Saving Electricity

[Mountainhigh]

I just read Nebula's new article on keeping electricity costs down... Great info!

Thought I'd add my two cents: Avoid growing during the hottest and coldest months of the year:

1. Grow auto's, which have a shorter season than photo-periods.
2. Do two auto grows a year, starting about April 1 and September 1 (adjust for your climate). That way, the outdoor temps will be closer to what you need indoors; heating/cooling costs will therefore be less.

[Mr.furley]

Saving money is always cool but it comes to a point that things are going to cost, finding a balance to being affordable is a good idea. Everyone's situation is different and doesn't always work for others.

I save money flowering photos in winter only. Sorry to rebuttal you but let me explain....

5f ATM, this week it will be -20f at night for a low. I run two 680watt light that stay on at night, all that heat (light is the byproduct of energy turned into heat) helps keeps my buildings warm. Veg/mother with a 420watt on a opposite schedule for supplemental heat around the grow in the day. so during the coldest time of the days in the coldest time of the year I blaze big lights not central heat, no A/C in the summer either as I do my big grows Nov to March. Cost breakdown runs me 18 to 22$ a oz with one winter grow that last me the rest of the year with endless use. That to me is the biggest money saver besides helping heating my house, which i would do anyhow one way or the other and not paying dispensary prices at 280$ + 25% tax a zip × 52 weeks = Stew-pit pricing.

Let's look at that math with the Auto thingy also.....

Photos
6 weeks veg 18/6 =756 kwh
10 weeks flower 12/12 = 840 kwh
Total 1596 kwh

Autos
90 days at 18/6 = 1620 kwh

Iv personally gone over that auto saving thing and it's just not a difference, especially if you run 20/4 or the plants go 120 day. It is a great article, you have good points for your grow just doesn't work in my world.

[ChubbNugg]

Dag Um ! "Look at the big brain on Furley" Now this is the Way to break it down. Good form. I got a light switch on my water heater. I flip it on once a day in the winter for a half hour and it last me all day. It consistently saves me 40 a month.

[Blowdout2269]

Those are the same tactics that I use.
Lovin the math skills!

[alltatup]

"Avoid growing during the hottest and coldest months of the year": Then I'd have to spend a shit ton of money buying weed.

[LemonBud]

I am with you. I couldnt afford buying all that pot thru the year.I got something growing all the time.

[OldManGrower]

I grow year round, both Photo's and Auto's. I only grow photo's in the summer, mostly Haze Strains as they appear to be better at resisting higher temperatures. In winter I do Autos as they seem to deal better with the cold. In between, depends on my schedule. I used to turn off my exhaust fan in winter and just allow convection to move air around the plants. However, I now use my exhaust fan at very low speeds due to the addition of a carbon filter as She Who Must Be Obeyed had demanded.

[Mountainhigh]

Mr.furley Hey, we've all got different ways of achieving the same goals: Growing enough great weed-- cheaply-- to stay out of the dispensaries (or off the street)... 6 autos (legal limit here) twice a year gives me 'way more than enough weed to accomplish the goal. Am I dealing with Dank and Dabbie here? How much you smokin'??? ;-)

Since I have LED's, there's almost no heat and very low watt consumption. If I had high-intensities it would be a different story-- I'd grow in the dead of winter like Mr.furley and do photos. Also, I don't have a grow-tent-- just an unused room over the garage that has to be heated/cooled. That's the main reason I need to avoid the extremes. Guess I should've mentioned that. Duh.

After the Great Grasshopper Plague of '19 I gave up on outdoors. If you can beat the weather, the critters, and the thieves-- that's the way to go.... Too much stress for me, though.

Gonna put a switch-- or a timer-- on the water heater... thanks.

OldManGrower. I like your avatar. Psychedelic weed is the best. Bet I'm older'n you...

[Mr.furley]

I also grow with led lighting, 680 true watts per unit puts out a good amount of heat, not as hot as my Hid setups but still a fair amount especially with multiples in one room.

I grow a good amount, never denied that here. Everyone has legal limits, my state says 8 per on a card, 4 per without one. Some peeps on here have more then one person in their household, some on here are straight outlaws, some on here are full of B.S. and some on here do this as a profession.
No matter which of the latter I am iv always says
"They tell me how many I can have but they don't tell me how big I can make them" I grow what I need, salve, tincture, oil, butter, hash, pressing, blasting, extraction all can eat up a great quality of flower and thats before I roll two joints in the morning.

Never going to knock someone for their style or suggestions just kind of a blunt intro to the thread, a little better explanation can go a long ways.

[secretagentegokiller]

Mr.furley

I'm doing the same as you as it fits the weather in my region. Have to heat anyway so utilize it. One of the things I truly should've utilized that was in the article is I started using my awake schedule for my lighting schedule on this grow. Thought trying to stay stealth from neighbors would be wise but since I'm now in the back stretch on this grow, I've come to realize no one knows and there's no light leaking so, next grow will be during "off-peak" for more $ savings.

Stay warm everyone that's in the path of this Artic blast. Keep the kids warm too. ✌️

[Mr.furley]

I have found that running your lights schedule at night gives the most control over the environment besides the cost fact that some deal with "peak hours", mine does very by the clock but by the usage. A running Thingy is a running thingy. Using the night also allows you to grow in and out of the "shoulder" season a lot longer, I'm sealed with automated climate control and can grow from Sept to late June with little A/C usage if need be, as I type it's -7f with -27f wind chill outside, big lights are at 60% with only 1 of 2 radiant heaters running on low setting. 72f inside with a Xmas flip coming. I can not recommend night growing enough.

Thank you for the well wishes, looks like everyone is getting it in the states.

[3Berries]

I add heat just prior to when the lights come on to bring the tent up to temp. So far 60F has been the low but the big chill is coming tomorrow. Seems to me I used a seedling mat as a heater last winter. I have the bucket heaters going too 24/7. The tent sits against the west wall a ways from the heater so it gets cold with the big winds. Wrapped it in reflective bubble wrap the other day.

[Mr.furley]

Timer method for a heat working opposite of the lights was one of my first tricks in stabilizing the environment.
With thing like Smart plugs and apps thing are getting easier to control and streamlined.

Good luck with the cold

[3Berries]

If you have room in the tent then water is the one of the best absorber and holder of heat there is. If there's room for a milk crate you can build a tower of these each holding 4 gallons of water. It would make an impressive difference. Or, if you have the height, then the low profile oil change drain pans work at about 5" thick. If you have high air flow when the lights are off it's not going to sustain good temps through the dark time, but slows down the loss.

Too high of air flow is really inefficient for removing the radiant heat. If you have ever been somewhere that uses the radiant heaters in the ceiling you know that it's not the air that is getting heated but objects with more mass. So the extra water containers would help by absorbing the radiant heat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_capacity

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_...eat_capacities

[ChubbNugg]

Them berries in your avatar photo look like big brains. I know where you get it from now!I keep 4, one gallon jugs of water in the freezer. It reduces recovery time and lower electric costs. And if the power goes out, and you don't open the door, them jugs will last 3 or 4 days.

[Mountainhigh]

Great idea! A friend used to keep his greenhouse warm at night with a small, 4-foot-deep pool. The liner was black, to absorb sun heat during the day... Kept the humidity up, too, which helps here in CO.

[Mountainhigh]

Mr.furley "kind of a blunt intro to the thread, a little better explanation can go a long ways."

Yeah... I should've added more info up front... better than trying to explain later.

[3Berries]

If you are using a fan to keep the air mixed up inside don't blow hot air down but cold air up. The cold air is denser and does a better job of mixing the air.

[changeofpace2014]

the fresh air intake is most likely at the bottom of the tent along with all the CO2...Good practice to blow CO2 rich / cool air up...

[ChubbNugg]

That's brilliant Change, I didn't think of that. is co2 heavier than ambient air? I know propane and natural gas are. But what about co2?

[3Berries]

CO2 is heavier than air and will accumulate near the floor without air movement.

[Mountainhigh]

Perhaps the biggest money savings I've found resulted from asking my local electric company how it charges me.

Its charges are based on two periods it calls "Peak" and "Off-Peak". "Peak" power usage here is more than three times as expensive as "Off-Peak"!
(My "Off-Peak" hours are between 10:00 p.m. and noon the following day, plus all day Sundays and holidays. Your local arrangement may differ widely...)

Avoiding usage during those daily "Peak" hours (as much as possible) has reduced my bill considerably. It's worth checking out.

[3Berries]

I've got a rural coop . They are top notch!. Not the cheapest electricity at around 15 cents a KWH but that is variable slightly. In towns the rates are around 12 cents but a larger utility.

[changeofpace2014]

Fine example of GOV BS....Do you remember when they were pitching the smart meters with the "it will save you $".... Yes it is the most effective means to save on hydro bill.

[3Berries]

I use to work for a large battery manufacturer and our electrical usage was quite high with all the additional requirements for charging the batteries several times as well as the manufacturing process. For a few years they went on the peak power plans but after a while it was costing too much in downtime waiting for the right time.

Illinois is blessed with copious nuclear electricity generation.

We have smart meters out here but all they do with it is 24/7 monitoring. Nice if you want to see your actual usage details.

[3Berries]

Keeping the fan blades and grills clean will keep them most efficient and reduce noise. A dryer sheet works good to clean and hold the dust (mostly dander). If the blades are aluminum handle them near the hub to avoid bending them as they all need to be on the same plane. Spinning them by hand sideways you can see if they are.