Another Lighting Q's

[polywer2345]

Well just like Kath I will be getting a 4- tier mini "greenhouse". I want to know how many light fixtures do I need. Will I need a fixture on each rack or one for every two tiers? Can I see pictures of how other people set up there grow rack?Thank you and sorry if I stole a thread or something

 

[EdaxFlamma]

http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=114233&highlight=grow+shelf

http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112729&highlight=grow+shelf

Just throw "grow rack" or "grow shelf" into the search and you'll get a few nice pics. Lighting is covered in most too. Personally I use 2 -4' 40watt fluorescent fixtures per shelf for a total of 4 bulbs and I think this is pretty much the most common way.

Hope that helped,
-J.P.

 

[polywer2345]

Okay thanks- but what if you don't want to raise the elec bill by alot. In your experience if a totla of 4 bulbs how much would it cost to run it every month?

 

[Crissytal]

A few dollars. The shop lights like are seen on my grow rack don't use much electricity at all. They run something like 15 to 16 hours a day.

Crystal

Edit: There's a thread on here somewhere that calculates the exact amount of electricity a bulb will burn over a certain period of time.

Edit again: http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=890155&postcount=11

 

[nightsky]

I am using a rack with 2 shelfs, each with 4 - 40 watt bulbs running 16 hours a day.

I pay $.07/kwh.

So -

320 watts per hour, times 16 hours a day, times 30 days for your average month = 153.6 kwh. Times that by .07 = $10.75 per month. 8 bulbs though.

What's killing me now is my air conditioner. With the temps we've been getting the a/c is running about 21 hours a day at 1800 watts per hour, it's expensive!