Energy costs to run a 20x30 grow (numbers posted)

Renfro

Well-Known Member
LED lighting really does knock down the cooling requirements. Not only do you have less watts to cool but due to the lack of infrared wavelengths we need a warmer canopy temperature (air temp) to achieve optimal leaf surface temperature. The IR light is what makes your hand feel warm under a HPS light. IR warms up surfaces it hits (leafs) but also walls and floors.

So lets assume we are working with ambient CO2 levels and the strain we are growing loves 79F canopy temperatures under HPS. If we switch to the HLG LED's and lose that IR we would need a canopy temperature around 83 - 85F. That means our AC unit doesn't have to work nearly as hard.

Sorry if you already know all that...
 

Renfro

Well-Known Member
i'm running led light and i wasnt really comparing grows since only $120-150 of that 300+ is my grow the rest is me being a pussy when it's cold
...i crank the heat up in the winter lol
lol I hear ya, what do you like your canopy temps at? What LED do you run? Got a journal?
 

outliergenetix

Well-Known Member
lol I hear ya, what do you like your canopy temps at? What LED do you run? Got a journal?
i have an insta under the same name with old pics i dont social media much and not at all these days. i may even have a video or two on yt from cpl years back. those would all be hid grows though and various methods. ive done it all hydro, coco, soil etc. now tho i do organic recycled soil and i make 90% of the inputs myself via composting traditionally, with worms and also with roaches. as for the lights i recently started upgrading to mid power led. i have two mars sp250s and 2 tsl2000s and i also have 5 old blurples my brother gave me to run till i get more mid power diodes. i have retired the hids except i may open a veg area in the meantime with em till i get more leds. im gonna probably start running ,multiple small chambers for various projects because my adhd pulls me in a million directions. i make seeds and i like some sensimelia to lol. prolly gonna go with 4 2x4 flower tents(300-400watts each) with my two closets as overflow if needed and an 8x4 tent running 800watts for veg/seedlings/ maybe an occasional standout mom should i be so lucky.
 
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outliergenetix

Well-Known Member
i have an insta under the same name with old pics i dont social media much and not at all these days. i may even have a video or two on yt from cpl years back. those would all be hid grows though and various methods. ive done it all hydro, coco, soil etc. now tho i do organic recycled soil and i make 90% of the inputs myself now via composting traditionally, with worms and also with roaches. as for the lightsi recently started upgrading to mid power led. i have two mars sp250s and 2 tsl2000s and i also have 5 old blurples my brother gave me to run till i get more mid power diodes. i have retired the hids except i may open a veg area in the meantime with em till i get more leds. im gonna probably start running ,multiple small chambers for various projects because my adhd pulls me in a million directions. i make seeds and i like some sensimelia to lol. prolly gonna go with 4 2x4 flower tents(300-400watts each) with my two closets as overflow if needed and an 8x4 tent running 800watts for veg/seedlings/ maybe an occasional standout mom should i be so lucky.
lol I hear ya, what do you like your canopy temps at? What LED do you run? Got a journal?
i realized i didnt answer the canopy temp question in my last reply. i am usually around 84-86 rn but there are runs that are lower temp than optimal with led lights. temps like 79-81 because i have venting into my cold attic from my grow closets. if i turn on the exhast fan i can keep that shit under 79 and it will go down to like 66 at night with fan off even, but that is winter. if i get these 2x4 tents though my whole set up will be different. rn the closets are temprary, but have been for over a year. i am eventually going back to my basement hopefully with the array of tents to keep grows quarantined a bit
 

DoubleAtotheRON

Well-Known Member
okay how the fuck my electric bill is over $300 some months in the winter time and that is not running ac/heat in the grow area lol. how are you doing two houses and a 20x30 grow for 200 more?
This is true, rural rate here is 8.9 cents per KWH. We will typically burn 220-300 KWH per day during veg, and 180-200 during flower. It’s just cheaper here for juice. Plus, everything we have is new and very energy efficient like the LED’s, mini split, dehuyes, etc. We have added and built out a processing room since this original thread, and have added more T5 lighting, and a 18,000 BTU AC unit. Here’s a current bill. It really hasn’t changed much tho, but I think it’s due to the fact that I just replaced my home AC system to the latest seer rating I could get, and that offset the new buildout operating costs.

0EFAF3BD-84E6-4FA4-BC85-29CAC934F57B.png
 
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outliergenetix

Well-Known Member
This is true, rural rate here is 8.9 cents per KWH. We will typically burn 220-300 KWH per day during veg, and 180-200 during flower. It’s just cheaper here for juice. Plus, everything we have is new and very energy efficient like the LED’s, mini split, dehuyes, etc. We have added and built out a processing room since this original thread, and have added more T5 lighting, and a 18,000 BTU AC unit. Here’s a current bill. It really hasn’t changed much tho, but I think it’s due to the fact that I just replaced my home AC system to the latest seer rating I could get, and that offset the new buildout operating costs.

View attachment 4572305
i wasn't saying it wasn't true it was just shocking. i thinki pay 14-15c kwh i havent looked recently but it was as low as 13 cents at one point. my insulation needs to be modernized to i live in an old east coast house
 

DoubleAtotheRON

Well-Known Member
i wasn't saying it wasn't true it was just shocking. i thinki pay 14-15c kwh i havent looked recently but it was as low as 13 cents at one point. my insulation needs to be modernized to i live in an old east coast house
Gotta admit after hearing from others... it's not bad at all. The grow room is inside of an insulated building. The grow walls are 8 inches thick with spray foam insulation on 2 sides, and 6 inches on the other 2. So you can see how it would be efficient. I had shut everything down a couple of weeks ago at 68 degrees.. went in there today to clean trays and get ready for the next run, and it never varied by more than 1-2 degrees with nothing running, and it's been in the 80's. If you open the door too fast, your ears will pop. The ceiling is 12-14 inches deep in spray foam insulation as well.

PS.. I was just saying that it is true that rural rates are cheaper than city rates. I could get a discount at 7.8 cents per KWH, but I dont think it would matter that much.. besides, they can mind their own business.
 

Bignutes

Well-Known Member
We use BM7 for a medium. It has worked well for us. Startup/buildout was approximately 55K.
Just saw this, a new micro grower I know just spent $250,000 CDN on each outfitted C-can. You did it for $91.66/sqft, she did hers for $781/sqft. Well done Aaron! I thought she was crazy, now I know she is lol. I was thinking about $50k for a c-can, pretty close. You did a lot of it yourself I imagine where she had all hers contracted out.
 

outliergenetix

Well-Known Member
Gotta admit after hearing from others... it's not bad at all. The grow room is inside of an insulated building. The grow walls are 8 inches thick with spray foam insulation on 2 sides, and 6 inches on the other 2. So you can see how it would be efficient. I had shut everything down a couple of weeks ago at 68 degrees.. went in there today to clean trays and get ready for the next run, and it never varied by more than 1-2 degrees with nothing running, and it's been in the 80's. If you open the door too fast, your ears will pop. The ceiling is 12-14 inches deep in spray foam insulation as well.

PS.. I was just saying that it is true that rural rates are cheaper than city rates. I could get a discount at 7.8 cents per KWH, but I dont think it would matter that much.. besides, they can mind their own business.
rock on my man. i'm jealous of your space and electricity prices. one day i hope to be in a place i can grow that large scale
 

DoubleAtotheRON

Well-Known Member
Just saw this, a new micro grower I know just spent $250,000 CDN on each outfitted C-can. You did it for $91.66/sqft, she did hers for $781/sqft. Well done Aaron! I thought she was crazy, now I know she is lol. I was thinking about $50k for a c-can, pretty close. You did a lot of it yourself I imagine where she had all hers contracted out.
Thanks man!.. we did contract out, but I don't know how the fuck you spend that much on this amount of space!..... she might be crazy. We didn't lift a finger on the build other than installing the intake, and paint on the grow room.
 
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