BRO your math is way off on your electric cost..... 24 1000w hps systems.="That would put my bill at about 460 bucks " now way in the world ..
24 1000 watt light s = 24lights x1000watts each x 12hrs per day x28 days per month/divided by 1000 = 8064 kilowatts used the rate utility company charges for power
in California......... pge charges at cheapest level 17 cents per kilowatt hour..... so if you lived in California that would be 8064 x .17 =1370.88 just for the flowering lights ...on the cheapest level...
if you live in the same house and have heat, computers , hot water heaters dishwasher watch tv and shit.. your bill is going to be closer 1700 -2000 each month...
in reality PGE and in California charges on an increasing sliding scale .. so first 1000 kilowatts is .17 then the second is .22 then up to .44 cents so ...and so on ... this varies from area to area and month to month BUT this is what it was last month
as of last month in santa cruz california three 1000 watt plus 2 400 watt cfl plus 4 8ft floresent light bars plus pumps timers and fans was $750 bucks ...
i had an extremely low baseline because my house was listed as natural gas heat.. i called pge and they came out and saw the electric heat and switched me to a higher baseline.. or my bill would have been way over $1000.. the guy was cool and only looked where i took him.. so no one was the wiser. but i was stressed for sure.
electric companies have a BASELINE usage ... which means the ammount and average house of this size will use anything over that baseline they usually will charge more per kilowatt..
if it soars to 4-5 times baseline .. they will asume the meter is broken and try to figure out what is going on....
In the usa it takes more than a high elec. bill for a search warrent but.. cops often get electric use info illegally or through second hand info like a service man tells someone or makes a joke to a buddy about the hippies and the insane power bill ..... and they are on your ass ...anway they will do a knock and talk and ask ya whats going on and if they smell weed or see dreadlocks or grow supplies .. they are gonna come back with a warrent .....depending on where you live...
In practise in northern california it is not uncommon to have $2000 light bills .. I had one that was $3800 once in humboldt county... blew it up and then moved... so its like i said it depends on where you live.
if you live in the south your busted for anything out of the $375 -400 range...
if you realy want to get a 24 1000 hps going get a 30,000 watt propane generator from costco and have at it ..grow that shit.
i have switched to light movers on six foot rails which takes care of a 4x8 area its way cheaper and yeilds are just as good and i have no heat issues
good luck
Yeah most of what you say is true, my rates for the first 640kw are 4.326 cents and anything above and beyond that is 5.9 cents. Supposedly cheapest in the country. I know that there is no way i can run 24000 i do want to run half that. i believe when i did that math that that would be around 400 bucks. Electricity is so cheap now, assuming it will not be like this forever, why not take advantage of it. I cannot believe what others are paying it is absolutely outrageous. When i did the math i just assumed at the higher rate plan. Right now, I have durban poison, ww, and some strain called lavender which ive never heard about, but looks amazing from what ive seen, crystals the size of rhinestones.
That is what i have for equipment, i am just trying to figure out what i can use safely and under the radar. I know i ll be on the high end of the radar. I keep have these weird thoughts about buying a fake or broken 3 ton ac unit and put in the back yard and i have an old 5 person jacuzzi, do lay of some off some the concerns when the meter guy comes out.
If i had ten lights say, would you guys recommend running five on a time. Some will be upstairs some downstairs. Kind of even off meter readings, or possibly all on a night like i have done in the past (smaller scale). I clone strictly under cfls and use no veg time. As soon as there rooted they go under 12-12.
I am thinking about doing 4 per sq ft lollipopped. and running a 6x6 or 7x7 area. I know 7x7 is pushing it but only the plants on the outside would be affected. I am going to use mylar and these lights are air cooled so heat should be too much of an issue. During the summer months when it gets alittle warmer, i will use c02 so my temps can rise. Only get about 10 or days in the 90s.
I know the age old questions doesnt have an answers but if you were a gambler. If you ran 144 plants in a 6x6 area of ww, i hope to get approximately 4-8 grams a plant. That would put me at 1.25 pounds to 2.5 pounds per light, which i can live with. Run cycles ever 2.5 months, I should be alright.
The state I live in's law is grouped together like, anything under 50 pounds selling or growing, is like up to 9 months or 5k fine first offense or both. Which is still the same as have a couple of ounces. it goes from anything more than one ounce to 50 pounds.
thanks agin for all the input
