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Growing under Lights

Grow Light Economics - Best Value Veggies

Yuan Gong Hamilton ON CANADA 6b

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

So say a 180W LED light covers 2'x4'. That's about $180/year or $15/month. Have you ever done the money math to see what veggies are cashflow positive?

Featured Answer

khricket

8 years ago

Interesting chart.

I grow plants underlight mostly to fight of winter depression (most are flowering varieties, but some veg.). Not cost effective for food, but it's a pretty cheap hobby :) Would be interested in seeing more cost effective veggie growing methods. I think fruit would be the best way to go, since they can cost $10+ during the winter, and strawberries dont take up too much space if you are hanging them.

Comments (11)

ewwmayo
8 years ago
I've done some calculations for cost to light plants - it all depends on how many watts your lights use and hours that you will run them.

Based on my calculations, $180/year for 180W light is a bit too high? I am living in the Toronto area (6b) as well, so our electricity prices should be similar.

For my 6x T5HO setup (54*6=312W), it is $146.64 per year. That is running the lights from sunrise to sunset, according to seasonal variation (avg. 12 hours/day). This factors in time-of-use pricing, weekend pricing, and holiday pricing.

If these lights were to be only used in the winter (November-April), the cost goes down to $127.02 per year. Which is actually not that much cheaper, surprisingly.

If for some crazy reason I wanted to run my lights 24/7, the cost would be $255.53 per year. Which is a lot of money!

Unfortunately, I can't really help with the economics aspect of growing fruits and veggies since I only grow succulents. But at least electricity-wise, I have it covered!
Yuan Gong Hamilton ON CANADA 6b thanked ewwmayo
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Yuan Gong Hamilton ON CANADA 6b
Original Author
7 years ago
No strawberry is worthwhile at the moment.
Yuan Gong Hamilton ON CANADA 6b
Original Author
7 years ago
That mesclun mix lettuce is the best bet. Copy the greenhouses. Tomatoes might be good too.
Yuan Gong Hamilton ON CANADA 6b
Original Author
7 years ago
Dude. T5 = ew. You need LEDs.
ewwmayo
7 years ago
Almost everything goes out on the roof for spring/summer/fall anyway. =)

They need to improve the light distribution for rectangular LED fixtures, the photometric data is disappointing.

It's not for a lack of wanting to buy LEDs, just too hard for me to justify the cost.
Yuan Gong Hamilton ON CANADA 6b
Original Author
7 years ago
It's like $100 bucks US...the elec costs way more.
ewwmayo
7 years ago
I need three or four of them, which is like $500 CAD?
Yuan Gong Hamilton ON CANADA 6b
Original Author
7 years ago
Eh, more like 6.
ewwmayo
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Have you seen the noon bank FX rates?! 1 USD is bought at 1.3172 CAD.

6*$100 USD = $790 CAD

This dollar is killing us.
Yuan Gong Hamilton ON CANADA 6b
Original Author
7 years ago
It remains to be seen if I am amused by that or not.

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