indoor organic
New member
can someone give me the equation so i can figure out how much a 1000w bulb would cost me per month and how much a 600w would. id be running it 12/12 nonstop. thanks
electric bill question
- Thread starter indoor organic
- Start date
your elec bill should have listed somewhere on it the cost per kilowatt(kw). multiply that by the wattage of your lightbulb (lbw) times the hours it is on times days per month (d...usually 30 will do)) and you'll have your answer.
kw x lbw x d = appx total cost.
if using a 600w bulb use 0.6 for kilowatts.
kw x lbw x d = appx total cost.
if using a 600w bulb use 0.6 for kilowatts.
indoor organic
New member
exactly what i was looking for, thank you
indoor organic
New member
lil edit to your equation and a stupid question im pretty sure i know the answer to.
cost = kw x lbw x hours x days
my dumb question is the wattage of the light is equal to how many watts it uses per hour? correct me if im wrong, 600w light uses 600w per hour. that is how i have come to understand it, i believe it is right but please correct me if im wrong
cost = kw x lbw x hours x days
my dumb question is the wattage of the light is equal to how many watts it uses per hour? correct me if im wrong, 600w light uses 600w per hour. that is how i have come to understand it, i believe it is right but please correct me if im wrong
CaptainTrips
Active member
A 600w light will use more than 600w. Your ballast should have how many amps it uses, and I think amps x volts will give you wattage...
indoor organic
New member
i just found http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/howmuch.html and the equation they use is cost per kilowatt x wattage of item(converted to kilowatts since thats how the cost is equated) x hours x days
so a 1000w bulb running 12/12 for 30 days multiplied by the cost of electricity($0.09 for some states) would make this equation
$0.09 x 1Kw x 12 hours x 30 days = $32.4 per month
thanks for everyones help and i hope this helped out someone else too
so a 1000w bulb running 12/12 for 30 days multiplied by the cost of electricity($0.09 for some states) would make this equation
$0.09 x 1Kw x 12 hours x 30 days = $32.4 per month
thanks for everyones help and i hope this helped out someone else too
Captain Trips is spot on. The transformers amperage times the voltage is the true wattage draw.
for 1000W bulb, 24 hrs daily
Amps x Volts x 24(hrs) x .1(10 cents (or whatever your price may be)) divide by 1000 = daily x by 30(days) = monthly cost
OR
Amps x Volts = Watts (each 1000W bulb = 1Kw) x .1(10 cents (or whatever your price may be)) x 24(hrs) x 30(days) = monthly cost
either will give the same correct ans.
Amps x Volts x 24(hrs) x .1(10 cents (or whatever your price may be)) divide by 1000 = daily x by 30(days) = monthly cost
OR
Amps x Volts = Watts (each 1000W bulb = 1Kw) x .1(10 cents (or whatever your price may be)) x 24(hrs) x 30(days) = monthly cost
either will give the same correct ans.
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indoor organic
New member
well is $32.40 about average for a month on a 1kw bulb? im looking at getting one of the digital electronic systems and im trying to figure out how much it would be for a 1kw system and 600w system. if anyone could fill me in on that itd work out great!
casualtoker
Member
What PharmaCan said.. many areas have tiers, such as mine. I pay three increasing rates. The first is around $0.09, next is $0.14 and third tier is $0.17. Of course I hit the third tier pretty quickly. I think the first tier is 0 to 3000 kW.
indoor organic
New member
thanks, good to know. looks like i got some more researching to do.
Kr@kEn
Member
I've never used an equation, but my 600w costs around $25-30 (USA) a month for 12/12. That's where I live. Different places have different energy costs.
I'm guessing you are concerned about sudden changes in electric use. And that is a good healthy concern since that is exactly what they look for for red flags. If you are getting started you probably will be vegging a while before flowering. This will help build up your electric use so that it's not so suspicious when you kick on that 600w. If you use around 150w-250w of veg power for a month or two before you switch on the big light for flower, there will not be that big of a difference in bills. Especially if you are using at least 18 hours of veg light. They won't notice gradual increases. But they WILL notice sudden demands of electricity so..... be aware of that.
A single 600w or even a 1000w shouldn't be that much to worry about though.
Another thing to keep in mind too is that you can run 2 600 watters for 10 hours each per day vs. using one 1000w for 12 hours per day.
Here's the math -
600w x 10 hours = 6000 watts x 2 lamps = 12000 watts
vs.
1000w x 12 hours = 12000 watts.
You just stagger your lights on seperate timers to cover a 12 hour period.
Example - One light comes on a noon and goes off at 10pm, the other light comes on at 2 pm and swithes off at midnight. So that covers a 12 hour period. 8 hours of that 12 hour period would have 2 600w lights pounding down on your plants producing monster buds for the same monthly cost of a single 1000w.... oh yeah! It's the middle of the day when the plants are most receptive to light and staggering lights mimicks the sun setting and rising. Two lamps is always better than one because of even coverage as well.
Just something to keep in mind.
I'm guessing you are concerned about sudden changes in electric use. And that is a good healthy concern since that is exactly what they look for for red flags. If you are getting started you probably will be vegging a while before flowering. This will help build up your electric use so that it's not so suspicious when you kick on that 600w. If you use around 150w-250w of veg power for a month or two before you switch on the big light for flower, there will not be that big of a difference in bills. Especially if you are using at least 18 hours of veg light. They won't notice gradual increases. But they WILL notice sudden demands of electricity so..... be aware of that.
A single 600w or even a 1000w shouldn't be that much to worry about though.
Another thing to keep in mind too is that you can run 2 600 watters for 10 hours each per day vs. using one 1000w for 12 hours per day.
Here's the math -
600w x 10 hours = 6000 watts x 2 lamps = 12000 watts
vs.
1000w x 12 hours = 12000 watts.
You just stagger your lights on seperate timers to cover a 12 hour period.
Example - One light comes on a noon and goes off at 10pm, the other light comes on at 2 pm and swithes off at midnight. So that covers a 12 hour period. 8 hours of that 12 hour period would have 2 600w lights pounding down on your plants producing monster buds for the same monthly cost of a single 1000w.... oh yeah! It's the middle of the day when the plants are most receptive to light and staggering lights mimicks the sun setting and rising. Two lamps is always better than one because of even coverage as well.
Just something to keep in mind.
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J
jipedestran
the equations are funny.
when i read this post first, I said to myself, I think my 1000 costs about 30 bucks more a month. 600 would be closer to 25.
I was damned close with my spit in the wind.
peace
jip
when i read this post first, I said to myself, I think my 1000 costs about 30 bucks more a month. 600 would be closer to 25.
I was damned close with my spit in the wind.
peace
jip
Quazi
Member
Thanks for the helpful equations.
If you are just looking for a cost estimate, I read somewhere that for every 500W or so you're adding, you can add around $20 to your electric bill, depending on where you live. It seems from the results and the equations posted here that, that is a fairly decent estimate.
Kr@kEn is right on with this information. Gradual increases are usually less noticeable.Kr@kEn said:
If you are just looking for a cost estimate, I read somewhere that for every 500W or so you're adding, you can add around $20 to your electric bill, depending on where you live. It seems from the results and the equations posted here that, that is a fairly decent estimate.
indoor organic
New member
ya im moving into a new place, actually im moving to a whole new state but i was just trying to figure out the cost of everything so i can factor that into how much im gonna need to make a month. im not too worried on doing any gradual increases, im not that big on watching tv or using anything electronic(except my computer for info) so my grow would be the main thing using electricity, plus a few lights and charging my phone is about it so im not that worried about it. thanks for everyones help tho and i like that 600w idea except i dont think i have enough space for that. ill have my grow setup within the next month or 2 so look forward to a new grow diary!
Ajunta Pall
Member
Two things I would do if I were you. One I'd use cfls instead of incandescent bulbs. And number two would be a light mover if only using one 1000 watter.
coldoneror
Member
on my electric bill the cost of kwh is cheap but they kill me on the delivery im pretty sure because when i figure in the delivery charge its almost double the price
