I will say this.. big bills usually mean that something is working hard.. AC is proly the culprit here.. but I had a friend.. who went and got those hood covers.. and relined his walls with white plastic.. sealing his room very well.. and got a few sizes bigger of an AC.. and his bill dropped a lot.. I think his ac was running full boar trying to keep up with the temps..

I run my lights at night in the summer.. it saves me on cooling BIGTIME.

[ProvisionSeeds]

What you need to do is check for any fees as well. Sometimes there are peak hours where the price per watt is higher and sometimes it changes per season. And im pretty sure some ballasts take more watt when it starts up then it evens out later on.

[supermanlives]

welcome to so cal. my utility bill is the same as a cheap mortage back east. that's the reason theres lots of used grow gear for sale lol. that bill sounds about right to me . I don't check rates anymore as it gets me angry and then to see all the extra shit they tack on I am getting mad typing errrrrrr. the building owner shouldn't find out unless you screw up. smell or get meter shut off. new meters they can shut off remote tho. staying low profile is the way to roll even if medical.when in sandiego I like low key too even tho I am medical.local cops seen my grow already at one spot. good luck stay safe ooh

very good advice.. stay low profile even if ur 100% legal.. its not worth the hassel assoiciated with being a known canna grower.. not only do cops find out.. but thieves also.. and sometimes COPS that RAID AND ROB off the books.. just to make extra cash...

so be smart. be safe.. pay your bills.. and find ways to cut back on electric if u need to.. shit.. what I was doing was.. add up everything for a full harvest.. electric.. water.. nutes.. soil.. everything . then multiply that by 2 or 3 depending on strains.. then u know the price it costs u to produce what your producing.. say 3000 a harvest.. is what ur putting in.. and ur getting 10 lbs each harvest.. well that 3000 can come from bud.. or hash.. I prefer hash.. I like to trim up.. sell .. and as im selling the bud. I will make bubble or dry sieve or now bho.. or even butter or oil.. and make as much of that 3000 off the hash. and then the 10 lbs get priced fairly based on quality.. and quanitiy.. shit if I harvest 10 lbs of buds.. and 1 lb of hash.. the hash pays for the bills.. the weed would pay for new equipment. or new shit I want and don't NEED....

i just started doin this recently.. because i need to get a bunch of bills paid.. car fixed an now medical bills.. so i need to account for every buck,, and once i do that i will be able to save so much money. and i wont need to worry bout bills.

Move.

[zero244]

That sounds about right for the rates they charge in your area. I personally don't grow indoors in the summer, and if I do I use limited LED lights. Two 600's plus a 400 will grow a lot of personal smoke. You might consider dropping down to a single 600 in the hot months. Just doing that would drop your bill by about 60 percent.
In the summer you could buy it for about what your spending on electric bills.
Other than reducing the size of your system their really isn't much you can do.
Where I live the kwh rate is 1\4 of yours. The most I run is a 400 watt plus about 170 watts of LED for lights. My total setup adds about 15 or 20 dollars to my electric bill.
I never have to run AC in the grow room.

I certainly sympathize with those of you who have to pay such high rates.

[ProMixNSunshine]

Ran a sealed room once, summer-time, just a small show with a window banger........... Yeah co2 and less dialing in is nice......................... Until you get that electric bill. Ditch the A/C and add another light.

[Crooked8]

Ditch the ac and add another light? That sounds so improper its not even funny. Proper ac is number one.

[gaiusmarius]

so many didnt read properly, he only used 1 light during the billing period we are talking about. plus the mh and the AC. to me there is no way that can justify a 750.- dollars a month bill, event at 20cts per kwh.

when you are between grows take everything down and have them inspect the lines, but first they should just read the meter and compare the numbers. maybe there was a mistaken reading taken.

[toastfighter2]

First off, let me just say that that bill is stupid high for a one bedroom, but it is possible to make it happen on your end really easily(I have ran my bill up pretty high with no grow). Step one, get yourself a kill-o-watt meter. I would start quick testing my lights for an hour first then other big offenders(ac, fridge, tv, fan, etc.), until I found out what was really doing the damage to my bill. I had a fridge with a bad freezer seal that ran almost 24/7, and it jacked up my bill. If you can't locate the problem, then start calling people.