Any growers looking at cutting cost around your energy consumption within your facility.
How are you currently monitoring your cost savings around energy being used within your grow op?
6 Likes
I’m curious if companies are looking at more efficient lighting technologies that can still be applicable in a commercial environment. Coming from a home growing perspective, we see guys building their lights at home now (the DIY LED market has just exploded the past 2 years or so in my opinion) and we’re seeing more emphasis on efficiency in lighting, using technology like COB (Chip On Board) and more efficient drivers.
Personally I’ve been growing with COB lights for a year or two now and I love them, efficient, dimmable, and they grow great pot. I guess I don’t know how to be convinced otherwise that something that draws way less power isn’t the option for me as joe-home-grower (but the attempt and case will be made, I assure you haha!)
I know @rshipley with @VividGro for example has a very efficient T5 replacement LED bar they are working on (in fact, you can see it live in action on the Autoflower Network by one of our home grower testers!) 5 x 5 area lit up with 450W of light and he’s getting great results for a first time test!
Whether or not efficient technology is better technology is probably up for healthy debate, but I do know there is push for lights that can pump out more for less and that demand is starting to be explored as cost rise (and that’s great, necessity is the mother of invention, right?)
3 Likes
Start with equipment meant for indoor cultivation humidity control. Wrap-around dehumidification technology has proved the most efficient and earned close to 1-million dollars in utility incentives. Check it out at: http://www.msptechnology.com/indoor-farming/
4 Likes
We have an extremely efficient and cost effective T5 replacement LED, the Veg8, which has been proven effective with thousands of units sold. We also have plenty of data and side-by-side trials to confirm an energy savings of around 60% when compared with T5 fluorescent. Check it out:
5 Likes
In Oregon there are financial intensives to switch from carbon filters (carbon scrubbers) to odor control equipment that pulls much less power. Depending on where you are, and how active your community is with environmental issues, I believe high efficiency will continue to be more sought after.
4 Likes
Energy-saving dehumidification technologies get you win-win results. DryGair allows you to close the growing space and control the climate in a better way – without wasting any heating energy.
The unit is also highly efficient, providing high water extraction to energy input ratios – 1 gallon/hr is removed from the facility utilizing only 1kWh!
This combination can lead to energy savings up to 50% as well as conditions promoting disease-free plants in the growing facility.
5 Likes
Hi Mike, I’m working at a startup developing a product that will do exactly this! We’re building software for commercial growers that monitors all of the electrical equipment in your facility. Meaning, we monitor energy use and energy costs for lights, HVAC, dehumidification, etc.
To answer your question more directly, if you were to upgrade a piece of equipment or perform an energy efficiency upgrade, our software will track the energy savings for you. We also recommend customized energy savings opportunities based on your specific energy use.
In addition to that, we offer the ability to monitor and control your facility remotely 
Check us out - we’d love to hear what you think!
-Karen
5 Likes
It may come as a shock to the indoor growing community, but outdoor grows have annual lighting, air filtration, and dehumidification energy bills around $0. Greenhouse grows can produce more than indoor grows with lighting needs around 15% of indoor grows. There is simply no need for indoor cultivation. If we really want to minimize the carbon footprint of Cannabis cultivation, grow under the sun.
Those who say that outdoor- or greenhouse-grown Cannabis is inferior to indoor just haven’t found the right strains for their climate. My last outdoor grow actually marketed our best flower (around 1/2 of the total grow) as indoor because of consumer biases. No one questioned whether it was indoor-grown.
4 Likes
Congrats on your success with your recent grow - sounds like you do a beautiful job. There is no doubt sun grown is the most sustainable! For many reasons though (legislation, restrictive climates, preference for highly controllable environment…) there a lots of indoor grows. As long as we have indoor grows there will be the environmental impact factor. We hope to design a product that growers will love and that will make indoor facilities more energy efficient and more sustainable. I’m super excited about it!
5 Likes
I second this notion. Indoor grows are here to stay for these reasons, and the costs / environmental impact inherent to them need to be dealt with wisely. Reducing the cost is not just good for your pockets, but good for the environment as well!
@Karen-TRYM So you can use TRYM (#vendor-corner:trym) to see what machinery is not operating properly or as foresight into what you will need to replace in the future before it destroys your crop, or your wallet?
4 Likes
@alex_m yes absolutely! In addition to energy savings we offer equipment alerts.
4 Likes
I can see that saving a lot of headaches and heartaches!
4 Likes
Yes! I think it’s a really cool & helpful feature…
3 Likes
For now, yes. 10 years from now the commercial indoor grow will be an endangered species. It will be extinct in another 10 as laws change.
How much CO2 are these types of grows going to release in the meantime? How many years will it take to dispel the “indoor is always better” myth?
1 Like
Indoor growing is the only option for me here in Canada. The ground is just to cold for to long making the growing seson impossibly short. There are a handful of places warm enough for greenhouses and 99% of that real estate is already accounted for. Even in a greenhouse you can’t grow in the winter because the days are way less than 12, meaning there isn’t enough light to have a good quality crop. Yes you could use autoflowers but is the quality there compared to non-autos?
Not to mention its no secret that environment is one of the biggest factors of the quality of product for all of us so why not be able to control the biggest financial factor? It only sounds like good business practices to me.
For these reasons I feel indoor growing is here to stay and technological advances are going to play a key role in creating a sustainable, earth friendly indoor farms.
5 Likes
It’s not that “indoor is always better” at all, @AmericanWeedwolf It’s just being realistic, no bias whatsoever! If cannabis grew in the tundra, I’m sure you would see farmers growing it outdoors.
We are not trying to argue or propagate myths here! Companies like #vendor-corner:trym are here to fill the indoor niche and make life easier and cheaper for growers, and cleaner for the environment.
4 Likes
So, were you growing your cotton and watermelons under lights as well, or did you just import them? Why is this crop any different?
1 Like
I’m not here to debate or argue, I was simply stating an opinion.
But to answer your question, yes for the most part watermelons and cotton are imported into Canada. Along with 75% of the produce that is sold in Canada.
3 Likes
I agree that innovation will be the answer to creating more sustainable indoor farms!
5 Likes
As humans start colonize space or even the extremes of our own planet, we humans will need to explore the synthesis of artificial lighting with natural sunlight, wherever possible. Sustainable living at the poles of Earth, for instance, where there is very limited sunlight during some times of the year, must involve some utilization of artificial lighting to grow food crops.
I believe the crux to success of humanity will lie in the fusion of technology to produce the most productive crops with the least amount of energy possible.
2 Likes