Keeping the Grow Stealth

[New_2_Chronic]

I was wandering how to keep your grow stealth for the LEO's. If I am running 2 1000 watt Hps or MH lighting systems and some other clone lighting wouldnt that make my electricity high enough to throw a flag up?

I want to grow a pretty good size closet grow and would probably need 2 1000 watt for flower and 2 1000 watt for veg, this is because i am going to use 2 walk in closets in my home. pretty good size closets,

Im going to start out with 2 600 watts (MH and HPS) per room at first this shouldnt be enough to draw attention should it?

Does anyone know at what point the electric company gets involved and alerts police something might be up?? Should I start upon moving in with establishing a high baseline for my electric bills?

 

[HippyInEngland]

READ

 

[lyfr]

Does anyone know at what point the electric company gets involved and alerts police something might be up?? Should I start upon moving in with establishing a high baseline for my electric bills?

at the point people start stealing it. i dont know if ive even heard of anyone getting busted cause bill was too high, though im sure there has been some. but all the busts i've been hearin about lately have 1 thing in common...stolen power. if leo was as smart as the utility co., and the irs we'd all be in trouble. cant tell "how much" will raise a red flag, but i can say anyone who steals it will be busted! replace all your house bulbs with cfl's, and if you replace appliances get energy savers, and not runnin a/c cept when you really need should all help compensate.good luck!

 

[Tater]

Considering your computer, space heater, water tank, dryer, range, etc etc all pull 400 to 1000 watts or more how can the power company distinguish between those devices and grow lights? If the cops can get a warrant based on power consumption alone then we are all in much more trouble than we think. Just pay your bills the power company is driven by the same thing every other company is, profit. Pay your bill and they won't care what you do.

 

[downtown]

well put

 

[Seattle Bong Ripper]

at the point people start stealing it. i dont know if ive even heard of anyone getting busted cause bill was too high, though im sure there has been some. but all the busts i've been hearin about lately have 1 thing in common...stolen power. if leo was as smart as the utility co., and the irs we'd all be in trouble. cant tell "how much" will raise a red flag, but i can say anyone who steals it will be busted! replace all your house bulbs with cfl's, and if you replace appliances get energy savers, and not runnin a/c cept when you really need should all help compensate.good luck!

excellent point, this is one of the things i noticed with A LOT of grows lately.

an excellent example is the tennessee pot cave. if you havent heard of it, youtube it. its a giant cave under a house full of plants(making the growers millionaires) and the only way they were caught was they stole all the electricity.

other than that, nobody had any idea..

 

[camcam]

excellent point, this is one of the things i noticed with A LOT of grows lately.

an excellent example is the tennessee pot cave. if you havent heard of it, youtube it. its a giant cave under a house full of plants(making the growers millionaires) and the only way they were caught was they stole all the electricity.

other than that, nobody had any idea..

I know what you are refering to but it was nothing to do with stealing power they got caught because they kept shuting the grid down due to the amount of power they was using (overload!).

To cut a long story short I know a lad who is growing and he has had his meter on the fiddle for 6 years he puts on £10 a week and he fills his own meter readings in and he has never had a problem at all, people who get busted have a big mouth or think they can tell their closest friend, don't tell a soul about your grarden and you will be fine..

 

[New_2_Chronic]

well i dont plan to steal power.....i can afford the higher bills or i would not be doing it. getting caught for doing something illegal, when your trying to hide the fact that you are doing something else illegal is just plain stupid.... I was wandering if i average 198 a month during the sumer and all of a sudden my bills were now 350 a month (just a guesstimation) would that throw up a flag with the utility company.

this is good information to share!

 

[Timmyjg6]

Well i live in an apt and as soon as i moved in i started growing so almost all my bills are the same since the start. I live in a 1 bed room and my elec bill is usually $250.... But i also have a crap load of computers a big 1600W LCD TV and i run my ac 24/7 non stop.

 

[camcam]

I would say yes, well, in the UK anyway. I don't know about other parts of the world.

 

[GreenThumbBlackFinger]

im always most concerned about the amount of light i have in a small space. if they get a tip, leo's have a helicopter they can fly over a block of houses and i think they use infrared or something but if you're growing its a giant white spot in the middle of your house. scary stuff. down with technology

 

[Tater]

Dude just flip the switch you'll be fine. A small single room ac unit is like 1500 watts. And thats about as small as they come. Right there is a legitimate reason why your power bill would spike. So whos going to notice 2000 extra watts of power, it just dosen't make sense. I once lived in a house and we had 14 computers that ran 24/7. Now if you do the math on that 300 watts per computer (most of them used more but I'm being generous) x 14 = 4200 watts. The cops never came knocking on my door. Well for other things but not for that ;p

 

[Timmyjg6]

Yeah. But with most electronics there not running 24-7... so it might say 1500W But its only 1500 W Max at sometimes...

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Considering your computer, space heater, water tank, dryer, range, etc etc all pull 400 to 1000 watts or more how can the power company distinguish between those devices and grow lights? If the cops can get a warrant based on power consumption alone then we are all in much more trouble than we think. Just pay your bills the power company is driven by the same thing every other company is, profit. Pay your bill and they won't care what you do.

Actually those appliances consume far more than 400-1000W--
Water heater-4500W-5500W
Clothes Dryer-5000W
Oven-5000W
Central A/C-3500W
Microwave-1500W
Toaster-1500W
Blow dryer-1500W
Space heater-1500W
Coffee maker-900W

You can probably make some changes that will almost offset the cost of running 1-2 1000W lights. Start by switching all your light bulbs to CFLs. Turn your water heater down. Run your A/C less or set the thermostat higher. Run your heaters less or set the thermostat lower. Hang clothes out to dry instead of using your dryer.

You might consider high output fluoros for vegging. I got a T5 to use in a spall space where I was concerned heat from a MH would be a problem. Well, when the T5 did as well as the MH, I put the MH in storage and am using a T5 exclusively for vegging.

 

[Timmyjg6]

Yeah that ^^^^^