ok this may have been discussed already but there are 11 pages so , very new to this lark but ive been doing my sums and flicking through the internet.

400w hps with ballast £59 (ebay)
contacter/timer £10 (ebay)
3 types of compost to grow from seed,young plants and adults £10
oil filled radiator with thermostat £10 (ebay) for those cold summer nights
5" fan with filter (extraction) £90 (ebay)
5" fan (intake) (ebay) £40
bottle of nutrients £8.50 (ebay)

roughly £220 not to mention the two, 5" holes i gotta drill through brick and the 20 ft of ducting i gotta fit to reach the great outdoors. may even need a couple of fans extra to help the air on its way. and then of course the seeds, it's looking like a cool £250. just wondered if this sounds about right and whether i'm forgetting owt .
any advice gratefully recieved . cheers FF

Well 1st of a would stay clear of ebay alot of people say its watched by the rozzers, as for how much it costs well its quite alot for ur 1st set up but after that ur only really having to buy soil n nutes as the pots light etc are all re-usable of course.

I recently spent a fair bit on new gear n by the time i got all my wee bits i was well over £250 but it can be done for that price depending on how many u want to grow.

bit like choosing a car really, u can buy whatever suits your budget, from growing in soil to using the wilma pot system, using a budget light to using an air-cooled digital lamp,
i think you have done the important thing and brought the bits u actually 'Need', im sure u will upgrade to more qaulity kit as u find your way.
I remember my first light, a 400w all in one box from sunlight systems, had it for years, i think i only got rid cause i was thinking maybe the ones they made at that point where better built. Nope! Well, i didnt notice anything different with me new lamp.

people buy seeds online and get em deliverd to their house then people think ordering off ebay is dodgy , i bought many items in past from ebay , if you orders all that lot at once well thats a diffrent strory. but i spent about £300 to build 2 rooms but only cfl lighting.

Ye totally agree with this, but at the same time sometimes its best to start as u mean to go on u by the best stuff 1st time round will safe u money in the long run.

i agree with most people here, and think u should avoid ebay,

but for diff reasons than others dude, just cos ur buying electrical stuff, i think u should buy all that the ballast n bulbs from proppa shop , and the contact/timer

just gives u extra peace of mind knowing the stuff u have bought is brand new and u shouldn't get any elecy problems with it, i know its a bummer paying the extra, but dude its just for safety and thats the main thing b4 security in my eyes

now that i DO agree with , safty first

before you first grow is finished i bet its nearer £500 and I wouldnt buy anything grow related from ebay tbh.

Think am round about the 5-6 ton mark for my 1st grow with all my new gear

hmmmm ok , was hoping for some advice on makin it cheaper . don't tell me it's gonna cost double !!!!!! .
only gonna be personal , 10 at the most if i get 1 girl i'll be happy .... not happy with ebay myself , even if most of them guarentee to destroy all records after sale . no come back if i get sent empty boxes i suppose . cheers for the replys....
better go and see my bank manager methinks , times a wasting , hurry up payday

Hi mate

You wont be sent empty boxes - but if you have a problem likei did - smashed bulb in the post - and they decided to be a**holes about it (like they did) it puts you in a difficult position, do you kick up a fuss about your grow gear or do you keep it quiet and cut the loss. IMO the people who ripped me off - a BIG ebay hydro supplier (dont know if i can say the name - id love to though) made it as awkward as possible for me to get my money back - for a start the didnt reply to emails until i opened a dispute then used paypal rules to make me get a certificate from a 'proffesional' to say the item was damaged in the post. They also have your address and know that you are growing weed. Thats a situation i didnt particularily enjoy. For that alone i'd give ebay a swerve.

Go to a store mate - or even better use the link above - i have, you can see pics of the stuff i got in my diary. Incidentally i didnt buy everything at once and although i didnt run into huge problems it would have been easier to get it all at the start. I think ive spent about £400 so far but it was financially workable to get it bit by bit. But thats me set up now.

Good luck pal.

U

I don't buy electrical gear at all really from ebay. There's the safety issues, there's the fact that it could be broken = hassle, and the security issues. I'm going to be buying the stuff i need for my first grow from shops, in cash, on different days. The best advice I can give about cutting costs is to get stuff that isnt labeled as "for hydroponic growing" etc as you will pay a premium for this over stuff bought in a DIY type shop. Also have a good scan through the grow diaries, growroom project threads, and DIY kit forums as they are filled with wonderful ideas. For me, the risk of fire, hassle, failed grow, or being sniffed out is not worth trying to save too much money on the build, even though I will try to cut as many costs as possible.

yeah there are some things you dont need straight away, you could get your carbon filter 4-6 weeks down the line (small seedlings aint gonna smell) and if you're potting up in compost you wont need any nutes during veg either. You could switch your lights on/off manually and save on a contactor/timer for a few weeks. There's plenty of workarounds. You could even start off with a 125w envrio and just one fan for extract (passive intake) it'll reduce the cost of your electric bill for the first 4 weeks of veg and the initial outlay as you'd probably do with just one fan until you got a hps setup.

Depending on your space, 600s are significantly more efficient - so you'll get more pot for your electricity - which will cost you £100 for a grow.