Looking to save elctricity

abellguy

abellguy

Active Member
BigBudBalls said:
volts x amps = watts. (100V x 10A = 1000W or 200V X 5A = 1000W)
Amps drop proportionally to voltage.
You are billed on watts.

demand usage can create different rates.

But hey, I'm just going by the laws of psychics, what do they know?
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Never knew there was a electric panel rated in watts, mine is rated in amps as most are. The electric company charges by the kilowatt hour if you want to use less of them, hook your lights up to 240. Especially if you have more than one. Hope this helps bongsmilie
 
Lennard

Lennard

Well-Known Member
I dont call it saving electricity I call it maximizing my yeild / consumption... you wanna be smart with it like not use 1000watter all the way thru for one plant what makes sense in that. 240v US is 2 120v poles combined, combined means to share theres no gain when you share just two wires carry 1/2 the load.
 
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DaGambler

Well-Known Member
Well... BigBudBalls seems to be making some sense (though i havn't enough sense myself to be sure)... but i like what i hear... 'cuz the idea that i'm wasting tons-o-money on 120v has been bothering me lately after reading some other related posts. Guess i'll not worry about it so much.

I do avoid using a.c. ... and i only turn on my hot water heater for 15 mintues before taking a shower. and i like living in a dark cave :D
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abellguy

abellguy

Active Member
I am not an electrician so I can't give you the exact reason why it saves money, but here is why I use them. I was working with some industrial electricians a few years back, I always saw the 240 lights and thought what the hell are those for but I learned real quickly in my 18 years of growing in FL you don't say shit to anybody about anything ever so when going to the grow store I never asked word one. Well when we were getting ready to get all our supplies for our setup, they saw the 240 and said get those and I was like what for? And they explained all this stuff I didn't quite understand but in the end said it would save us money.

Well all I knew was it wasn't going to cost us any more money so I thought what the hell. Long story short, as I said I had quite a few years worth of time to compare it to, when we set up we went with double the number of lights and I didn't notice much of a difference in the electric bills I was used to. They completly upgraded the electric service specific to do what we wanted. And from there on out I have never used another 120v again and I am far from using 1 so my bill has always been quite a bit. But not near what the chart says it is supposed to cost me for the number bongsmilie
 
K

kubrickzghost

New Member
strictly seedleSs said:
Looking to save electricity, i want to convert my ballasts to 240. I was wondering how much electricity that would save. 10%, 25%, none, help me out please.
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It will double your electricity bill if you go from 110/120 to 240. It's double the voltage. Duh!

Or maybe I'm just stoned and screwing with your head. Please don't convert anything. lol, sorry. I couldn't resist.
:fire:
 
BigBudBalls

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
abellguy said:
Never knew there was a electric panel rated in watts, mine is rated in amps as most are. The electric company charges by the kilowatt hour if you want to use less of them, hook your lights up to 240. Especially if you have more than one. Hope this helps bongsmilie
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Never said panels were rated in watts.
 
Relaxed

Relaxed

Well-Known Member
I read recently a seedbank grower who only uses 6 hrs. for flowering vs. 12 hrs. He said the reduction of yield is min....Worth trying to save some bucks.
 
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DaGambler

Well-Known Member
Relaxed said:
I read recently a seedbank grower who only uses 6 hrs. for flowering vs. 12 hrs. He said the reduction of yield is min....Worth trying to save some bucks.
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'seedbank grower'... the yeild of seeds might not be significantly reduced... but i bet flower production and, more importantly, trichome production is significantly reduced.
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Relaxed

Relaxed

Well-Known Member
This is a quote but I can't remember exactly where for a link. No secrect, you can ask him?

"Elite genetics
yeah bro using 6 hours of light per day you can even leave them in the dark for 18 hrs & it still will get super frosted large colas,buds still every bit as potent as normal & the yield lost is not anything like you'd think..say you get 28grams per clone with 6 hours light per day, you would have only gotten 35 grams or less using 12 hours of light..its the only way i grow now all these pix im posting are 6 hours of light per day..most are very seeded & even the seeds mature at the same time(4-5 weeks) as if i used 12 hours light per day"




 
L

Luv2Gro

Well-Known Member
abellguy said:
I am not an electrician so I can't give you the exact reason why it saves money, but here is why I use them. I was working with some industrial electricians a few years back, I always saw the 240 lights and thought what the hell are those for but I learned real quickly in my 18 years of growing in FL you don't say shit to anybody about anything ever so when going to the grow store I never asked word one. Well when we were getting ready to get all our supplies for our setup, they saw the 240 and said get those and I was like what for? And they explained all this stuff I didn't quite understand but in the end said it would save us money.

Well all I knew was it wasn't going to cost us any more money so I thought what the hell. Long story short, as I said I had quite a few years worth of time to compare it to, when we set up we went with double the number of lights and I didn't notice much of a difference in the electric bills I was used to. They completly upgraded the electric service specific to do what we wanted. And from there on out I have never used another 120v again and I am far from using 1 so my bill has always been quite a bit. But not near what the chart says it is supposed to cost me for the number bongsmilie
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abell, why is it that there are so many uninformed souls on this site spreading complete bullshit.... you are billed for your service in kwh, agreed, what you obviously don't understand is ohm's law...
this means that if you switch to 240v from 120v you do actually cut your amp draw in half, but, by doubling your voltage the watts, which we are billed in stays the same... I (current) x E (voltage) = P (watts)
not to get too complicated but:
120v x ?amps=400w.... amps = 3.33
240v x ?amps=400w.... amps = 2

i think you don't understand, a 400w lite is a 400w lite, is a 400w lite, it still consumes 400w no matter which voltage is connected... simply draws less amps which could possibly lead to a very very very little gain in effeciency, less that 1% for sure...
I will grant you that thinner wire can be used to run to the lighting which can save you a little money during setup, and possibly minimal loss is avoided by going with 240 as compared to 120...

you said earlier in the post that you can run 2x 1000w on 240v for the same price as 1x 1000w on 120, this is completely impossible, it is obvious you don't understand electricity...

don't try to get on this site and spew falsehoods, i realize you don't understand, but please for the sake of newbies and others that are "in the dark" about electricity don't act like you know what you're talking about, b/c to someone that understands electricity it is perfectly obvious you have no fkn idea...

really not trying to be a big dik in this post, just don't understand why people try to act like experts in areas they know nothing about, lets all pitch in where we know the topic, leave what we don't know for those who do...
 
abellguy

abellguy

Active Member
Luv2Gro said:
abell, why is it that there are so many uninformed souls on this site spreading complete bullshit.... you are billed for your service in kwh, agreed, what you obviously don't understand is ohm's law...
this means that if you switch to 240v from 120v you do actually cut your amp draw in half, but, by doubling your voltage the watts, which we are billed in stays the same... I (current) x E (voltage) = P (watts)
not to get too complicated but:
120v x ?amps=400w.... amps = 3.33
240v x ?amps=400w.... amps = 2

i think you don't understand, a 400w lite is a 400w lite, is a 400w lite, it still consumes 400w no matter which voltage is connected... simply draws less amps which could possibly lead to a very very very little gain in effeciency, less that 1% for sure...
I will grant you that thinner wire can be used to run to the lighting which can save you a little money during setup, and possibly minimal loss is avoided by going with 240 as compared to 120...

you said earlier in the post that you can run 2x 1000w on 240v for the same price as 1x 1000w on 120, this is completely impossible, it is obvious you don't understand electricity...

don't try to get on this site and spew falsehoods, i realize you don't understand, but please for the sake of newbies and others that are "in the dark" about electricity don't act like you know what you're talking about, b/c to someone that understands electricity it is perfectly obvious you have no fkn idea...

really not trying to be a big dik in this post, just don't understand why people try to act like experts in areas they know nothing about, lets all pitch in where we know the topic, leave what we don't know for those who do...
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Thank you for the lesson on ohms law, not that I haven't seen those figures before thier in every grow catolog, your right I do not understand why it is that it saves me money. I also agree with you that you should not share information about topics unless you have direct experience with the topic and that is exactly what I am doing is sharing my experience with you. I guess I will add a disclamer that indvidual results may vary as when different people are growing plants you get different results.

Most people seem to be intersted in what it will do for one light be it a 250, 400, 600 or 1000. I don't think you will see much difference with just one never done that, the fewest I have ever used is 4K and most times a quite a few more.

My opinion on why they have 240v lights is when you use a bunch of them it saves money. What is your opinion on why they have them?
 
BigBudBalls

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
abellguy said:
My opinion on why they have 240v lights is when you use a bunch of them it saves money. What is your opinion on why they have them?
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Why 240 lights? Europe? Euro does NOT have 120VAS, but 230 VAC (single phase, a single 230VAC hot and a single neutral, not our bastarized 240) So a single unit can work elsewhere.

Also if you look inside, you will see other options.
208 and 277 (typical of a single leg of a 3 phase US factory install)
120 for home use
230/240 for euro (euro 3 phase is typically 380 across any pair)

Then we can get into Wye vs Delta triple phase.

But I think I covered why there are 240 lights.
 
abellguy

abellguy

Active Member
Everyone is very egar to show me the value of ohms law, and I appreciate that but I already know how to get those numbers.

As far as ballasts being 240 for use in Europe that is something I wasn't aware of and thank you very much for that information. Not quite sure why they would offer them for sale here in the states though, I guess if you wanted to purchase it here and then you were going to be moving to Eroupe.

Again most people are thinking if it cost around $40 a month for one light that they are already running if they convert it to 240 it will cost $20. This is not the case, the reason is you are not changing the LOAD on your panel at all.

If you have a 100amp panel and your house is drawing 90 amps all the time and then you add a 240 1K light you arent going to notice any difference cause you are already using power uneffeciantly. If you have a 100amp panel and your normal house draw is 25 amps and you add 8K worth of 120v you will pay more than you will pay if you hook them up 240v with proper installation. Not to mention that with the 120 you are in extreme danger of burning your house down.

This is a situation I have direct experience with so no matter what you tell me about ohms law and all the other information it isn't going to make me change the FACT that I saved money.

I am in no way advocating that everyone should run out and change their single 600w light to 240 to save money. Just sharing my experience.
 
BigBudBalls

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
abellguy said:
This is a situation I have direct experience with so no matter what you tell me about ohms law and all the other information it isn't going to make me change the FACT that I saved money.
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I'm thinking you got a busted meter. Either its not reading one phase, or the readings are skewed/screwed up. But cool, I won't rat ya out :)

(plus you are the only one whose ever stated this as fact so thats why I went down the meter issue. I'm sitting here at home looking at 2 O'scopes and a logic analyzer shaking my head over basics. But I gotta work on my ballast anyways. Might try the 240VAC and see for myself. Did it for the Miracle Gro is crap and proved that wrong)
 
BigBudBalls

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
KaliKitsune said:
NO NO NO NO.

WATTS IS WATTS. 2000w regardless of voltage is still 2000w.
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But if yo have read this all the way through, and he has been truthfull (I have no reason to doubt other then sounds odd) He has claimed to have been growing for a long time. Switched to 240V 1/2 way through (give or take) and noticed the diff in the bill over years.


*That* is why I said I think his meter is (happily for him) screwed up.

But yes, watts is watts, and trying to beat via voltage change doesn't work (outside of a small area of FL)
 
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