4x 1000 watt questions set up cost and e bill

spencer2121

spencer2121

Well-Known Member
how much would it cost me to run 4 1000 watt hps lights on 12/12 every month and then how (if i do scrog) should i do 4 or 8 plants in 7 gallon buckets or bigger?
also what would i need to check my breaker box for? 240v? and how do u even do that?
 
CanBud

CanBud

Well-Known Member
Depends on you Kw per hour rates as far as your power bill goes....I'm gonna guess around 3-4 dollars per day, plus you ventilation and other goodies. Hire an electrician too if you're concerned with any of that stuff, some dude just vaporized his house a few Kms away from mine because of poor wiring in his home based grow show.
 
roidrage152

roidrage152

Active Member
1000w lights would pretty much each need their own breaker unless u go 240v. In my opinion 1 220/240v 30 amp breaker would be perfect to control 4 lights with room for a couple fans. The wire guage necessary is readily available, and not terribly over price. I personally like to install a dryer outlet. I highly recommend 4 prong so u can have it safely wired with a mix of 220 and 110 outlets.

To calculate cost, check your electric bill for your kwh price. Keep in mind there is usaually a little bit lower price for night time. I just took an average, mine is about .13/kwh. Google for a kwh calculator there's tons of them. Run your lig cycle during the cheaper time, usually correlates better with temps that way anyhow.

In my experience 9 15 gallon pots well vegged fits perfectly under 4k watts or xxxl hoods. Layouts will vary based on strain, training, light footprint, veg length and other variables.
 
spencer2121

spencer2121

Well-Known Member
How many grams does the average decent grower get (dried )from using one 1000 watt. I'm gonna veg with a 1000wat metal halide. Let's say I'm growing a heavy yielder like bubblegum kush or purple kush
 
spencer2121

spencer2121

Well-Known Member
I'm gonna flower with hps. I'm considering 3 1000 watt switchables mostly for flower and a 400 watt metal halide for the mother plant. . Trying to get an idea of what I will harvest please help
 
roidrage152

roidrage152

Active Member
In regard to scrogging 15 gallon pots, 9 would still probably be the number scrog or not. If anything you would maybe want less pots, your canopy will be more even and efficient. I have entertained the option of a scrog, it would not change my footprint.

There are too many variables to look at when estimating yield. 1g/watt in flower is a popular baseline people shoot for. In general people consider that to be successful, but as I said there are alot of variables that could cause you to vary from that number significantly.

For a mother I wouldn't waste the juice on a 400w MH. She just needs to stay on life support, I'd personally do like a 100w true watt CFL or something and that would be more than enough for even a fairly large mother, larger than you would need for your size. Would cost you anywhere from $20-50 depending on how good you are at shopping.
 
W

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
Not to be snide or anything, but from your questions it's obvious that you've never grown.

I would suggest a much scaled down 'garden' and just get from germination to harvest a couple of times. That will be challenge enough, just gaining the experience.

Wet
 
roidrage152

roidrage152

Active Member
There is a wide range in number of plants you could conceivably too, its just a matter of how long you want to veg to fill the screen in your foot print if you scrog. I know people who do one large plant per 1000w with no scrog and they quite well. It's just a matter of how you grow them out and how effieciently you want to use available light. I mean there is a point where you could have too few plants and be wasting light, but I've damn sure never run into that problem. There is always some parts of some plants that I wish I had more light for.
 
spencer2121

spencer2121

Well-Known Member
I have grown. Just because I ask a question about energy cost does not mean I "obviously never grew" sheesh.
 
Metasynth

Metasynth

Well-Known Member
spencer2121 said:
I have grown. Just because I ask a question about energy cost does not mean I "obviously never grew" sheesh.
Click to expand...
I think he was basing it more on your "average yield" questions, which most growers with experience have already pretty much figured out. I'm not trying to fuel the fire, but I got the impression that you were inexperienced as well...

But to address your question about estimated yield; Pretty much all grow op's are different, and they will yield drastically different results based on a multitude of variables...It would be unfair to try to give you a dried weight estimate without knowing all these variables, as well as having intimate knowledge of the growers skill level. But if you could come close to .9 to 1 gram per watt, you would pretty much be dialed in...For an untested, new grow op...you should be happy with anything close to .5g/watt
 
spencer2121

spencer2121

Well-Known Member
Well considering I pulled 7-8oz dried in a 20x30 inch space that is 50inchs high I'd say I got the hang of it. I know how to keep temps in check. I know the basics, yeah I'm obviously still learning. But who isn't. Im not asking for criticism or for opinions on how big or small I should "start off" I'm simply asking what the experienced growers usually expect when they flower one plant under a 5x5 scrog. Damn, people use to be a lot more friendly and encouraging in this forum. Keeping in mind that strains vary as well as set ups etc. I'm inexperienced as far as a set up this big, sure. As long as I keep temps in check. Ph in check, feed when needed. Flush with distiller water. And make sure I don't get mites I feel pretty good about this op so please unless ur gonna encourage me or other guys on here, I'm asking u as polite as I can to just back off.
 
B

Bri Town USA

Member
roidrage152 said:
1000w lights would pretty much each need their own breaker unless u go 240v. In my opinion 1 220/240v 30 amp breaker would be perfect to control 4 lights with room for a couple fans. The wire guage necessary is readily available, and not terribly over price. I personally like to install a dryer outlet. I highly recommend 4 prong so u can have it safely wired with a mix of 220 and 110 outlets.

To calculate cost, check your electric bill for your kwh price. Keep in mind there is usaually a little bit lower price for night time. I just took an average, mine is about .13/kwh. Google for a kwh calculator there's tons of them. Run your lig cycle during the cheaper time, usually correlates better with temps that way anyhow.

In my experience 9 15 gallon pots well vegged fits perfectly under 4k watts or xxxl hoods. Layouts will vary based on strain, training, light footprint, veg length and other variables.
Click to expand...
This is good advice as far as the electrical safety goes. that should be your primary concern and is critical to all successful indoor operations. i would agree that one 220-240v 30amp breaker will do the trick. hire an electrician to come out and install a breaker. what i did was get a dryer outlet that worked with my light timer. it runs 4 1000 w hps lamps and my two fans that aircool them. the name of it is the powerbox dpc 7000 i think. its a handcrafted timer that comes with a 5 year warranty. as far as any multi 1000w successful grow goes, this is a vital asset and should be the first thing you buy so that your electrician can see what type of outlet will work with the plug. i have provided a link below for the powerbox light timer.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Powerbox-DPC-7500-Combo-4-Prong-30-Amp-Hydroponic-Light-Controller-Power-Box-/120801808538?pt=US_Hydroponics&hash=item1c2059509a
 
DemonTrich

DemonTrich

Well-Known Member
I run 1 600w for 12/12 at 110v, 1 600w for 18/6 at 110v, I 8000btu a/c unit (8.2 amps) 12/12, 1 430cfm fan for 18/6, 1 750cfm fan 24/7, 1 430cfm fan for 12/12, and 6 misc fans. my power bill is 400-450 a month. my running time are from 5pm to 11am for veg and 7pm to 7am for flower. 95% of all power is pulled during off peak. ill be moving soon and will be getting a newer meter and on the off peak program to help save money. ill also have my electrician pull me 2 220v lines for my lighting. hopefully it saves me a bit more cash.
 
A

adower

Well-Known Member
For the electricity part just look at your bill and work out the math. Where I am 4k watts plus AC is going to be about 1k a month.
 
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