Too much energy usage?

If you are like me you start your garden indoors months before planting season. But the month of March, at least in New England, is still dark and dreary and cold so everything needs extra love and warmth. Enter the grow lights.


My lighting system is totally DIY and the lights aren’t technically grow lights but fluorescent shop lights that I got at Home Depot.

In total I have 8 hooked up in there and the GE Slim Line lights are linkable so they are only taking up 3 outlets. I am supposed to be able to link 10 together but that would be if they were all in a straight line – the alignment I have them in only allows for two at a time. Thankfully for the linking ones because my surge protector is out of control.


My concern about all this extra seedling love is that those lights are on roughly 12 hours a day, 7 days a week! I think fluorescents are more energy friendly than regular lighting but still I worry about how much I am putting into this process and sucking the life out of the energy grid. This is something I have been thinking about since the other night when I was sitting outside at about 9:30pm and noticed that the lights were still on and boy do they light up the driveway!

Would it be more efficient for me to just buy the plants that are shipped from God knows where and packed in non-recyclable pots? I really enjoy they whole process of growing my own seeds and I feel so much accomplishment when it actually works! I like knowing that they are organic seeds in organic seed starting mix and started in cow/peat pots. How do you balance off the amount of energy used versus the peace of mind that knowing what you are growing is safe?