Pros and cons of day vs night lights on...

[JH420]

So this weekend it's time to flip my stuff to 12/12 (rookie) and am debating weather to run the room at night or day...schedule wise either works equally well for me so here are things that come to mind, I'm sure I'm missing alot since I have no experience at the flowering stage...

Night time pros...

-cheaper kw rates in many areas
-less cooling required at night, and no heater required during dark period...so savings in electricity
-hydro meter won't be spinning like crazy when meter reader shows up

Night time cons...

-a light leak to the outside of your residence could be a security problem (shouldn't have light leaks though)
-possibly easier to spot for IR searches??


Thats about all I can come up with, I'm sure I'm missing lots.

 

[Rolln J]

pros outweigh cons - been doing this for 25 years!

 

[Jalisco Kid]

Con
1. you want your flower room to be 15* cooler then lights on.Buds are fluffier so do you run a/c to cool your room.
2. unless you are a night owl/tweaker you will be sleeping when the shit hits the fan.
3. a/c running at night in the winter

 

[JH420]

JK...what is worse about running the AC at night than in the day time?

 

[Rolln J]

i dont understand what you mean in con 1 JK...

the day night temp difference should be 10 degrees and I achieve that easily without any ac summer or winter.

 

[REGISTRD]

Depending on how many lights your running is your main equation.....

If your running over 8-1k's during the day your more likely to wipe out your transformer due to all your neighbors are up doing laundry there dishes.. there A/c-Heaters are on, meaning the load for your whole neighborhood is 72% Higher during the day... seen a whole neighborhood get wiped out due to overwattage..
IMO its just safer/easier/efficient to run at night!! seen a post the other day saying they wiped out the trans with only 12 -1ks running at night..So do the math.....

Know if your only running 1 or 2 1ks then there is No problem to run during the day if it works out for your schedule..

 

[GroHi]

What about a zero night/day diff w running the lights at night... during the day (lights off) the temps are naturally higher, so less differential between day-night = reduction in chances of humidity spikes. Just to say, if you can run the nights at 80F along w the days at the same, no humidity changes except downward at night... eliminates the vast majority of mold issues. So, less mold as a pro...?

 

[snowkitty]

Great list so far.

Nighttime wins because my neighbors and the businesses aren't competing for the electricity. I am not sure if it is actually cheaper at night but I know we don't have brownouts at night, only during the day when everyone is using too much a/c and power.

 

[Jalisco Kid]

I live in socal my neighbors might/will think it odd to run a/c at night in the winter.
My first con is if you run at night(and live in a socal environment) your room might be warmer in the day with lights out.There is a lot of radiant heat in the walls and plants.It needs to be 15* cooler. Now if you live where the daytime temps are cooler then my beer(I am terrible sorry for you if that's the case) then that should not be a worry.
I think that some of you would be surprised how much juice is being run in your area for plants. 8k is a small veg room.
I run when I want. Winter times I like my morning free so I can surf.I run from 12-12. I guess I am just lucky (knock on wood) I have never in a very long time had lost power to my building. My friends in ore this is a weekly winter time issue.
You asked for cons those are what I came up with. JK

 

[Rolln J]

lol yeah that would be funny having ac running only at night in the winter...

 

[REGISTRD]

lol yeah that would be funny having ac running only at night in the winter...

lol..ya seen a guy who just runs his 24/7 at 65deg.. all winter... It runs all day and night..lol..

Thats when you need to invest in a split duct system so you dont have a window ac on at night..lol


ANd to the above post YES you can run a window ac in 30 deg whether... Ive seen it done...

 

[JH420]

Well thanks for all the responses folks.

 

[snowkitty]

i live in new york and an a/c in 30 degree weather is useless even at 40 it hardly spits out cold enough air to cool 1 light never mind 2 and as far as it just cooling a room not lights same affect i tried it every witch way last year nothing and then when temps drop even lower what do you do if it works at 30 it dont stay 30 degrees all winter but in my personal trails not gonna cut it even at 30

I have a big warning about air conditioners operating outside...I had the bad luck to install A/C that WON'T operate if the temperature external to the unit is less than 55F. It was a spot cooler that I put in an uninsulated shed. So in the winter, my A/C would not kick on due to this interrupt switch. Big goof up on my part. My partner would have just opened it up and taken out the switch that was tripping, but somehow we managed to survive and then re-locate the A/C so it never got that cold around the unit.

 

[TheFlorist]

I have a setup with AC units in the windows, even at night/winter. While they dont seem to work as well when the external temp drops a lot (freezing and such), what you can do is; Most window ACs have a cool function as well as a Fan and sometimes Dry function. During such times when external temps are low, simply use the Fan Mode and it will blow that cooler external air in. Now remember, that air is NOT purified. Which can lead to other problems.

 

[Useless]

The problem with running air conditioners in cold temps is that the coils produce condensation, and then that condensation freezes, which prevents the coil from exchanging heat. Only way around this is to add heat trace to the coils to prevent them from freezing.

I also live in socal, and my neighbors would probably trip out on the A/C running all night. I go from 9am-9pm. I also have a couple dogs, so SCE had to install an ERT (electronic radio transmitter) on my meter. This means the meter reader never sees my meter. He just walks to the front gate, and a handheld receiver picks up the numbers. This is not the new electronic meter that can monitor spikes in usage either. Its just a close proximity transmitter. SCE is also coming out with Satellite read meters, that can monitor usage spikes, but that wont be for another year or two, and only if requested.

 

[JACKMAYOFFER]

Every one who says it is a red flag to run your ac at night is incorrect ,Most Ac unit's do both colling and heating so if your ac unit is running at night you could have it on heating mode which most people do during the winter, I have been a certified electrician and a certified HVAC tech for 13 years I have never heard of some one questioning an ac unit running at night...JACK

 

[Jalisco Kid]

Not to many heat pumps installed in socal. JK

 

[JACKMAYOFFER]

As far as the splits go I dont even know when mine is running unless I look at it and see the fan going they are so quiet. I have not hooked up my new 3 ton split yet but where it is going noise is not a concern..JACK

 

[Radio_Dread]

I run my lights at night. Def keeps them cooler and we sleep at night so its cool to wake up in the am and tell your plants good night before they go to bed