Digital Electricity Useage Meters

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rmoltis

rmoltis

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Hi guys.

The electricity company is coming out to replace the old analog meters. I've read they can potentially be bad for growers. Specifically people saying they can identify the signs of a potential grow.

All my tents probably total around 900 watts together.

I guess my question is...
Should this be my last grow until I get to a legal state?

Or is it no big deal for someone on such a small scale like me to worry?


Are there any digital electricity usage meter growers on this site in a hostile state that could instill some confidence in me?
 
whitepistols

whitepistols

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Would a step up/step down transformer beable to prevent the electric company from seeing what it is powering
 
lino

lino

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dam it ,, hard to advise,,, i had more problems growing INDOORS in colo and cali when it was illegal. That led me to be a Gorilla Grower only. That why I have so many Gorilla strains. Its different here lots of the homies walk out the front door 2ft plant no box, put a seat belt on it in the back seat...

yikes analog to digital net meter.... the prob aint your consumption,,, the prob how ya eat the elect cookies, you''re eatN elect cookies every 12 hrs. Net meters are graphed digitally and alarm PATTERNED high usage,,, if the city is paying the $2k / net meter,hmmmm,,, cities work with Utility Co to try to catch Home welders, screen printers and especially growers.

I used to set up 3 different timers interval set up . Id physically plug a different timer in everyday I worked in the grow rm . that would mess up their elect graphs,,, easy with your low usage. multiple Lites come on at the same time so I'd run multi lites that would come on at diffeent times
 
lino

lino

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more expensive but I ran my lites in the day.... they aint stupid,,, 12 hrs of 4kwh at 2 am was hard to justify.... All the warrants I've been served had my sq footage and utility usage before the No Knocked.
 
jumpincactus

jumpincactus

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At 900 w you arent a blip on the radar. Worry not. If you still feel queasy be sure to run your lights on cycle during peak usage hours. Which can suck if your billed different rates during peak times like out here. My thinking is by running during the day 900 watts wont raise an eyebrow. Harder to explain at night tho.

Also stagger your timers so you dont go from hardly any usage a burst of 900 all of a sudden. my .2cents
 
jumpincactus

jumpincactus

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Your a private citizen paying money to a private company for a service why would they get rid of there customer? The police going to pay them thousands of dollars a year?
Many warrants have forced utility companies to give up "Private" customer information bro. Besides if someone goes in the can some other customer will fill that hole.
 
Freshone

Freshone

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Many warrants have forced utility companies to give up "Private" customer information bro. Besides if someone goes in the can some other customer will fill that hole.
They need cause to get a warrant first,it's not like they can say "he's using alot of electricity judge" and get a warrant based on that.alot of homes use bucks in electrical every month,remember when they outed Al gore for having a 20k a month electric bill?
 
jumpincactus

jumpincactus

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They need cause to get a warrant first,it's not like they can say "he's using alot of electricity judge" and get a warrant based on that.alot of homes use bucks in electrical every month,remember when they outed Al gore for having a 20k a month electric bill?
Getting cause is as simple as a neighbor sayin it smells like weed around that unit, and then they start digging in your trash can looking for evidence of growing. Your trash is public domain and a judge based on a anonymous tip and grow trash in your can can land you in the can. All BS aside at 900 watts R doesnt have a lot to worry about.

Besides I would bail his azz out anyway.:)
 
SimplyCmplex

SimplyCmplex

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The data your electric company collects stops at the meter, it does not go inside the house. The meter records the total amount of electricity used by the household. There's no way the company, or anyone else, to know how you are using the electricity inside your house.

Who's to say you aren't running a dehumidifier? The big ones take upwards of 800-900watts.

Or a saltwater aquarium setup. I had easily over 1000 watts running for 16hrs a day when I was really into the hobby. Never any issues.

You will occasionally get the electricity usage letters from your provider stating you use x amount of electricity compared to other homes Yada yada yada. As long as they get paid, on time. You should never have to worry. Even if you were using 2k worth of wattage.

Rest easy @rmoltis :)
 
F

FooDoo

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why are smokers always so paranoid lol

i just checked my vacuum, its 10 amps. checked my microwave, 1000 watts.

if you want, just switch to peak hours and you'll blend in with the masses running hairdryers and laundry and 4 tvs and 3 laptops and etc etc etc etc
 
sixstring

sixstring

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space heaters use more than 900w. as to the smart meters,they dont just graph when power is used,they can tell what type of equipment is being used as well so theres that lol. but i really wouldnt worry about 1000w or less,2 600w hps security lights would use more power. my neighbor has a few of those going for the last 15 years or more haha.if your worried run your stuff from 7 am to 7pm and veg till midnight,1am but even then whos to say you dont work midnight shift ?i really think they dont bother many growers under 10kw unless your doing a bunch of other shady shit.
 
sixstring

sixstring

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The data your electric company collects stops at the meter, it does not go inside the house. The meter records the total amount of electricity used by the household. There's no way the company, or anyone else, to know how you are using the electricity inside your house.

Who's to say you aren't running a dehumidifier? The big ones take upwards of 800-900watts.

Or a saltwater aquarium setup. I had easily over 1000 watts running for 16hrs a day when I was really into the hobby. Never any issues.

You will occasionally get the electricity usage letters from your provider stating you use x amount of electricity compared to other homes Yada yada yada. As long as they get paid, on time. You should never have to worry. Even if you were using 2k worth of wattage.

Rest easy @rmoltis :)
i think your wrong,take a look at the dte energy app you can put on your phone.smart meters are smart.they can track the dif between a refridgerator and a washing machine,dif types of megahertz and waves are produced with dif electrical devices.
 
SimplyCmplex

SimplyCmplex

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i think your wrong,take a look at the dte energy app you can put on your phone.smart meters are smart.they can track the dif between a refridgerator and a washing machine,dif types of megahertz and waves are produced with dif electrical devices.

So let's assume they can. Do you suppose the electric company is gonna spend millions a year paying employees and gizmos to decipher the electric usage between a refrigerator and a washing machine per house/apartment/condo/business, per day, per week, per year throughout the city/town? Very highly doubtful.

Imo, those of us that cannot legally grow, are on alert, as should be. But when we're talking about up to a couple thousand watts, the risk of detection is very small. You run a much higher risk of neighborly odor detection if anything.

These electric companies are driven by greed. You think if your usage goes up $50-$100 a month they'll send employees, or the law to your door to find out why you're consuming more electricity thus owing them more $$?

As long as you're not going from typical home usage to +5k wattage a day usage overnight (obviously) shouldn't raise any eyebrows.
 
Navillusii

Navillusii

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You could put up a small 200 watt solar panel set and run it to batteries, then at night use a grid tie to supplement power usage.
 
sixstring

sixstring

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So let's assume they can. Do you suppose the electric company is gonna spend millions a year paying employees and gizmos to decipher the electric usage between a refrigerator and a washing machine per house/apartment/condo/business, per day, per week, per year throughout the city/town? Very highly doubtful.

Imo, those of us that cannot legally grow, are on alert, as should be. But when we're talking about up to a couple thousand watts, the risk of detection is very small. You run a much higher risk of neighborly odor detection if anything.

These electric companies are driven by greed. You think if your usage goes up $50-$100 a month they'll send employees, or the law to your door to find out why you're consuming more electricity thus owing them more $$?

As long as you're not going from typical home usage to +5k wattage a day usage overnight (obviously) shouldn't raise any eyebrows.
just know that they CAN see what we are using,not that they are looking that closely at each of us.my bill went from 80 to 120.00 a month to about 1500.00 a month about 7 years ago and i pay the bill every month and never had a prob.but the op is asking about a state that is not legal yet so i gave him my opinion and some facts about smart meters.the power company dont go around alerting cops to grows,cops get a tip or complaint,then get a warrant which is most cases would prob cover asking the power co for info on your usage before they pop you.900w is nothing imo,like i said my space heaters use 1500w each lol
 
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