I know this probly hurts every indoor grower… but what are some averages of electric bills in hotter states?
I just got my first $500 bill and im sick! Rethinking my life…
Any encouragement to say its worth it?
I dont see anything on bill untill i got the portable AC. And summer here is 95-100 average.
Any suggestions?
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I would be sick to. Have not grown indoors for 13 years, so dont have a clue about electrical costs. But I will chat with a bud who had a grow op in Arizona, he managed to overcome heat issues.
Some things to consider. Aquaponics to keep the air moist, swopping HPS lights for LED’s. Making sure you use the coldest air possible coming into your room, and extracting the hottest out. e.g you dont want the air coming out your AC going near your intake. Possibly try cooling the air before it comes in. One trick I used to use was putting a bowl of water infront of the fan near the inlet. My concept was draw cool air in, use a repeater fan to boost it under the canopy while it flows over a bowl of water. It helped me.
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Thanks @chrisj… ive gotten so desperate, i have the potable AC in the tent!!! Just hoping it wont work so hard to cool a smaller area…
1st week into flower…it keeping the environment steady but has take all my space.
My veg tent is suffering, making due with a fan, lights only on at night…
Imma keep making changes, this is my second run, and i just will not be defeted
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That is the spirit to have when growing indoors. Its the reason I stopped, too much maintenance. Good luck and I am sure you will get some better advice on here. Another idea is to get a temp/humidty gauge. I just used mine from growing that many years ago for a chicken egg incubator.It had a remote unit. For troubleshooting it works wonders.
Put one on the intake air flow check temp, put one below the canopy and put one above, if you have 3. Could give you some insight. For instance your AC’s covers are pointing up, i would point them down, it will take longer for the cool air to heat and rise.
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I took the recommendations of this group and switched the light schedule so the lights are off during peak hours. I also ran two 6" ducts to a Y adapter so I drew air from both sides of the tent at the top for venting. They are small helps but they helped.
Good Luck
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I switched my billing from normal to averaged. Went from hundreds to 90 bucks.
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do not i repeat…Do NOT waste your money on a portable A/C. They suk bad. If your handy there are a few instructables out 5here on converting a window unit into a portable.
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Too late… lol, an it does suck…lol
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I’m sorry I didn’t read the whole thread it’s formatted differently than I’m used to. 
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just adjust your btu to kilowatts. I’m not the brainchild of this configuration nor have I built or used 1. But I have spent 1k or more on shitty port. A/C’s over time for sure.
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I have been building similar style set ups for 20 years. The box built in back to take-out the exhaust is called a Plenum. I love the one in your pic, good build, but I make the box a little bigger coming off the exhaust.
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I did everything i could. Most cost effective lowest watt fans. Switched everything to leds. And run the gas
latern light routine. My bill is $150-200 i run 17 lights.
This saves me a bunch of money and wear and tear on my equipment. Im not linking the site. Just the light timing.
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Ive seen this… probly from you… lol… guess its time to try it… and converting a window unit! Lol… giess ill get to work
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Im about to run an experiment in a month with that light schedule you use. Just to see the effect difference. I have a 1 light set up spot in a very well built room. The environment is dialed in exact. So I thought id adjust timers and see what happens compared to a similar build across the yard from that other building that will stay the regular 18/6, then 12/12. I could probably take pics and log it in to show. Interesting stuff!!!
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Hello,
For your veg tent try using 2 fans, one up top and the other on the bottom. Try getting a stand fan that osculate.
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Oh now were talking buddy. Id love to see you do this and get some definite answers on the subject. I like it a lot and will continue to use it. Now you have to start out with this schedule if you dont you get a small budding and then an immediate reveg but it will take 30 days to finally get back to budding. So dont do that if you want your photo periods to stay on schedule.
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Update: ive been busy!
Thanks for all the advice also!
Unpluged the portable AC! Step 1
I really dint want to build anything, so got a saw, some reused wood, some reused nails… a AC i lucky got off a friend for $40… and boooommmm
Alot better than befor, humidity is remaining between 47-60 temp between 70-85
Hopefully ill see a change on the electric bill also…fingers crossed
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Nice i hope it helps you out!
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That window unit should make a big diff. Did you exhaust the back of the a/c out of the house? Also,get away from those 80s and up temps,get that room down to 77 and you will see dramatic differences. Looks good tho!!!
If you get some extra $, I love the Luxpro PSP 3000 digital thermostat. Its basically a portable thermostat so you can plug an a/c or heater in and have it controlled from a thermostat rite at your plants. They are bad ass.
I even just raised the temp to 80 just to show on the stat how easy it is. Now Back to 75-77. Hahahaha
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Oooo thats awesome! 
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