At My Smart Grow we believe in working Smarter, not Harder.

Energy:

Growing takes more than your own mental and physical energy, it also relies on the energy from your home when grown indoors. Being smart with your energy and time will save your mental and physical anguish down the line.  The My Smart Grow System was designed to keep energy waste at the minimum, as well as allow for easy future expansion once your process is in place. 

Lighting, fans, filters, timers, pumps, meters, and cameras are all compounding draws on your electrical system and while they are not all needed depending on your environmental needs, you will find them useful and would not want to cut yourself short with a lack of available  electricity. Before you even purchase your first light, first make sure your electrical system is up to snuff and can handle at least 20 amps or more at the circuit breaker. If you have only 15 amps servicing your space, and you are sharing loads on that line with other devices (computers lights tv etc.)  you will need to add them up accordingly to your total draw calculations.  You will be limited to which lighting you can use by the breaker load total and will want to leave at least a 2 amp buffer, so say goodbye to that 5x DE Gavita dream room.

You might be amazed at how technology has allowed for high efficiency LED and Ceramic Metal Halide (low wattage @ only 315w per bulb) to almost surpass the output of the 1000w monster lamps of yesterday, but the upfront cost is higher luckily, the run time is much longer than either a Metal Halide bulb or High Pressure Sodium.  

There are a number of ways to reduce your power draw during a grow, but first and foremost make sure you are at maximum operation, not drawing an unsafe amount of power through your homes electrical system.  Using properly sized fans and not over providing for your airspace is critical. The My Smart Grow system’s automated fan controller can automatically switch off and on to keep the desired temperature and/or humidity for your purposes. We have found that if you can keep a constant flow of air to regulate your environment rather than forcing the fan to spin up from a stop is actually 5x more energy efficient.  The log and Graphing feature of the My Smart Grow can allow you to modify your environment and track real time the effects. No more guess and check. Information is Power!   

Understand that growing is not easy. No matter how automated. Your physical ability and energy are also needed. You have to ask yourself: Are you able to stoop/squat for long periods to water your pots, or fill your hydroponics reservoir? Are you able to deal with the drainage, scrubbing of trays,or lifting of heavy sacks etc? Can your hands handle hours of trimming necessary?  If not there are many ways around forced labor.  If you cannot lug pails of water around, buy a hose and run it to your tubs and use pumps whenever possible. Use dollies to carry heavy items and automated watering systems to ease up on manual watering labor.  At My Smart Grow we believe in working smarter, not harder.

Understand that growing indoors is no different than any other farming, exempt it is in your closet, patio, storage room, garage or basement. So keep in mind, if you screw up, your home is on the line and you responsible for the damages so plan accordingly for a worst case scenario.