GREEN Growroom

[smokestack23]

Hey,
I've read some threads here and there and most are quite negative on this subject.

Most of us in this "community" could be seen as tree huggers a bit. I mean we realize that our cannabis plants can feed, cloth, house us, supply paper, fuel...ALL with less impact on the planet and creating better products than we have with anything else. SO...we're kinda environmentalists...some of us I think.

My question is...why not use solar power in our rooms? It may be a bit more expensive than what we're used to but...sometimes it isn't easiest or cheapest to be green. If we're making money off this stuff anyway...

So why not use some wee solar powered fans for extracting heat from our cooltubes? My rooms are on at night so unless I used batteries, sun powered solar wouldn't be great...otherwise I could put a few panels on the roof. I'm talking about solar from our HIDs to run small fans and stuff? Maybe even a light mover?

When LEDs become mo better for growing we could probably use solar to power our complete light requirements.

Then there's...does anyone use their warm exhausted air from their carbon canisters to help heat their houses? What about the hot exhaust from AC units?

How about running your used nutes back through your RO unit? I know...you'd only get 1/3rd back, you'd go through membranes a lot faster and...you'd need a pump to push water through the membrane...which, might use more energy than water you'd be saving.

As mundane and silly as these things seem, even if it costs a bit more, it might help ..at least let me sleep a bit better.

I do realize that things like recycling nute solutions are just stupid but the small fans powered from solar and the heat from your room...yes? no?

 

[500lbs Guerilla]

I think you'll find many growers here will do what they can. Solar power, although gathering more subsidizing and becoming slightly more affordable, is still out of reach for most pocketbooks. The average Joe just can't afford it yet. Even if a small solar panel might run a fan or two, it won't run lights, and most people run their fans with their lights at night to save power, keep temps down, and remain less conspicuous. You'll save more power and money by switching out your incandescent light bulbs to CFLs.

That all said, there are growers out there who solar power their grows. I know one who spent over 25k in solar panels, and now runs 12 lights in the middle of the day. His power bill is less than 100$ a month. 25k is a huge investment, but he wants to be green. Not to mention he made that money back in under a year by not paying over 3000 a month for power.

Indoor growing is simply a polluting hobby. The power consumption is enormous. The high phosphorus runoff gets into the groundwater and becomes destructive. Pesticide use. Bulbs with mercury. Diesel generators in some cases. Its all terrible. But we do it anyways - can you tell me why?

 

[smokestack23]

No no...I don't mean to run a whole show off solar....just some wee fans...powered from the HID's energy. Maybe some circulation fans or as I mentioned...cooltube exhausters.

When using big solar...as in to run your HIDs, you don't need to run during the day. The panels charge batteries which then power your inverters. They can charge batteries all day and you can use the power that's stored during the night.

But yeah...I'm gonna look for some small solar fans. If I find any cheap and if they move ANY air, maybe I'll get a bunch and put a few around each plant..and or in the cooltube ducting.

I'll be sure to post my success or lack thereof on finding any and then I'll make sure to post whether or not they make any beneficial difference.