In order to make DIY Hydroponics a more complete site, I decided to include some of the nitty gritty details of my systems. (I have implemented three different types) Things like setup costs and operating costs as well as discussions about nutrients and such. Probably the biggest question that most people have is "Is it worth it? Well that is going to have to be for the individual to determine for themselves. The costs were an important factor to me because... well... I am not made of money. I knew I was going to have to buy some stuff to start it but I was primarily concerned about the ongoing costs. So I tried to breakdown the costs of my first system for you here. Truth be told, I was experimenting with the technology to determine what was going to work best and although it worked well, I have moved on from this system to a system that incorporates more of the vertical aspects of the technology, but that is a subject for later. This system may be for you or it may not be. So here goes...
The monthly operation costs of my hydroponic system were comprised of only three parts: electricity, water, and nutrients.
Electricity
The electicity is necessary to run the air pump and the water pump for keeping the roots oxygenated and hydrated with the nutrient solution. The cost is minimal. Here is the breakdown of the power usage and associated costs.
I used a 120v 2.5amp water pump for my system. This means it is 300 volt-amps or 300 watts. If the pump ran for one hour it would use 300 watts of electricity. assuming that i alternate the pump 30 minutes on and off for 30 days then that would be 12 hours per day or 360 hours per month. 360 x 300 equals 108000 divided by 1000 equals 108 kwh. I pay about $.14 per kwh for electricity leaving me with a monthly cost of $15.12 for power. (Honestly I didnt notice my bill going up by that much, but i wasn't very concerned about it either) The air pump was only about 20 watts. This translates into roughly 7 cents a month.
You can use a submersible pump that consumes less electricity if you like, however, you must be sure to keep it free of the roots unless it is a powerful utility pump like the one i just mentioned. If you used a smaller pump that only pumps 400 gallons per hour (all you need for this system) then your power consumption would only be like 33 watts per hour. That would reduce the power cost to about $1.70 per month.
Water
My water costs me about .7 cents per gallon. If I fill the resevoir with 20 gallons intially then add 20 gallons every week for an average of 85 gallons per month of nutrient solution per month then my water usage costs me about 60 cents for the month. (85x.007=.595)
so now we are up to a monthly cost of $15.79
Nutrients
Then the nutrients cost me 39.95 plus tax and shipping for about $54 dollars. I buy the dry nutrients and mix them myself. I get 4 pounds of the stuff 2 (1lb bags of one part and 2 1lb bags of the other part) and it makes about 500 gallons of the nutrient solution. So my cost per gallon for the nutrient solution is roughly 11 cents. at 85 gallons a month for a monthly cost of around $9.35
now were up to a monthly cost of $25.14.
This may sound like a lot, however you need to factor in the number of plants that you can feed for that amount. With hydroponics you can put your plants much closer together and therefore grow more in less space than with traditional gardening. In my first system I had 19 plants so the cost per plant per month was $1.33. Compare that with the cost of feeding and watering a traditional garden.
Even if you have a drip irrigation system and depending on where you live, you can expect to add $40 per month to your water bill alone. the cost of conventional fertilizer is $25 per bag which lasts almost the whole summer (3 months) for a garden approximately 14' x 14' or $8.33 per month. Already we are up to $48.33 per month which doesn't include any fuel costs if you use garden equipment such as a rototiller or garden tractor.
So you be the judge... take up your entire backyard with a garden that costs you upwards of $200 in a season or take up only fraction of the space for half the price. Ill take DIY hydroponics any day!