Yeah, probably be a great setup. But it reminds me of the ol' "break-even point" thing. $700 to $800 versus... IDK... $150 to $225 for a 600-watt or possibly even 1,000-watt HID. Be more efficient, be 1,194.2496 less BTU per hour of heat production (compared to a 1,000-watt HPS), save a little electricity each month, possibly a little more if you depend on air conditioning instead of manage heat with ventilation. Add a new bulb every 2,000 hours or so ($19 to $WOW, depending on brand/model).
If your electricity cost per kilowatt hour is sky high, your break-even point might be...
relatively quickly. If it's only 11½ per, though, it's going to take a lot longer. <SHRUGS> Still, it will happen eventually. The question, though, is will it happen before the gardener decides he/she "just has to have" the
next latest and greatest thing, lol. If so, no problem, it's a win. If not, well...
IMHO, monthly operating costs and break-even point should be considered along with the initial outlay. I read that, in Hawaii, they pay something like 33½ cents per kilowatt hour. If you live there, this kind of question is pretty easy to answer (say, "F*ck it!" and go grow outside somewhere
). In North Dakota, your residential electricity cost might only be 9 cents per kilowatt hour. There, it would probably be a lot harder to justify spending more than a dollar per watt for your lighting equipment.
