I've done some calculations for cost to light plants - it all depends on how many watts your lights use and hours that you will run them.

Based on my calculations, $180/year for 180W light is a bit too high? I am living in the Toronto area (6b) as well, so our electricity prices should be similar.

For my 6x T5HO setup (54*6=312W), it is $146.64 per year. That is running the lights from sunrise to sunset, according to seasonal variation (avg. 12 hours/day). This factors in time-of-use pricing, weekend pricing, and holiday pricing.

If these lights were to be only used in the winter (November-April), the cost goes down to $127.02 per year. Which is actually not that much cheaper, surprisingly.

If for some crazy reason I wanted to run my lights 24/7, the cost would be $255.53 per year. Which is a lot of money!

Unfortunately, I can't really help with the economics aspect of growing fruits and veggies since I only grow succulents. But at least electricity-wise, I have it covered!

No strawberry is worthwhile at the moment.

That mesclun mix lettuce is the best bet. Copy the greenhouses. Tomatoes might be good too.

Dude. T5 = ew. You need LEDs.

Almost everything goes out on the roof for spring/summer/fall anyway. =)

They need to improve the light distribution for rectangular LED fixtures, the photometric data is disappointing.

It's not for a lack of wanting to buy LEDs, just too hard for me to justify the cost.

It's like $100 bucks US...the elec costs way more.

I need three or four of them, which is like $500 CAD?

Eh, more like 6.

Have you seen the noon bank FX rates?! 1 USD is bought at 1.3172 CAD.

6*$100 USD = $790 CAD

This dollar is killing us.

It remains to be seen if I am amused by that or not.