Electric company at it again...

[GreenPunter]

since i started my grow _closet_ i've had a problem with my electric bill appearing to unrealistically reflect my usage. i've got a 250 watt HID and a 6" Eco Plus fan and a 6" booster fan that turns on intermittently. No pumps or heaters. Oh, and i have a 6" clip on fan running too and a CAP fuzzy logic CO2 controller box. my bills have been at least 100 dollars a month with some bills at $200 or more per month. That was just my veg section and i'm about to start up the flowering half that will have a 400 watt HID and a full time 6" CAP fan cooling the bulb and a 4" Eco Plus fan that will take over the veg ventilation while the 6" fans deal with just the flower side. when everything is on, i'll have:

Flower:
400 W - HID/12hrs
110 W - 6" CAP Fan/12hrs
124 W - 6" Eco Plus fan/intermittent
38 W - 6" Suncourt Booster Fan/intermittent
2.25 W - 6" Clip Fan/24hrs

Veg:
150 W - Fluoro/18hrs
90 W - Eco Plus fan/intermittent
2.25 W - 6" Clip Fan/24hrs

that gives me a total of 916.5 watts and that does seems like a lot, especially if i'm multiplying it by 12 or 18 hours. My electric company has me on some kind of tier pricing where after 326 KWH i have to pay 14 cents instead of 12 cents per KWH. after 98 KWH in tier 2, i have to pay 23 cents per KWH for the rest of my usage. Is there any way to figure out an expected bill from the above wattage so i can see if i am in fact getting "ripped off"? If i assume my intermittent fans run for 5 minutes every hour the lights are on, how would i figure out the charge? thanks in advance.

gP

[6951A]

Originally Posted by GreenPunter

that gives me a total of 916.5 watts and that does seems like a lot, especially if i'm multiplying it by 12 or 18 hours. My electric company has me on some kind of tier pricing where after 326 KWH i have to pay 14 cents instead of 12 cents per KWH. after 98 KWH in tier 2, i have to pay 23 cents per KWH for the rest of my usage. Is there any way to figure out an expected bill from the above wattage so i can see if i am in fact getting "ripped off"? If i assume my intermittent fans run for 5 minutes every hour the lights are on, how would i figure out the charge? thanks in advance.

gP

If you are already at the highest tier, with your own baseline power consumption (the power you use not including your grow), then that means you are paying almost 3 dollars per 12 hour period your lights are running. 30 X 3 = +$90 to your bill from your grow at 12 hours a day, 18 would be +$135. That's on top of $40 for your first 326 @ $.12, and $14 for the next 98 KWH of use. That would make your bill $150-180, assuming you only use 424 KWH (326 + 98) of power per month. Every KWH you use over that will cost you 23 cents. Let's say you are using another 1KW of power, and that you use that for 6 hours a day. Thats another 240 per month, which would add about 50 bucks to your bill, bringing you to a range of $200-230.


Long story short, I don't think they are over charging you, I think you live in an area with HIGH energy costs, and you need to get your power usage down (in your regular life).

Get your baseline power consumption down as low as you can so that you don't go into the highest tier. This is all 5th grade math (not to insult you, it really is), just multiply out your KWH usage in each tier and add them up.



BTW, I pay like $.08 per KWH, so you're being charged like 3X what I am per KWH.

[I8ntLucky_UR]

Have you swapped out all other lights in your home to CFL's? And take all the items plugged in with little clocks in them and put them on power bars so you can turn them off when not needed. You cna cut your other costs down and that way it is less once you throw the flower switch.

[operator1]

I really wouldn't suggest complaining to the power company... The company around where I live will actually send out a consultant to help "manage" your energy consumption. The last thing you want is them investigating why you use so much and "helping" you out. Unless you are legal of course, then it may be cool. The long and the short of it for me is this, you're doing something not commonly done and not commonly legal in most places, so you need to take the good with the bad I guess.

[GreenPunter]

thanks guys. i am legal and have no worries that anyone would question my medical necessity but i still don't want the electric company coming over. i live in a two room, very tiny, 1930s beach style house. basically, a small clapboard box. i don't watch tv, don't use a lot of lights (and have fluros in all household lights), and find that my meter only spins quickly when i turn on my toaster oven. i live in so. california so everything is too expensive but i just can't figure out where all this power is going. usually, i have a computer and one light on at night and during the day, it's just my computer. i have unplugged all chargers and everything plugged in that sucks power like tvs and dvd players. wtf, it just doesn't make sense how i can use so much power for a 4'x8'x8' space. if my light uses 400 watts, would i multiply that by 12 hrs to get 4,800 watts and then divide that by 1000 to get how many kilowatt hours the light uses per day? so that would be 4.8 KWH per day or, at 12 cents per KWH, 57 cents per day? thanks.

gP

[CENTRAL COAST HERBAL MEDS]

Most of ca is on the tiered pricing. In socal I had 4 600wt hps and my bill went from 235 to 750. Moved to nor cal and 4 1000 w and bill is 345. Now you know why people are trying led's and cfl's

[6951A]

Originally Posted by GreenPunter

if my light uses 400 watts, would i multiply that by 12 hrs to get 4,800 watts and then divide that by 1000 to get how many kilowatt hours the light uses per day? so that would be 4.8 KWH per day or, at 12 cents per KWH, 57 cents per day? thanks.

gP

That's correct except you are probably already into another tier, so your light is not costing you 12 cents per KWH.

Originally Posted by CENTRAL COAST HERBAL MEDS

Most of ca is on the tiered pricing. In socal I had 4 600wt hps and my bill went from 235 to 750. Moved to nor cal and 4 1000 w and bill is 345. Now you know why people are trying led's and cfl's

I hope no one is trying CFL or LED to cut down on power usage, unless you mean in the form of AC. LED shows promise of one day needing less wattage than HID, but as it stands at the moment the yields are not quite up to HID, watt for watt, so you're power bill would probably increase =/

[operator1]

Do you have a buddy you trust who is an electrician? Someone with some knowledge in power may be able to help you control your consumption... Other than that It doesn't seem like you are doing yourself any good by growing your own if it ends up costing you the same in electricity that you could be paying for herb elsewhere.

[I8ntLucky_UR]

Are you sure there is no other drain on your household? Any plugs in the garage or porch with floods on or an extension cord running to a neighbor? I've seen that one before no joke it happens.

[operator1]

it seems like you may have a short somewhere... don't always blow breakers or fuses but may be a continuous draw. Not an electrician so I'm not sure.

[GreenPunter]

operator1, that's an interesting idea and something i've been thinking about. i blow my breakers all the time. if i turn on my toaster oven and microwave while my light is on, my whole house goes dark. i've even split my room with extension cords so that half the power comes from my bedroom and half from my living room but even that didn't stop the blow outs. i also have a light that if i change the bulb, it will burn out the new bulb within a couple of on/off cycles. always happens so i just left the dead bulb in and don't use it. i normally only have a computer and one fluoro twisty bulb light on and my bill is usually about $40 which still seems high, but when the lights and fans were turned on, or when i first tried using air conditioning, my bill spiked really high. is it possible that when i load up my wires, electricity somehow leaks out of the system? or i guess it could be continual because for a single person in a two room house without a tv, it does seem like even $40 to $60 a month is a lot. i don't have any outside outlets so no one can be directly sucking off power. i wonder if i could get a government grant to build a solar/wind powered grow room? ;)

gP

[6951A]

Originally Posted by GreenPunter

operator1, that's an interesting idea and something i've been thinking about. i blow my breakers all the time. if i turn on my toaster oven and microwave while my light is on, my whole house goes dark. i've even split my room with extension cords so that half the power comes from my bedroom and half from my living room but even that didn't stop the blow outs. i also have a light that if i change the bulb, it will burn out the new bulb within a couple of on/off cycles. always happens so i just left the dead bulb in and don't use it. i normally only have a computer and one fluoro twisty bulb light on and my bill is usually about $40 which still seems high, but when the lights and fans were turned on, or when i first tried using air conditioning, my bill spiked really high. is it possible that when i load up my wires, electricity somehow leaks out of the system? or i guess it could be continual because for a single person in a two room house without a tv, it does seem like even $40 to $60 a month is a lot. i don't have any outside outlets so no one can be directly sucking off power. i wonder if i could get a government grant to build a solar/wind powered grow room? ;)

gP

If you suspect you have a power draw, you can flip all your breakers and watch your meter. Ensure that it is not moving when all breakers are flipped. Then flip one breaker at a time, noting the amount of wattage worth of stuff on the breaker, and the amount of movement on the meter. The meter represents your power usage based on how fast it turns. By timing the meter you can ensure the exact amount of power you expect to be used, is being used.

You can unplug everything and check each breaker, or check to make sure you appliances are pulling what you expect. Just need watch + calculator.

[SomeDude]

if you are blowing bulbs all the time, i would be concerned..

kinda sounds like you may have some general house wiring issues that need to be addressed fairly soon. You could also get one of those plug in circuit tester things and make sure your outlets are the correct polarity and grounded as well.

[The HSIC]

The "30's beach style house" description made me instantly wonder what the wiring system is like in your home.

I agree. Turn off all breakers/etc and see what happens. Hell...you may be powering both of your neighbors 'er something crazy...

good luck

ww

[GreenPunter]

thanks guys, that's a great idea. i'll kill my power tonight and see what happens. i just got a disconnection notice and apparently i've racked up another 200 dollars this month. thanks again.

gP

[Sprocket]

you can try these apps to track things a little better:

Reduce and Save on Electricity Bills 1.0
Electric Bill Savings Creator 1.0

both are freeware

hope this helps in some way