Caught by power consumption?

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Treebeard

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Apologies if this isn't in the correct section.

I was just wondering if anyone has ever heard of anyone being caught growing because of an extreem amount of power being used in the house? I mean if you've got 2x 1000w HID lights going its going to use alot of power and someone must be able to realise whats going on from this. For instance, when the power company come to read your metre and it's a huge amount for a small house they're gona think somthings up, this actually happend recently near to me but i don't know if this was what got him caught. could someone shed some light (excuse the pun) on the subject to ease my paranoia! :eek:
 
i have never heard of a person getting caught by the amont of the electric bill ,,,but hey you never know ,,,as always be carefull ,,,p,l,r
 
I heard some cops use this technique to pin point growers.I've never heard of any actual cases but it's a posibility.
 
2- 1KW lites draw about the same as a freezer, $20-30 a month

this comes up about every month or so; look at your electric bill, see what they charge you for each kwh X number of hours per day the lite is on, X 30 days will give you price 1-1KW lite costs per month. In your case just double that number for 2 lites>
 
Yeah i didn't think of it like that. Its not a problem i face but i thought if you live in a small house in the city it must be a problem. Thanks for easing my worry!
 
In Australia the power companies send you a diagram of exactly how much electricity you use in differant periods through the months, If there are significant increases the company will alert police.
 
I think if ya keep it under 2Kw you should be fine. Its pushing it IMHO. but hey I think most get by with a 1K. Its all in risk assesment.
 
to whom it may concern i read an article not heresay. in canada im not sure which province. they consider the threshold of suspicious use 93kwh per day with 2 1k light runnin 18/6 you are lookin at 36kw a day which leaves you with 57kwh left for every thing else. just to let you know its hard to use 50 kwh a day even with an electric dryer hotwater heater and a electric range. i know i have all 3 and used ac in the summer and barely 35 kwh a day. heres an idea for the paranoid swith all your lights in your house to cfls BIG SAVINGS
 
Hey what's up. Good thread....Go to www.hydroponics.net- there's a web-based tool that you can use to see how much it would cost to run 1000 watt/600watt, etc.....

I've been dyin' to ask this....Has anyone here read the security section of the overgrow FAQ? The Device For "growers that know"....has anyone actually found one of these? does it work? does it work in america? what the heck is it? did i imagine it?

My electric oven uses 1800 watts- I just got it but..........
 
I heard of a local grow up gettin shut down a few years ago because of that exact reason, but it was a pretty big one.
 
I dunno what u guys pay... in my area a average sized house... that uses electricity for heat in winter... will pay EASILY over $800 during a billing period. My friend at the power company says he has released information to police before... with a subpoena. He says all of the people he gave the information to... A) were late on power bills and B) had over a $1000 gain on top of the "normal" at one time.
So... if u keep paid... and if u were to add say, one light at a time.
On another note... do u realize many toasters and microwaves use over 1600watts each when they are on? One 1000w hps is the same as 5-7 light bulbs.... not a big deal.
 
Many years ago when California had the rolling black-outs it was my 3rd or 4th month into a grow with about 3000 watts of lights going and my electric bill the next month came out to be exactly 420.00 dollars. Kind of was ironic being most of the power was being used to grow cronic. That was definetly too much energy consumption for my house so I had to find ways to cut energy by doing laundry at my girl friends (now wife) house. No A.C. during the evening even though it was summer and the outside temps were in the high 90's low 100's. It was definetly a hot summer....;)
 
vitocorleone said:
I've been dyin' to ask this....Has anyone here read the security section of the overgrow FAQ?

Does anyone know what I'm talking about?
 
vitocorleone said:
Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

Yeah, I think your talking about the reporting of high elec. usage. but if your not running a 4K set-up and living there and using ungodly amounts of elec. without something to warrant it then ya got problems.
but the average joe with a garage with "Man" toys. Like welders, and shop tools can easily use up the equiv. of a 1K HID. I know without my grow..just in my garage and TV and crap I'm using quite a bit.

What I found helped a lot is switching all my incadecsents to small 10 watt pigtail flos. They produce plenty of light and last a heck of a lot longer. just a little more cash up front.
 
Hmm.. I guess I was thinking it would save me money......something with voltage regulating or something.....but if it messes with reporting the electric company would think that's stealing.....and I'm already too paranoid so I couldn't handle that.....thanks for responding Mutt...
 
Yea dont be toying w/ the meter, theft of power WILL get their attention. Most meters automatically report now.

2KWH for 12 hr / day x 30 days = 720 KWH / month. I pay roughly .10 / KWH. So thats $72 just for the lights. Really not a big deal imo. The elec cow proly wont care either. Worse that they do is send someone out to check the meter if your usage spikes really high. In that case, just tell em you got a 2nd refrigerator, or are running a dehumidifier. Definately uses that much juice.
 
Definately dont tamper with the meters.... that'll throw u in jail faster then growing....
But if u know how to get another line in unnoticeable, by passing the meter... "power" to ya...
 

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