Yeah we split a cigarette down the middle and dump half of it inside our joints. It helps to keep it burning but also when your paying extortionate prices helps “fill it out” So it lasts a little longer @Meesh.
4 Likes
I run 1kw an hour with everything running so I pre pay around £20 a week. If I didn’t pre pay the sudden spike in electric would have the authorities knocking. 
3 Likes
I am on monthly direct debit on smart meters. £130+ a month on utility bills but best part? £90 is on my fan and light per month 
3 Likes
This is what I mean. You need to be careful as such a huge spike can lead to an investigation into why it’s happening. With a pre pay your just left to it. You can only use whatever you put on the key/card
3 Likes
They can launch investigations when or if you dispute your bill sayin oh it shouldn’t be that much” they come with the “ohwell we can look into it for you sir.” They know the score but if you’re paying who gives a fuck I get stung plenty by them and I’m now on LED. I ran up a £500 bill within 3 months on my last grow with HPS, but now with LED we’re almost half the bill lol 270ish compared to 500 is a big difference.
You are right about pre payment meters but they still come with smart meters so it shows X is turned on 12 hours a day or whatever you get the point lol
3 Likes
I would really like to perform this double blind test. I have observed organic soil grown plants to be less harsh and smoother. If for nothing else it is enough of a reasopn. I would like to confirm it thru scientific study though.
3 Likes
You need to show a steady usage which is difficult cos most appliances aren’t on constantly for 12 - 18hrs per day. Vivariums and big aquariums are decent covers for a small scale grow. Led’s also reduce your thermal footprint which is a good thing these days 
3 Likes
Mine are not smart meters luckily 
3 Likes
How many lights are you running, I use around 2500w an hour on my grow, last November they came out and replaced my smart meter, probably because they thought it was faulty after a year of increasing my usage 50%.
Being medical, I don’t have to worry apart from the costs lol. The electric in the UK must have gone up drastically in the last 12 years. Trying to remember what we paid a month back then, what do you guys pay per KW hour now. Mine is roughly 6p an hour or 16 cents. Probably going to hear some swearing now lol.
3 Likes
14p per kW an hour here up North UK 
3 Likes
Jesus, over double, that’s about 22 cents, that’s business/company prices here. For some reason the more you use here, the higher the cost per KW, which seems a bit fucked up.
Nova Scotia power has a monopoly though, so they charge whatever they like or think they can get away with.
2 Likes
They do a kind of peak time thing where between 5 and 10pm it increases slightly. It’s not by very much. If it ever went over my £20 a week limit I’m willing to spend I’d likely only run 2 or 3 runs per year instead of semi perpetual like I do at the moment @Shadey
4 Likes
I was thinking of doing that as well, but I am addicted to growing lol. Even at an extra $100 a month that’s still cheaper than buying my weed from the government or LP,s as well as better quality and organic.
2 Likes
Haha I’m with the most expensive company in the UK at the moment. Our KWH charges are the max that are allowed by whatever governing body controls it. But bare in mind 600W HPS on a digital ballast cost me nearly £220pm including household usage. So a bit over 130 pm is almost half. When I say the bill that price includes my gas and electric btw.
The rule in my head that I go by is that as long as you’re paying the bill, and don’t dispute your charges. As you know you’re using a lot of lecky then what do you have to worry about from the company profiting from your usage AS LONG AS you do not cry about your bills otherwise they will investigate and want to come check your house because you’re saying you’re not using that much and well they want to prove that you are so I don’t panic over smart meters.
3 Likes
When worked it all out my equipment uses around 1kw an hour. 0.14p x 18 hours a day = £2.52 per day x 7 = 17.64 per week x 4 = £70.64 so I’m paying around £10 a month more that in theory should cover the extra few day each month (no month is 28 days so.)
When I switch to bloom I can knock around a 1/3 off that amount.
£210 a grow more or less to give me a lot more than the oz and a half I could get buying it off someone in my area
4 Likes
Fack that’s cheap are u on a magnetic ballast? But 210 a grow isn’t bad at all but I find in my grows I always have some kind of problem which costs me more than expected but I make around 2 a z so it makes plenty of sense to run mine even at £500 a grow
Who u with anyway utilita? Before my last grow I had never used a digital ballast. I had the lumii black edition which always seemed to cost me the same amount of money for less wattage used on the dial(with lower wattage bulbs too) and when I E-mailed Lumii to ask if the power consumed by the unit actually differed I got no reply, I mailed them twice so I reckon it’s the ballast but I’ve stopped using HPS so can’t say it is or isn’t for certain.
3 Likes
600w solstrip build. 2 rkv fans, a couple of normal fans. An air pump to keep the autopot solution oxygenated. Shitty de humidifier and that’s about it. Nothing overly technical other than my sonoff gear.
Edit - I’m with British gas for both my services
3 Likes
Pmsl just realised I asked ya this the other day been on the go since 6 had a loooooonnng day so give me a bit of slack so being so derpy 
but that it still cheap for that wattage man, I use roughly £3 a day with the SK and that apparently draws 460W. Thought it was 440W but google corrected me.
But just curious does your math of 0.14p include hourly standing charges or is that just what they’re charging you on the KWH? Will shut up now an all feel like I’m spamming your thread 
4 Likes
14p total per hour. No standing charges at all. I love the simplicity of pre pay meters. You can only use what you pay for in advance. My usual house electric usage without running a grow is around £10 to £15. The £20 a week I put on doesn’t cover the normal household usage only the grow equipment. So in reality I put £30 in total each Friday onto the key.
4 Likes
What I save in electricity with the sun is paid to my water company, as rain is a serious commodity here. lol
6 Likes