Safe watt amounts drawn before the energy company notices

GandalfdaGreen

Well-Known Member
Hey everyone. In terms of watts used for growing, what is the point at which the energy company notices the extra energy draw? 1000 watts? 2000 watts? Bills are always paid on time for years and years. I want to go up to 2200ish watts for bloom and veg rooms. What do you all think? Thanks.
 

Hugo Phurst

Well-Known Member
As long as you pay the bill, they really don't give a fuck. 2200W might, just might, increase your bill by $10/day(more likely $5).

Have fun.
 

ginnzy

Active Member
yeah, i agree..... if you pay the bill, you can use pretty much what you want. around here, 6- 8 1000w lights is the norm. I know of some guys running 40, 1000's and they just pay the bill, its been 2+ years and no one seems to take notice. but thats the extreme.
 

amgprb

Well-Known Member
Before I started my grow, i began running more lights, electronics, etc in my home so that there was a gradual increase in the electric consumption. Once I began growing, I swapped ALL bulbs in house to cfl & began being OCD about turning electronics off when not in use. This way now there was not a huge spike in consumption & it stayed steady.

Another good idea is purchasing sonething that draws alot of electricity and having it visable if any unwanted guest should show up. I picked up some broken welding equipment for cheap, and are very visable once my garage door is opened.
 

Jeffdogg

Well-Known Member
I'd be more worried about the ballasts (if they are digital) ratting you then the power company perking you out..

http://bigbudsmag.com/grow/article/marijuana-Comcast-Xfinity-HID-digital-ballast-grow-room

One Comcast guy got in my face. He claimed the “terms of service” of my Comcast Xfinity agreement “gives Comcast the right” to enter my house and yard “at any time.” I refused entry and told him and his buddy to leave immediately.
The next day I got a call from a “Comcast technical supervisor.” He says my Comcast service is going to be cut off (and I would be liable for a large financial penalty for “early cancelation”) unless I let him and another tech in my house.
What I didn’t know is they were calling me from right outside my house! They started pounding on my door while he was on the phone. Again I had to rush around like a crazy person shutting down everything and doing odor control to keep them from smelling my marijuana plants.
I opened the door and told them don’t go showing up at my house all of a sudden and demanding entry.
To my amazement, they pushed past me and started going around the house looking at wires and the Comcast Xfinity equipment.
I thought I was going to have to physically stop them if they got near the grow room, and I kept telling them to get out of my house, but the “supervisor” was woofing off that he detected “radio frequency interference” coming out my house and it’s messing up other peoples’ Internet, appliances, cable service, remote control devices, etc.
I told them there’s nothing wrong with any equipment in my house, and that I considered them to be trespassing. They left.
Then I called the hydroponics store and they said yes my Lumatek and Galaxy digital ballasts do put out radio frequency interference (RFI), and so do some HID bulbs. RFI interferes with electrical gear, and can be detected from outside your home.
They said you can find out if you have RFI by having an AM radio on and walking with it in and around your marijuana grow room, house, and yard. If you hear static that’s not there when your ballasts are off, the static is caused by hydroponics digital ballast RFI.
Apparently, the only hydroponics digital ballast that doesn’t have radio frequency interference is the “Baddass ballast.” Too bad I hadn’t bought that one. And I need to get some RFI-blocking grow room insulation that makes it harder if not impossible for RFI to escape my marijuana grow room.
A few days went by, and then Comcast contacted me saying they wanted to come back to my house, but I said hell no.
The next day, my Xfinity service went down. Comcast had disconnected it and charged me an early termination fee.


I later learned that Comcast has a habit of narking people out. They detect radio frequency interference, and/or they use their access to your home and yard so that they see indoor and outdoor marijuana gardens.
 

Jeffdogg

Well-Known Member
All magnetic but one. One digital 400W ballast with all the anti RF stuff supposedly as claimed by the manufacturer.
Cool buddy, gotta be better safe then sorry always doing this stuff :)

If comcast can do that, imagine what other companies can do that.
 

Jeffdogg

Well-Known Member
You always will to a point brother, for now thats part of the culture. Until we are free from hiding our passion from the world. :blsmoke:
 

bigworm6969

Well-Known Member
Wow thats crazy bro i would have cracked the shit out of that mother fucker, im a sub for comcast and verizon and we have to gain access to people yards all the time theres an easement right of way but if the home owner says no then i dont go in there yard and have to figure another way to get to the pole, but they have no right pushing past you like that i would of flipped out and probaly would have got arrested, fuck them man you can get dish or direct tv, or even fios, yeah i never heard of frequency messing up people internet i think there a bunch of narcs i got wifi and xfinety and it dont mess with my stuff
 

GandalfdaGreen

Well-Known Member
Wow thats crazy bro i would have cracked the shit out of that mother fucker, im a sub for comcast and verizon and we have to gain access to people yards all the time theres an easement right of way but if the home owner says no then i dont go in there yard and have to figure another way to get to the pole, but they have no right pushing past you like that i would of flipped out and probaly would have got arrested, fuck them man you can get dish or direct tv, or even fios, yeah i never heard of frequency messing up people internet i think there a bunch of narcs i got wifi and xfinety and it dont mess with my stuff
My digital ballast does not bother any of our devices either. I wonder if the newer ones are better than those of just a few years ago with the whole RF thing.
 

slim83

Well-Known Member
My mother in law works for the power company and she told me if you run a 1000w per room in your house it wouldn't be suspicious because many houses have cadet wall heaters in each room that are usually 1000w a piece that would run all winter and in the summer it's normal to see people using 2-3 window ac units that draw a shit load of power , so if you have a 3 bedroom house running 3000w it would just look like normal power consumption.
 

May11th

Well-Known Member
My current wattage used in grow room is 3000 ish w lights and fans , I have a bill of $240.00 about every month. That's not to bad in my eyes.
 

jondamon

Well-Known Member
I would just like to point out that energy consumption and red flags are different across the waters.


Gandalf are you UK based?

If so then there generally are some limits on electricity draw in the UK.

Most UK utility companies allow a household 1kwh of electricity per hour per bedroom.

1 bedroom = 24kwh of usage per day for the household
2 bedrooms = 48kwh of usage per day
3 bedrooms = 72kwh of usage per day

But even after this usage has been exceeded they don't send hot fuzz to investigate.

You may get a phone call from them to find out if you know you are using this much and to ask if you'd like any help reducing your kwh usage.



J
 

mycomaster

Well-Known Member
just because you use a ton of power, does not mean the cops and electric people are coming to your house. I have a home made in 1918, and I use a $H1T ton of juice to run everything at a comfortable level. I use space heaters in the winter and window units in some rooms during the summer, mostly for growing.(ha ha)I slowly raised my power consumption and I run a bill of about $250 a month with other's living with me. I just simply asked my neighbors one day about what there bill was running them and they're about the same really. As long as you're not running a warehouse grow in your home it's alot safer than people think. I'm not sure where people got the idea that the juice company will come out with leo and shut you down. I know they will, but they'd rather have a good reliable customer, so pay your bills on time or early and leave a credit on your account and you will never have a problem. I personally know 2 different electric guys who have worked for big name juice companies and they just want their $ like any other company in America. Be discreet, be smart, be free! Peace out.
 

jondamon

Well-Known Member
Something else to note about UK utility companies.

They still have the "average" consumption of a UK home at 3300kwh of electricity PER YEAR!




J
 

mycomaster

Well-Known Member
One of the few good things in America, If you can afford it you can have it. I'm sure there are peaks and all that are to be looked at, but pretty much if you have the money it's not a problem.(as long as you can explain the usage in some way) Peace out.
 

Darth Budder

Well-Known Member
I still worry though. :wall:
It is good to worry. The paranoid have nothing to fear. Stupid lawbreakers are the ones you hear about. Stupid people don't worry.

i am not worried about Comcast or the electric company. It's just the police I worry about. Keep your stuff locked and put of site. If a cop is at your door step OUTSIDE your house and close the door behind you to speak to them. Answer no questions, do not allow them inside without a warrant. That's it. Increased electric use is not probable cause unless its rediculas, and they are not going to waste helicopter fule on a flir for less.

Db
 

mycomaster

Well-Known Member
Ok people here is how it breaks down. I'm much more worried about getting sick and not having any meds, than a cop showing up at my door asking questions. When the cop shows up I have certain rights to rely on. Now when I get sick, my only right is to go to the hospital and get treated like shit! When I have my meds I don't usually get sick anyways.(usually) So I have a clear conscience about what I'm doing, I can either follow a discriminatory law built out of fears or I can be as safe as possible and smart about what I do, and not suffer all day everyday. I'm not hurting anyone, I pay my bills, and I don't sell what I grow. I give some to other dog sick people, but there's no profit just compassion. I only give a gram or two away at a time anyways, cause I grow for me, not the community. If I don't have my meds I can't eat, I can't sleep, and I can't even leave my house if I needed to. I have to smoke to eat ans smoke after I eat to make sure it stays where it needs to be. I have to smoke to go to bed for the 4 hours of sleep I get everynight, and when I wake up I have to smoke so I don't start to get nauseaous. I know some people don't need this amount of meds, but unfortunately I do, and I don't live in a medical state or can afford to move to one. I'm so sorry I'm sick and was born in this geographical region. So I have some anxiety about what I do, but I mostly worry about getting sick. If and when the cops show up I'll be polite and invite them in if they have a warrant, and explain to them if they'll listen what's going on. Until that day I'm going to do what I have to do to survive and have a marginal quality of life. I don't mean to offend anyone growing for recreational use cause that should be legal as well. You can sauce yourself up with all the liquor you can get your hands on, but you can't smoke a joint. It's hippocritical and built out of laws of prejudice. Sorry about the rant people, but just think about what you are doing and why. If you're growing yourself meds regardless of laws you're not doing anything wrong I.M.O.! Take it easy everybody and remember "Peace and Love!"
 
Top