Light schedules

[elusive]

I’m trying to keep my utility bill as low as possible this winter so I was thinking of adjusting light schedules a bit as long as it won’t negatively affect the grow in any impactful way.

Seems like the sweet spot for photos is 18/6 in veg and 12/12 in flower.

Is 16/8 and 10/14 reasonable? Will it reduce my yield by a significant amount?

For autos it seems 18/6 or 24/0 is the most common - any wiggle room there or no?

 

[Stoneyluv]

I’m trying to keep my utility bill as low as possible this winter so I was thinking of adjusting light schedules a bit as long as it won’t negatively affect the grow in any impactful way.

Seems like the sweet spot for photos is 18/6 in veg and 12/12 in flower.

Is 16/8 and 10/14 reasonable? Will it reduce my yield by a significant amount?

For autos it seems 18/6 or 24/0 is the most common - any wiggle room there or no?

i wouldn't short the veg, i'd stay at 18/6 but in flower i have used 10/14. the yield depends on the light. if the light is borderline in size for the footprint than the affect will be more noticeable.

i don't grow autos much but there is wiggle room with them.

 

[Moshmen]

Autos grow 18/6 full time when I ran em even cut back a bit in flower -

Photos similar to Stoney it’s all about dli - I’ve found the biggest advantage is time of day/nite you draw the most ? Try for off peak hours electric is cheaper then

 

[steamroller]

I ran my current grow at 17/7 veg. for a good portion.
Just bad at math I was high to be honest and then realized I was bad at math..
Anthem said the timing was acceptable and not a big deal.

 

[elusive]

Autos grow 18/6 full time when I ran em even cut back a bit in flower -

Photos similar to Stoney it’s all about dli - I’ve found the biggest advantage is time of day/nite you draw the most ? Try for off peak hours electric is cheaper then

My electricity cost isn’t affected by peak/off peak hours so that’s not a concern. I just don’t want $500 electric bills this winter lol

 

[Moshmen]

My electricity cost isn’t affected by peak/off peak hours so that’s not a concern. I just don’t want $500 electric bills this winter lol

Really consumers energy is the only one I know of with a flat rate ? Who is your provider ? Saving can be substantial- 15 cents a kwh

 

[GoodShit97]

Really consumers energy is the only one I know of with a flat rate ? Who is your provider ? Saving can be substantial- 15 cents a kwh

As far as i know, National Grid only runs peak hours for June - August in New York.
Otherwise i dont think it makes much difference what times you run lights

 

[Moshmen]

As far as i know, National Grid only runs peak hours for June - August in New York.
Otherwise i dont think it makes much difference what times you run lights

That kinda sux

 

[GoodShit97]

That kinda sux

Yeah dude. National Grid is a giant corporation of scam artists.

 

[ninjadip]

Really consumers energy is the only one I know of with a flat rate ? Who is your provider ? Saving can be substantial- 15 cents a kwh

I looked this up for my company the other week and it seems I'm also flat rated. We are on a cooperative electric thing, and I'm in the country.

I was going to change my light schedule but it turns out there's no need.

This time of year is when I have the lowest power bill. The heat from the lights heats up the whole apartment to 71, heat hasn't been on yet and it's around 40-50 in the mornings now

 

[elusive]

Really consumers energy is the only one I know of with a flat rate ? Who is your provider ? Saving can be substantial- 15 cents a kwh

I’ve never had anything but flat rates. Granted I’ve always had local/municipal owned utilities until I moved a few years ago and they were flat rate. I have solar now, so my “grid” bill is typically under $20 now (solar is $200 per month regardless of how much I generate or use).

For my grid provider, you can choose a variable peak pricing, but I’m static.

 

[Aqua Man]

Lets do some math…. How many watts is your light and how much per kw do you pay.

Im betting you will barely save a few nickels and its not worth considering

 

[Anthem275]

I’ve never had anything but flat rates. Granted I’ve always had local/municipal owned utilities until I moved a few years ago and they were flat rate. I have solar now, so my “grid” bill is typically under $20 now (solar is $200 per month regardless of how much I generate or use).

For my grid provider, you can choose a variable peak pricing, but I’m static.

You have to look at a few factors. First is as Aqua mentioned your watts used. Secondly you need to know the rate offsets. A couples years ago I had Peak, Off Peak and Super Off Peak. It really made sense to run at night because rates where about 15 percent of peak. Things change, know I pretty much need to have as much off from 4 PM to 9PM and everything outside of those times costs the same.

 

[growsinse79]

You can veg 12-12 to save electric, just make it's interrupted half way through. Programmable lights are cool too. I have 100w on each side, and in the middle, a programmable AC infinity. The center light runs 70% for 10 minutes then 40% for 2 minutes up and down - i was trying to simulate outdoors on a partly cloudy day.

 

[elusive]

Lets do some math…. How many watts is your light and how much per kw do you pay.

Im betting you will barely save a few nickels and its not worth considering

One light is 400 watts, the other is 200 watts (at max settings).

Rate is 0.21/kw, so $46 per month for the 400 watt (at 18 hours), and $23 per month for the 200.

Dropping it to 16 hours saves $6 on the 400 watt and $3 on the 200 watt.

So $9 in total.

Also for those telling me to compare peak vs off peak, again, I’m at a flat rate, so that’s irrelevant to me lol.

Is $9 going to break my wallet? Nah.

I guess I’ll just keep on with the normal schedules

 

[ninjadip]

Depending on footprint, I imagine you could lower lights and decrease intensity, less wattage, same dli

 

[Rootsruler]

Wow! And I thought City of L.A. power charges were high. IIRC, we were paying .11/kw as the base rate. Like @Anthem we would run the lights at night as we were also on a tiered system.

Do any of you get your base rate raised due to demand? In L.A. if you could keep your power pulls low your bill would be fairly cheap. We used to stagger the times for lights so that sections would turn on but not all at once so that we didn't get the huge amp pull that would determine our rates for the rest of the month.

 

[elusive]

Wow! And I thought City of L.A. power charges were high. IIRC, we were paying .11/kw as the base rate. Like @Anthem we would run the lights at night as we were also on a tiered system.

Do any of you get your base rate raised due to demand? In L.A. if you could keep your power pulls low your bill would be fairly cheap. We used to stagger the times for lights so that sections would turn on but not all at once so that we didn't get the huge amp pull that would determine our rates for the rest of the month.

Our rates doubled in January of this year. Since they’re a monopoly (unless you live in a town with a local electric company), you’re at their mercy. They tried raising rates a few years ago but the state stopped them. Guess that arrangement expired as my bill went from $190 in December to $480 in January, with no changes - I actually had less usage on January’s bill.

On top of that, the delivery charge is 100% of the cost of electricity. So if you have $100 in kWh charged, you also have a $100 delivery charge for a total of $200.

This month I didn’t go over my solar usage, and was still billed $10 for delivery of 0 kw.

It’s a fucking scam.

 

[Rootsruler]

Currently the house gets billed around $160 on average at peak summer and $90 in the winter with the tent going. We have solar panels so that is probably cutting our bill around 30% on average.

 

[Stoneyluv]

we don't have peak or off peak hours. we have residential and commercial rates here. commercial rates are three times higher for the same power.

our bill is around $100-120 each month. in the winter i turn my pond pump off, that's 480w and my dehumidifier never runs in the winter either. we have forced hot air for heat so the fan uses some but it's a little cheaper in the winter.

i don't know though, the graph shows each year we get better is saving power but the bill still goes up.

 

[elusive]

Currently the house gets billed around $160 on average at peak summer and $90 in the winter with the tent going. We have solar panels so that is probably cutting our bill around 30% on average.

So far the solar panels have been keeping my electric bill under $20 most months, but my panels are costing me $217 per month (will never change the life of the panels with my contract), and that’s with an ac running 24/7 and 2 grow tents going).

It’s not bad, but since we’re getting sunsets at 6:15 now, that’s quite a bit of solar im not getting when compared to summer months, so my concern is having a $200+ electric bill on top of the $217 for the solar. I can manage it, but still sucks.

 

[moe.red]

So far the solar panels have been keeping my electric bill under $20 most months, but my panels are costing me $217 per month (will never change the life of the panels with my contract), and that’s with an ac running 24/7 and 2 grow tents going).

It’s not bad, but since we’re getting sunsets at 6:15 now, that’s quite a bit of solar im not getting when compared to summer months, so my concern is having a $200+ electric bill on top of the $217 for the solar. I can manage it, but still sucks.

Maybe not grow in the winter? When solar dips off?

Can you grow outside in the summer and stock up?

 

[Bandit420]

I use various light cycles other than 18/6 and 12/12 for various reasons. Yields are no different from what I can tell. With light, quality is better than quantity so I wouldn't do what I do with lesser lights.
But if yields dip for you, there's ways to make up for it by changing plant count, training methods, and genetics.
Think of it in terms as five 1' tall plants can yield the same as one 5' tall plant.

My electricity rates are a riddle wrapped inside an enigma. Every time I figure it out, they move the goal posts and change the rules on me

 

[elusive]

Maybe not grow in the winter? When solar dips off?

Can you grow outside in the summer and stock up?

Legally, nope, can't grow outdoors (and legally we can't have more than 6 plants at once, either, but.. oops)

Like I said, I can afford a high electric bill, but I'd rather not if I don't have to. The alternatives are:

1. Stop growing for the winter. This would make me need to get weed from other sources at around $160 - $200 per ounce (it's still ridiculously priced here for some unknown reason - some folks claim they can get $60 ounces, but I've yet to find anything lower than $140, and even $140 is rare). I smoke an ounce a week, so...

2. Stop smoking weed for the winter lmfao like that's gonna happen

 

[smoke]

I’m trying to keep my utility bill as low as possible this winter so I was thinking of adjusting light schedules a bit as long as it won’t negatively affect the grow in any impactful way.

Seems like the sweet spot for photos is 18/6 in veg and 12/12 in flower.

Is 16/8 and 10/14 reasonable? Will it reduce my yield by a significant amount?

For autos it seems 18/6 or 24/0 is the most common - any wiggle room there or no?

My current plants in flower were vegged under 16/8.

 

[elusive]

My current plants in flower were vegged under 16/8.

Have you noticed any difference between that and 18/6?

 

[smoke]

Have you noticed any difference between that and 18/6?

How would i know? But my guess is i saw no difference.
Did i mention they were also veged under hps for weeks 6, 7, and 8 of veg. Lol

 

[elusive]

How would i know? But my guess is i saw no difference.
Did i mention they were also veged under hps for weeks 6, 7, and 8 of veg. Lol

Idk I figured you’ve done the 18/6 before

I’m debating on doing 8 weeks of veg again instead of 6. Got nearly 2 ounces off each plant. Probably could have hit 2 per plant if I didn’t get sick over the summer

 

[steamroller]

I grew outdoors for several years with good/great success.
Never had 15 hours light even on the longest day.
You could add 1 hour and 15 minutes if you counted first light before sunrise and last light after sunset, but they sure don't add much usable light IMO.
Still never more than 16 hours on a perfect day only getting less everyday.
Something to think about?

 

[Observer]

DLI

+ENV