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Peak hours,Jet lag

Hawkeye

Hawkeye

I was reading an article about how electric cars are cheapest to drive after buying.They always say to charge them at night at off peak hours,
when electricity is at its cheapest.Then I thought about my grow room with no natural light.I run my lights at 8:00am to midnight.I am paying
for the most expensive electricity available to my home.I am going to change to a nightime schedule,to make my hobby a little less expensive.
Do you think an abrupt change would make a difference,and I should ease into a new schedule?Or would it be like humans with jet lag and my
plants would adapt very quickly?I couldn't find any info,but I can't be the first person to try this.What do you think?
 
I suggest you to move your light cycle slowly, plant are like humans and they don't like sudden changes like that.
Moving 1 hour per day towards best (and cheaper) hour should be enough.

Usually, for my 20/4 light cycle I use most of nightly hours.
Before moving my plants outdoor, I move the cycle towards the daily hours to avoid possible shocks and gradually to adapt them to the real-life cycle.

Even in Italy we've got cheaper prices for a nightly use of the electricity (and for Saturday-Sunday too)
 
I don't think it's a big deal to change abruptly. I've played with light cycles quite a bit, and the plants don't seem to mind at all. I run lights 24/7 for the first month and a half from seed, then switch to 18/6 until plant out. If my plants are growing faster than I expected, and I'm concerned about running out of room, I switch to 12/12. If I foliar spray, I turn the lights off until the leaves are dry so they don't burn. I've never worried about doing any of it gradually, and never had any problems at all.
 
Just an aside.. Talk to your electric co.. See if they have any programs for high wattage users.. When I had 1100 gallons of saltwater reef tanks (back when I was married) I ran the tanks lights from 7pm-7am.. Yes, its cheaper at night for most.. BUT! My electric co has a program, I get an even bigger discount for my overnights, the flip side is I only get XX amount of kWH for 7am-7pm, and going over that meant a hefty surcharge. At the time I was running 5000w in MH alone, plus an additional 4000w in VHO, plus pumps, heater, chiller, fans, ac, etc.. $700 was my highest electric bill (OUCH!). When I signed up for the program, my bills dropped 25% easily...

Oh, and not only is electricity higher in the day than night, but its also more expensive in summer than in winter!
 
My plants didn't even seem to notice the change yet.I think all answers are right.I was worried about an issue that they don't seem to mind,as long as they are getting
needed light.I was worried over something the plants didn't seem to care about.

Thanks again,you guy are great!
 
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