Power Consumption / Light Cost

GrowKilo

Active Member
hI,

AFriend have the Grow Led´s ,and he say ist Bullshit !!

It´s in >The Flowering by Day 38 he have very very smal smal Buds,very small Budskiss-ass
similar experience here, but you need to have the right LED imho - which is CREE & Osram. I think then you can win
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
I read page one of this thread and then just read this page. Forgive me if it's been covered, but is anyone spending much time or effort investigating ways to reduce power consumption by the environmental control equipment? Am I the only one?!

I can cool a 10kW op with just 2 Tons, with all the tricks I've learned. Anyone else care to hear about it?
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
I'm still curious as i'm sure others are...
Glad to hear it! I use water chilling as an environmental control system. That means the chiller can sit at the end of a long pair of hoses and still be very effective. It also allows the same system to chill the nutrient reservoir of RDWC systems as handles the temperature and RH of the space. This means the HVAC system can be integrated and consolidated, and using water as the heat transfer fluid is much more efficient than air.

Having run chillers for years, today is momentous; I'm installing a dual circuit heat pump even now! It will have the same cooling circuit for all the above reasons but now, the unit will pump the heat into a hot side circuit I'll use to heat my home, dehumidify my growing spaces and much more. All this heat is mine, so I'm only paying to reclaim and move it. That's much less costly than burning more natural gas to create heat all over again. The combination allows for a very high level of environmental control over one's grow. And free cogenerated heat.

But wait- there's more! Next month I'll be installing a large array COB LED lighting system. The efficiency advantages of the new chips are well documented elsewhere on this site, suffice to say that it will pull 4800W = 20A@240V, and at 56% efficiency as built will deliver nearly double the light intensity of the next best HID choice.

And I'm just gettin' started!
 

OneHitDone

Well-Known Member
Glad to hear it! I use water chilling as an environmental control system. That means the chiller can sit at the end of a long pair of hoses and still be very effective. It also allows the same system to chill the nutrient reservoir of RDWC systems as handles the temperature and RH of the space. This means the HVAC system can be integrated and consolidated, and using water as the heat transfer fluid is much more efficient than air.

Having run chillers for years, today is momentous; I'm installing a dual circuit heat pump even now! It will have the same cooling circuit for all the above reasons but now, the unit will pump the heat into a hot side circuit I'll use to heat my home, dehumidify my growing spaces and much more. All this heat is mine, so I'm only paying to reclaim and move it. That's much less costly than burning more natural gas to create heat all over again. The combination allows for a very high level of environmental control over one's grow. And free cogenerated heat.

But wait- there's more! Next month I'll be installing a large array COB LED lighting system. The efficiency advantages of the new chips are well documented elsewhere on this site, suffice to say that it will pull 4800W = 20A@240V, and at 56% efficiency as built will deliver nearly double the light intensity of the next best HID choice.

And I'm just gettin' started!
What if you run into a situation in the winter where the cobs are not generating enough IR to get the canopy temps into the desired range?
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
What if you run into a situation in the winter where the cobs are not generating enough IR to get the canopy temps into the desired range?
Remember the part about pulling the same watts? That means the same ultimate heat. The light turns into heat- and RH when it hits plants- so it's all the same. I'm going to have absolutely no problem keeping my home warm or my plants, either day or night.
 

VTMi'kmaq

Well-Known Member
All you need to do is download the spreadsheet and enter a few bits of info.

How it works

To calculate your cost per month you will need a copy of your last few power bills, and this spread sheet. If you just want to estimate and know how your power billing works just check out the pic.

First you need to find out how much your power company charges you and how much you allready use. Take your power bills out to do this.
There are three things you will need Total Usage, a Baseline power allotment (this is important as you go over this Base the price per kWh will increase), and the Pricing.

Next find your setup, or enter your own on the Lights sheet.

Lastly enter your info. Start with info from your bills.
Previous Usage cells, enter your Total Usage from your last 3 bills.
Baseline, find and fill in you baseline power allotment.
Pricing, Dont worry if all the entrys arn't on your bill, they usualy increase by $0.05, just fill them ALL in.
Your Lights,enter the number you looked up on the Lights sheet.

On to Version 2. Let me start by adding this post
By using the new Ohm's Law section you will be able to get even more exact with your estimate. I recomend useing this section to get your actual watt usage. As pointed out by babygro and A Good Keen Man useing only bulb comsumption and not power loss in the ballast will throw your results by up to 15%. By useing Ohms Law i think it will be more around 5% Give or Take so I added a range of costs derived from -5% to +5% less or more KWh usage.

98% of electronic equipment will have its Amps posted on it somewhere. As for your voltage just about everyone should know their local voltage but it is usualy posted to.


Refferances:
GCSE Physics: kilowatt-hour <---How to do the math yourself.
Electric Bill Detail - PG&E Bill <---Sample Bill.
download: Download Central <---Free Open Office

Well I hope this is informative and helps you find your right setup for your homes Power Base. To unlock document toke.


-=4:20=-Guy, Dec 7, 2006
Damn they kicked the dust off this one didnt they? lol
 

Be kind

Member
How many light would it take to get your meter running at 27,845kwh?! I only have 6 hoods with 600w bulbs and 6 600ballasts with a professional breaker box put in and 240v plug ins hooked to breaker
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
How many light would it take to get your meter running at 27,845kwh?! I only have 6 hoods with 600w bulbs and 6 600ballasts with a professional breaker box put in and 240v plug ins hooked to breaker
One thouie on a magnetic ballast is 1100W, or 26.4kW if it's on all day. X30 days is 800kW. Times 3.6 for your number of 600W lamps and there's your 25kWh. The rest is your fridge, lights and Xbox.
 

Be kind

Member
I own a shop with nothing in it but my grow and the power surged the last month of flowering the first 2 months were relatively low for some reason so now I am like wtf..but you have to be right
 
We have time of use pricing in my part of Ontario... I run my lights from 7pm-7am. My 1K, 400W, 250W of T5HO's, and my 900Cfm exhaust and circulation fans cost me about $130/ month. Hydro is priced at something like:

On Peak: 18.6c /kW/hr
Mid Peak: 13c /kW/hr
Low Peak: 9.3c /kW/hr

Ontario hydro sucks.... But even a new grower should be able to pull a lb./1K $2000-$4500 per light will cover pretty much startup and hydro. Covering costs every grow after should be 80-90% profit :)
 
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