This Is How Much It Costs To Run A Smart Garden, And How Much It Can Save
I've talked a lot about intelligent gardens. This is one of my favorite smart home devices overall, especially as the price of fresh produce skyrockets as winter fast approaches. I love fresh ingredients and it's often cheaper to grow them at home than to buy them at the store.
On the other hand, it is not always easy for someone living in an apartment to do so. Balconies don't always get enough sun (as my failed experience growing potatoes this year shows) and available yields are low. Smart gardens offer an easy way to solve these problems by controlling light output and watering time, taking the guesswork out of the process.
But are they really worth it or do you spend more money in the long run? I sat down to look at the true cost of a smart garden, from the initial purchase cost to the day-to-day running costs.
bear with me Many of these numbers are rough estimates and some have been simplified to make the calculations easier to follow, but the end result should be a decent estimate of the total cost of a smart garden.
Smart gardens can be very expensive
For this plot I wanted to look at a garden that could produce a really decent crop. While I love my AeroGarden, my wife and I don't use it for more than a salad or two. Instead, I chose Gardyn 3.0 as a starting point.
Curtain 3.0 costs $999. That's a lot of money for a smart device, but it can grow 30 plants at a time and comes with 30 yCubesn (Gardyn's version of the original plant wall) with purchase.
For $4 per bag of lettuce, you instantly get the equivalent of 250 servings. Gardening may pay off in the long run, but you'll feel the value right from the start.
Smart gardens have constant yields
If you track the growth stages you should see 8 to 10 pounds of product per month from Gardyn 3.0. You can grow a variety of different plants, so the value of this product can vary widely. However, add a few extra dollars to all accounts. Because Gardin is grown without pesticides, it can practically be called organic.
With that in mind, let's do some math. According to FoodCoop.com, a pound of organic lettuce costs about $3.91. At a generous £10 a month, Garden produces $39 worth of groceries. At this rate, it will take just over two years to pay for itself, but wait, let's not forget about electricity and water costs.
Utilities add up more than you think
Gardyn produces a lot with a combination of automatic watering and two powerful LED grow lights. According to Gardyn's FAQ page, these bulbs draw about 75 watts per second on average. With the recommended schedule, expect to use about 54 kWh of energy per month.
The average price of electricity in my home country is about $0.1226 per kWh, which equates to about $6.62 in electricity costs per month just to run Jardine.
Water costs also need to be considered. The Garden has a 6 gallon tank and while it uses 95% less water than similar systems, it only needs to be refilled once a week as the plants mature. We say 20 liters of water per month.
Water costs about $1.50 per 1,000 gallons in the United States. The cost of 20 liters is negligible and not worth considering.
Plants cost money too
Gardyn 3.0 includes 30 ready-to-use plants, and the company says they should last around three months before they stop production and need to be replaced. The yCube pods are around $5 each, so a full replacement would cost $150. However, Gardyn offers a subscription that gives users 10 free yCubes per month.
This membership costs $34 per month for one year or $29 per month for two years. If you pay strictly monthly, it's $39. We accept a two-year membership.
As I have already confirmed, Gardyn will set you back around $39 per month. With a membership fee of $29 and $6 for utilities, that's only a $4 savings.
However, it is entirely possible to create and grow your own yCubes in Gardin. There is a thriving community of users doing just that.
Does a smart garden really save money?
Honestly not really. The time it takes to recoup the initial cost of a smart garden means you'll need to use it for a few years before your investment pays off, and at that point the daily maintenance and spares costs skyrocket, which is a real thing. Savings.
Smart gardening should not be seen as a way to save money, but as an alternative way to grow plants yourself. Store-bought produce isn't quite as good as locally grown produce, and you get better taste, color, and crispness than Smart Garden plants.
It is definitely a luxury item. If you're trying to reduce overall overhead, a smart garden isn't the answer (although growing your own in a backyard garden can help keep costs down). Instead, think of the smart garden as a fun way to grow plants at home and add some veggies to your diet, rather than a standalone system for growing your own food.
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