfl's in the aerogarden. i also have a 75 W hps, security light. i would like to get a bigger hps. i know a micro or mini grow usually would just call for a 75 w hps or something. but iv also read alot of things where people use like 400 w hps. would that be too much and maybe tip off anybody? 400 Watts seems like alot. is it dangerous??
thanks for your help anyone who does.

keep it under 2000 wats and your all set

you really think so. i guess it seems alright. it just seems like alot. next time i get some cash, here i come 400 watts. new ballast!

yeh 400 is good man, and will give you nice buds. Use those cfls on the sides of the plant with the hps as well.

Goodluck buddy, hope everything goes well : )

under 2000 and the electrical company dont notice?

pay your bill! That's all they give a rat's ass about...

basinlat said:

under 2000 and the electrical company dont notice?

Click to expand...

yes... thats what ive read form respected growers on this site, i am getting a 600 wat cool tube for my next light

Every home uses a different amount of electricity....

IMO, the situation where you'd want to be the most cautious would be if you live in a neighborhood/complex/area where all of the houses have the same floorplan. Spec homes...Pleasant Valley Sunday neighborhoods (showin my age) trailer parks...etc. Somewhere that the power company could look at the entire street and see that everyone used $100 worth of energy but your house..and you used $400 worth.... ooops...

Yup...best get an old hot tub and throw it out on the prop somewhere...and stick an old/broken A/C unit outta the garage window too. Doesn't have to work..just has to look like you're a fucking energy pig from the outside of the house. Follow?

If you live in a neighborhood/area where all of the houses are different sizes/shapes..etc... chances are slim that they'll be looking for "excess" usage. Whatever that is...

Oh...and dammit...turn off the fuckin lights kids!!! Being good about that habit alone will cover a lot of your energy usage for an HID system...

there are ways..you just needd to substitute one usage for another or cover your ass so it appears you use a lot.

good luck.

bt dt

I have a 400 watt stereo system, I'm sure they wouldn't notice. Lots of appliances use lots of electricity, stereos, big screen tvs, stoves, etc. I'd have to agree with everyone else, anything under 2000watt you should be fine

Hair dryers are frequently 1800 watts. Course, they don't run for 18 hours.

switching all your house lights to cfls can save you 400-1000 watts alone depending on the size of your house so if you do that there wouldnt even be a change in power use

Your typical computer uses 400 watts of power, so a 400 watt light is not going to send off any signals to anyone.
Just pay your bill on time.
Peace

it goes like this, for every room in the house you can have a 1000 watt lamp, a 2 bedroom house can safely run 2 1k lights a 3 bedroom home can have 3-4 lights without raising eyebrows, if you do more than that then you can do other stuff like get a gas clothes dryer and dont run the dry cycle on your dish washer...stuff like that, i mean i live in a 1 bedroom apt and i run 2 600's with no problems, you can also run your lights off peak hours and save like 30% in my area during peak hours its like .18 per kw and off peak its .12 per kw so running your lights at night is the way to go