saving electricity

I see alot of questions about electrical usage, and how to cut corners.
I have a simple technique for you.
Most lights are rated for 110/240 if yours is one of those lights....

Use the 240 instead of the 110 and you will save 50% on your bill.

800 watts @ 120 volts uses 6.7 amps

800 watts @ 240 volts is only 3.3 amps

240 will make the meter spin slower...

you can safely use up to 80% of the circuit breaker.

This is simple, easy and indisputable. lol
Peace.

did you watch home improvement with Tim Allen lately? he had this issue once in one of his Christmas lightning orgies, town made a tim taylor Christmas law limiting him to some odd number of watts he would be aloud to use, so he switched to 240 to get more out of the juice and bypass the law damn, i loved that show

anyway, once again, thx videoman for all our useful wisdom you share with us

videoman40 said:

I see alot of questions about electrical usage, and how to cut corners.
I have a simple technique for you.
Most lights are rated for 110/240 if yours is one of those lights....

Use the 240 instead of the 110 and you will save 50% on your bill.

800 watts @ 120 volts uses 6.7 amps

800 watts @ 240 volts is only 3.3 amps

240 will make the meter spin slower...

you can safely use up to 80% of the circuit breaker.

This is simple, easy and indisputable. lol
Peace.

Click to expand...

I hate to disagree but I must. Watts = Volts x Amps. You stated this basicly and you are correct. The problem is that your meter is metering your amps at a specific voltage. Mine in metering at 110v. So If I just use 6.6 amps at 110v then my meter shows 6.6 amps used. But if I use 3.3 amps at 220v then my meter will still show 6.6 amps used. I wish I could get free power by tweeking the voltage used... but unfortunately it still meters all the power used no mater what voltage.

You can test this by using basic algebra and plugging the figures back in to the formua:
Watts = Volts x Amps
or Amps = Watts / Volts
or Volts = Watts / Amps

It still uses the same net power whether you are at 110v or 220v or some other voltage.

" The problem is that your meter is metering your amps at a specific voltage"

What your saying is flawed, atleast in the US, where I live, are you telling me that if you have an 240v electric-dryer, that you have a seperate electric meter for it?

What the power co measures is VA. Volt amps. simillar to watts but differrent.


OHMS LAW is universal and as such...

if you run your ballasts off the highest voltage you have available that they are compatible with you will use less power than at a lower voltage which will result in money savings on your bill.

This was supplied to me by a master electrician, however my neighbor is one also, and I will conform with him too.

If you cant pay the bill DONT GROW.............

Nobody has even mentioned stealing electricity in this thread. Nor would I recommend it.

FELONIOUSCARPO said:

If you cant pay the bill DONT GROW.............

Click to expand...

videoman40 said:

I have two neighbors who are electricians, and both of them confirm that running at 240 will certainly save electricity.

Click to expand...

Now you need an adapter for this I'm guessing. My air conditoner is on a 240 line, but has a different plug setup.

The formula for converting Watts to Amps is : Watts = Amps * Volts

The formula for converting Amps to Watts is : Amps = Watts / Volts

SAFTEY WARNING : Only use 80% of the circuit breaker capacity!

Common Conversions North American and other 110 volt countries

Lights :
1000W / 110V = 9.1A
600W / 110V = 5.4A
400W / 110V = 3.6A
250W / 110V = 2.3A

Circuits :
10A * 110V = 1100W and 80% safe usage is 880W
15A * 110V = 1650W and 80% safe usage is 1320W
25A * 110V = 2750W and 80% safe usage is 2200W
30A * 110V = 3300W and 80% safe usage is 2640W

Common Conversions British Commonwealth and other 240 volt countries

Lights :
1000W / 240V = 4.1A
600W / 240V = 2.5A
400W / 240V = 1.7A
250W / 240V = 1.1A

Circuits :
10A * 240V = 2400W and 80% safe usage is 1920W
15A * 240V = 3600W and 80% safe usage is 2880W
25A * 240V = 6000W and 80% safe usage is 4800W
30A * 240V = 7200W and 80% safe usage is 5760W

Remember that a circuit services more than one power outlet.
A two outlet wall plug will use only one circuit.
There will be more outlets on 240V systems per circuit than there will be in 110V systems.

240 and 120 use te same KwH

kilowatthours


by converting to 240 you can use more ligts on one circut however te price of running tat wattage will be te same.

Well abudsmoker, I disagree with you. Sorry. So do three electricians.
Peace

Hey videoman, I've enjoyed your posts and have found them very helpfull. I have to respectfully disagree with you on this one. Here is some information that I got from High Tech Garden Supply's website in the FAQ's section:


120 volt or 240 volt, am I saving electricity?
This is the biggest myth in the indoor gardening world. There is absolutely no energy savings by using 240 volts instead of 120 volts. Remember back to your high school science class, you learned something called "Ohm's Law", that states P = I * E. In this equation, P = Power (watts), I = current (Amps), E = Voltage. To demonstrate, a typical 400 watt HPS lighting system is rated at 3.8 Amps at 120 volts or 1.9 Amps at 240 volts. (This information can be found on the electrical label found on your lighting system's ballast unit). Therefore the energy used for the 400w HPS light for the different voltages is: 120v = 3.8 Amps x 120 volts = 456 watts 240v = 1.9 Amps x 240 volts = 456 watts While there is no energy savings associated with using 240 volts, there is an advantage for indoor gardens that are utilizing many lights. Basically you can operate twice the amount of lighting systems on a 240 volt circuit than you can on a 120 volt circuit.

videoman40 said:

Well abudsmoker, I disagree with you. Sorry. So do three electricians.
Peace

Click to expand...

your sparkys and you are wrong. i suggest you google it. peace

You know posts like this spread rumors that start huge misinformation. when i make a post its not some misinformed jibberish.
and if you learn and understand how exactly your meter is calculated to kilowatthours and te formulas needed you could have answered this question. i would suggest you also find more suitable electricians to gain insight from.

Those 3 electricians you know must have been smoking your dope. LOL

videoman,

I would love to give you more reputation points but it won't let me.. YOU rock!!!

heres an idea if you want to save some electricity.!!


Turn Off All Appliances After using Them.!!

abudsmoker said:

240 and 120 use te same KwH

kilowatthours


by converting to 240 you can use more ligts on one circut however te price of running tat wattage will be te same.

Click to expand...

I'm afraid now that after looking into things I would definately have to agree with abudsmoker, this information is false, I knew it would be incorrect here in england as I knew for a fact that you get charged per kilowatt hour.

After checking out how you get billed for your electricity in the USA it is exactly the same, you dont get charged for how many amps you draw you get charged per kilo-watt hour, so its down to how many watts the bulbs take in.

So if your bulb uses for exapmle 1000 watts then you will pay for a kilo watt hour every hour you use it if its on 120 240 or what ever volts it doesnt really matter you get charged for the watts.

Standard Offer Service
How electricity is charged!!

Garden Knowm said:

videoman,

I would love to give you more reputation points but it won't let me.. YOU rock!!!

Click to expand...

I'm sorry to do this but I feel i need to give you neg rep GK for applauding mis-information seeing as you are a site moderator and all.

nongreenthumb said:

I'm sorry to do this but I feel i need to give you neg rep GK for applauding mis-information seeing as you are a site moderator and all.

Click to expand...

what misinformation did I give..


Are you saying that Videoman - doesn't rock? yikes!!!!!

iloveyou

I just read this entire thread... and I think I have found my problem.. LOL..

I don't think that using 220-240 will save MONEY on the electricity bill.. I actually know that it won't.. from experience... nor did I ever say that it would... I just said that videoman rocks... and I still think he rocks... This is a great topic..

iloveyou