Reducing power footprint

[707finisher]

I currently have the following lights,

1 100w 4 bulb t5
2 50w 2 bulb t5
2 135w cfl
1 135w viparspectra 300
1 400w digi hps
I am using the 2 small t5 for clones/seeds
The 4 bulb t5 athe 2 cfl are for veg I want to replace all of these with 2 qbs
The led and hps are flower.
I want to replace the viparspectra led with a qb I think
So 3 quantum boards?
That would be 375w veg replaced with 240w led
And the 135w burple with a little less but better light?

this is mostly to keep my power usage to 10 amps or so, I’m only using one 20a breaker to run everything, right now I’m using 1450 watts give or take when everything is on. And I feel like the 135w cfl are really inefficient for the power usage?

 

[707finisher]

Also considering making a reflector for the cfls where they mount sideways like a hps hood. Feels like a lot of light is lost with no reflector in them

 

[707finisher]

Or just buy another 100w t5? Ugh

 

[Mathimus]

Try two 4 bulb 4' T8 fixtures for vegging. Stagger 2 cool white with two daylight bulbs. 1 bulb is 32w x 8 bulbs = 256w. They can go directly over the plants because very little heat output. Use Sylvania or GE bulbs from Home Depot or Lowe's. They're cheap and I've seen the same bulbs used 24/7 for a year without ever being switched off and 0 failure. Although I recommend changing them out at least every 6 months. You could also try out some T8 LEDs of the same size. Stagger 5k and 4k. At 15w a piece x 8, that is 120w for a veg outfit that covers about a 4x4 area. Or if you don't feel like buying new T8 fixtures, try replacing your T5s with T5 LED bulbs - obviously not as eco efficient as T8s, but more power (that is unneeded in my op). The 4' 4 bulb T8 fixtures can be had for $60 a piece at Lowe's and the 4' bulbs are 10-12 bucks for a 2 pack.

The fixture's ballast has mounting holes as to which you can mount the 2 units onto a solid surface. One idea is using 2x4 pieces to mount them in parallel - or any wood of your choosing. This step has to be taken before assembling the fixtures. There is also a chain mounting option but I prefer anchoring them to wood for the ease of raising and lowering 2 units at once, and uniformiditty. Space them out according to the spread, mount them to the wood, drill eye hook screws into each of the 4 corners, attach rope and raise and lower as needed. It will maintain a 4x4 perpetual veg area indefinitely. Much less upkeep, less heat output and less replacement costs than quantum boards. Perfect for a 5x5 tent.

Using regular T8s: 256w
Using LED T8s: 120w

I'm thinking the lumen loss with the LED T8s is not justifiable in switching from the regular T8s just to save 136w - especially on such a large area. Perhaps a side by side and test it.

Not sure what kind of space you need for your clones. You could build about a 3' cubic box. Leaving one side open to work out of, of course. You can use thermal insulation to line the inside of the box via staples giving your clone area an R value - increasing the efficiency and speed/output of that space. The brand Reflectix from Home Depot reflects blue light well and also thermal heat energy. A roll big enough for your application can be had for about 15 bucks. Put 1 150w CFL in there - combined with the natural heat output from your CFL and thermal reflective properties of your insulation, you have a very efficient nursery that your clones will thrive in.

 

[BigCube]

Switching everything to LED is about the best you can do to save power.

Plants veg just fine under led bulbs. My current veg cabinet is rocking 4 15w (100w eq) dollar store led bulbs. Plants veg great under them. The HPS is where you would make most your savings, easily replaced with 240w quantum board.

Quantum boards are 120w each on average, cause of how the price breaks down and with shipping, it's more cost effective to get a double board (240w).

I guess it depends on what size your veg and flower environments are as to how many quantum boards you need. Depending on your veg chamber and what you require out of a vegging plant, a single 120w quantum board could easily be overkill.

What size environments are you working with?

 

[Beachwalker]

I currently have the following lights,

1 100w 4 bulb t5
2 50w 2 bulb t5
2 135w cfl
1 135w viparspectra 300
1 400w digi hps
I am using the 2 small t5 for clones/seeds
The 4 bulb t5 athe 2 cfl are for veg I want to replace all of these with 2 qbs
The led and hps are flower.
I want to replace the viparspectra led with a qb I think
So 3 quantum boards?
That would be 375w veg replaced with 240w led
And the 135w burple with a little less but better light?

this is mostly to keep my power usage to 10 amps or so, I’m only using one 20a breaker to run everything, right now I’m using 1450 watts give or take when everything is on. And I feel like the 135w cfl are really inefficient for the power usage?

What's your using aside, maybe consider pudding in another Outlet?

 

[707finisher]

Have 2x4 flower and 32x32” veg + a little 2x2 for clones and seedlings, I mostly want denser growth for veg and initial growth during flower. Got a 240w qb going to put it in flower tent, maybe half of it, other half in veg, use the same driver have 12/12 in veg for part then supplement florescent other 6 hrs? This wack? I want to keep the hps in the flower tent I think.

thought about running more power, I’m using 635 watts total lighting now between veg and flower plus some for fans, I can probably increase it another 500-750 safely but the goal is economic personal smoke, gotta keep the electric bill down lol, I’ll get greedy otherwise. Almost ran another 30amp circuit up there. Its just tohard to regulate the environment to make it worth it I think

 

[BigCube]

Have 2x4 flower and 32x32” veg + a little 2x2 for clones and seedlings, I mostly want denser growth for veg and initial growth during flower. Got a 240w qb going to put it in flower tent, maybe half of it, other half in veg, use the same driver have 12/12 in veg for part then supplement florescent other 6 hrs? This wack? I want to keep the hps in the flower tent I think.

thought about running more power, I’m using 635 watts total lighting now between veg and flower plus some for fans, I can probably increase it another 500-750 safely but the goal is economic personal smoke, gotta keep the electric bill down lol, I’ll get greedy otherwise. Almost ran another 30amp circuit up there. Its just tohard to regulate the environment to make it worth it I think

I always error o the side of caution when advising people. If the flourescents work for you, the power saving isnt really a huge selling feature. You might save %20 going to led from flourescents. But the HID is where all your inefficiencies are.
If you're set on keeping an HID fixture, check out the CMH, you will only save about 75 - 80 watts but you may be able to get rid of some supplemental lighting.

 

[707finisher]

I want to line the whole attic with reflective fbi and run the whole thing lol

 

[BigCube]

As for what I would run if I had those tents. I pretty much do have them
I use 2 vivosun 3x3x6 tents. Right now I only have one flowering, but soon hope to have them both going.

In the flower tent I have 2 240w 3000k kingbrite quantum boards. Mounted about 8 inches via s hooks and chains from the top of the tent. Both on full blast and the plant loves it.

The other one I want to refit with quantum boards also. It has a 315w CMH but the heat is unruly with HID and single point light source in a tent is just brutal.

But that's just me

 

[Dan789]

I want to line the whole attic with reflective fbi and run the whole thing lol

Would recommend to add a smoke detector and high heat shut off, if using the attic, especially with any type lighting just to keep your place from burning down.

 

[BigCube]

Would recommend to add a smoke detector and high heat shut off, if using the attic, especially with any type lighting just to keep your place from burning down.

Smart. Cause all your current detectors are lower in the house and wont work till it's too late.

Shit we should all have one in there just cause it's the highest point in the house..
I'm sold, ima put a smoke detector in my attic. Genius!

 

[707finisher]

For sure, there is always a risk, I’m doing my best to minimize it!
I am in the building trades and carefully calculated the load on the circuit I’m using, and run lights off during peak heat hours in the attic. Easy to do on 12/12.
I have a sealed reflector for my hps that pulls the heat out really effectively. All the wiring is code, all on dedicated circuit and through surge protectors. None of the timers or power strips are close to load rating.
I’m struggling to keep temps up in the low 70s right now, and during peak summer tent was low 80s when attic was 100, all fans run below 50% load and are dc powered.
It’s all ventilation and planning :) and I’m still trying to improve and learn more!!! I only use a heater in my garage for seed/clones tent, a separate spot. It’s was originally supposed to be one 2x4 flower tent, and I was going to buy clones every time lol.

 

[707finisher]

Would recommend to add a smoke detector and high heat shut off, if using the attic, especially with any type lighting just to keep your place from burning down.

I’m not going to add anything more, I just want to lol. But realistically I’m designing a fbi grow cabinet I’m going to build in the garage, has all the stages of my tents, fans filters etc all inside. I’m excited to do it! I need to buy this house I’m looking at first.....

 

[707finisher]

And alarm in the attic is a great idea

 

[707finisher]

Well I changed my mind, ordered a 125w kingbrite for the flower to supplement, and am going to put the 240w in my 32x32. Going to test the burple out in my 2x2 on seedlings. All led except the hps in flower. Have a bunch of fluorescent lights left over, if the burple is to bright for the 2x2(it’s not dim kind) I’ll use the t5 fixtures in it. Or maybe with it, will see when it all gets here, I’m excited