any techniques on keeping the electric bill down?

[bluntman1588]

huge PG+E BILL. over 500$ in a 4 bedroom small house. one 600w hps. i was probably billed for half 12 hours on 12 off, high bill so we stopped running the ac for the most part, but started some new clones at 24 hours of light a day, got the next bill, and its a little bit higher. is this normal? i didnt think one light would cost THAT much per month, but i could be wrong.


am i doing something wrong? bulb needs to be replaced, its flickering could it be using up more energy or something?


if the bill is just straight up from the light, anyone have any tips to keep the bill down?

[dd3stp233]

A 600w bulb on 12 hours a day for 31 days, at the cost of 9.8cents per kilowatt hour (nation average price) would cost about $22.

600x12x31=223200 watts = 223.2 kilowatts 223.2x9.8cents=21.87 rounded to 22 dollars.

[bluntman1588]

our starting cost is 11 cents per kilowatt, but on the bill it shows that the more electricity used, the more it cost. so we get a certain amount of kw at 11, then it jumps to 15 and has climbed all the way up to 35 cents.

[ninfan77]

There's absolutely ZERO chance that 1x600w light even on 24/7 is costing you very much.

Ways to lower your bills:

1. If you have a family, cut their shower times.
2. If you have an electric laundry dryer, stop using it, or convert to propane (kit is free @ lowe's)
3. Convert your hot water tank to propane, like a $40 kit. google it.
4. Unplug all non essential appliances when not in use, tivo, dig box, pc, xbox, cell charger, These all use energy when plugged in, google "phantom energy"
5. Turn the lights off as long as possible all day/night.
6. All lights to CFL.

[M4N14C42O]

^all good points ninfan! Only thing that sucks is the price of propane these days.....fuckin ridiculous...

[ninfan77]

Yea, but it's going to be better than electric in a lot of the country soon. My local elec. co told me that within the next 18 months, rates are going up as high as 60% more.

I think we'll be seeing 18-25 cents a KwH soon.. and that's just evil.

[bluntman1588]

so lets say i put the lights on a timer for 18 hours a day, 6 hours off, that should save a fair amount of electricity right? BUT How much is that going to affect my plants growth rate? a lot? a little?

[bluntman1588]

OH ALSO, last year i was living in a fairly small apartment. is the bill maybe larger now that i have moved into a bigger place thats a house? and we are also growing in our garage thats not attached to the house, would that have to do with distribution charges and stuff?

[callmeDave]

If you use gas heat, then grow only during the cool months. Shut down for the summer months and enjoy.

[wendyc]

How bout just changing lights? High output, T-5 fluorescent tubes give about the same lumens at half the watts. (HTG Supply offers a 4', 4 tube unit for not much over $100)


Lots of debates which offers the best results but pretty sure it'll eventually mostly boil down to genetics.

Sunlight is best and don't kill the "kids" with too much.

[ninfan77]

18/6 is just fine for veg growth. I've even done 16/8.

[420greengrower]

My recommendation is to cut back on your energy use first. A 500$ electric bill !!!!???? I used to live in a poorly insulated house with 2 other people, big screen tv's and electronics on all the time. Your problem is not your grow bulb, it is you and your roomates!