My electric bill went up A LOT - Sounthern Cali

Hey all,

Should a 400w MH bulb use around the same wattage as equivilent CFL's combined? So should 20x23watt CFL's use 460watts? My bill went up WAY more with the CFL's compared to the MH bulb...but I had other factors in my household so I want to make sure it wasn't the new bulbs.

Thanks,

I don't think it's your lights man. I'm running about the same amount of lights, 20-26 watters (520 total watts) I noticed maybe a $30-$40 increase. Been steady like that for 6 months. Ran them 24/7 until maybe 2 months ago. Now 12/12. And yes, watts are watts.

60w is like a small halogen bulb(i bring that up to show how small 60w is in the big picture of things), and that 60w is the only difference in electricity your using. i doubt using 60 more watts would cause a huge bill increase, the other factors are where i would look.