HPS lights?

[bcgoodness]

I currently just have a fluro. light and am doing a small cabinet grow with 5 or 6 plants. I am looking into getting an HPS from Home Depot and hear they are cheap....What wattage would i need, how much would it cost for the bulb and everything i need to set up the light, and does it REALLY add up ALOT to the electricity bill??

thanks

BC

 

[Guest]

hps lights and Home Depot

hps lights and Home Depot

bcg. The bulbs are all that HomeDepot keeps on the shelf. They have 15-, and 400 hps bulbs. You would be bette to buy a complete hps light w/ ballast and bulb online or even ebay. ABout $125 for a 400 hps system. try http//www.hhydro.com for a light system. Pretty cheap company.
Good luck gowing.

Avid

 

[brightside]

You can calculate the extra cost of the electricity - find out how much you are charged for a unit or KWh (same thing- not sure which term you use in the US but it should be on your last bill)

if you run a 400 for 2.5 hours it will use 1 unit/kWh (400 x 2.5 = 1000)
if you run a 600 for 1 2/3 hr it will use 1 unit/kWh (600 x 1 2/3 = 1000)

you know how long you will be using the light (18hrs in veg and 12 in flower) - so you should be able to get fairly close to the actual cost

- one thing i can say - its alot cheaper than going out and buying commercial weed - and he quality is better !!!!! :wink:

 

[mybeans420]

overgrow has a power consumption cost calculator

http://www.overgrow.com/tools/powercost.php

for what you will be running i wouldnt expect mush of an increase in your electric bill.

here in cali a 400w system running 24 hrs per day would run about $37

a 250 watter would run about $23

at 12 hrs per day cut those figures in half

remember, those figures are based on california rates. yours may very well be lower.

 

[Harry Gypsna]

hahaha, my grow house last bill, for oct, nov and dec, 400 quid, lol, 1000 watt hps, 400watt hps, 250 mh, 2 oscillating fans, 1 extratcor, 2 fishtank pumps, shitloads of CF's, plus the normal leccy in the house, it gone up from 80 pound a qurter b4 growing, to 400 a qurter with growing, but i been running jy veg room 24-7 coz the timer broke, and my extractor is running constantly also, i need to rigure out how long it takes that fan to change the air so i can put it on a timer.

So its costing me about 25 quid a week to run, which is less ommercial cvalue of weed than i smoke ina day, so its still cheap as fuck.

 

[Guest]

400 quid ?

400 quid ?

Harry Gypsna,i got basically the same as u i didnt realise it was that high .do u think theres any risk of detection by the eleccy comp for using so much .i was told u can run 2000 watts extra on ya bill without suspicion, but now i realise how much more the bill is its got me concerned.

are we safe ?

 

[Harry Gypsna]

me too, i am also concerned as this is the 1st bill since i got my thousand watter, lol, wow, my eyes nearly popped out ma f'kin head when i saw it, lol.

I,m moving very shortly and getting it under myown roof so i will have a high usage as soon as i move in, i think that should be OK,

U do hear stories of the leccy board grassing ppl with unusually high consumption, but they might just be that STORIES, but we cant be sure.
I think once i get all the timers dialled in, and have evrything running just right, it should go down a bit.

 

[Marley]

i hear that it is 1000w per bebroom

 

[mauricio]

I just bought a HPS 400 W. for $80, a 400 W. MH conversion bulb that fit the system for $40 and CO² tester for $21 from this website www.insidesun.com

 

[bcgoodness]

so are you not recommending Home Depot? Id really prefer to buy in a store, and i heard that you can buy it with the ballast and bulb there am i wrong...??

I think i only need a 100w HPS or less

BC

 

[mauricio]

I checked Home Depot before ordering online, the varity and prices are not there

 

[flipmastermike]

You can buy a 70w hps security light from home depot for around $60-$70 US dollars. There is then a thread at overgrow.com that shows you how to make it into a remote ballast light.
I dont beleive homedepot sells any hid lights with remote ballasts.But it sounds like in your case the 70w hps will do fine.Many people have done good with the exact 70w hps

 

[bcgoodness]

kool...thanks!! I'll have to check that out

BC

 

[bcgoodness]

where is this so called thread on overgrow??

thanks

BC

 

[flipmastermike]

where is this so called thread on overgrow??

thanks

BC

Here is the link

http://www.overgrow.com/growfaq/1151

 

[bcgoodness]

Not to sound like a wussy lol, but i do not feel safe first of all taking that kinda shit apart..and second of all i am on a budget and dont think that I could get all those supplies...im not very good with electricity hehehe

BC

 

[BigToke]

Bcgoodness – I bought 6 400watt bulbs at Home Depot they were Philips brand and I have use them for two yours and have not had any trouble out of them, but they did not come with a ballast so I used a local electrical supply store to buy my ballast’s, that way I didn’t have to order on-line, but later on I did order two 600W bulbs on-line from a hydro store and I’ve already had one to blow and the ballast with it!! All I’m saying is just be careful and do you home work before buying any thing.

 

[bcgoodness]

well how much would a 70w or 100w bulb be...and how much would the ballast be? Its the taking things apart which i dont wanna be messing around with. I know that im going to need to switch to HPS sometime...and i might as well get the stuff early.

BC

THanks

 

[halfbaked]

My fist grow I used those 70 watt lights from home depot but it wasn't enough. Man, what a mess that grow was. I had like 4, 3 foot flouro fixtures.
That 70 watt light. Shit hangin all over the place. The plants grew and I had weed to smoke but it was a mess. wires and timers and chains , ropes all over the place. I went and bought the 400 watt HPS and sloved all that shit. You gotta keep in mind that more plants are gonna need more light. I don't know how many plants you plan on growin but if it's more than 1 or 2, that 70 watt light probably won't be enough.
What will happen is, you'll start with that little light and after a while you'll see it's not enough, so off to home depot and you buy an other one. Wait, thats not enough either so you get another one, etc. Before you know it you spent enough to have bought a 400 or 600 watt light.

 

[Guest]

bcgoodness. Do yourself a favor and just buy a nice 400w hps remote ballast from ebay or a number of sources for about $100. Get your own hood, and bulb, and vey litle wiring to do. If you have not worked with electrical wiring I would not recommend re-wiring existing lights.

Avid