How to deal with really high electricity use.

[crazycanuckster]

thnx for all the good points

interesting read.....thank you all for your 2 cents

 

[Denny Crane]

It's not about paying your bill, It's when you bill is a lot more expensive then what a normal house should be pushing out, then you get red flagged and they will
let the police know that something is going on...
2 get rid of this problem???
Buy a generator!

About the only place I can believe that would happen would be communist China. MAYBE in the now defunct USSR, but CERTAINLY not here in the US or Canada where we still pay lip service to personal liberties and freedoms. Beleiev me, the Cops know we worry about that as much as FLIR

The Power Companies are under NO legal requirement to report ANY usage patterns, much less the tell-tale 24/7 and 12/12 patterns. The Power Company itself will not turn to the cops with that info. At least not yet here in Amerika anyway. That will not stop some broke-dick scumbag employee from noticing and turning you in, hoping for that $1000 crimebusters reward. Motel clerks do that all the time. They have all your info, and get online looking for fugitive warrants on any guests. Scum.
Now you go by-passing your meter and steal power, or rack up a large bill and don't pay it you're gonna have issues with them.
Lets put this into perspective, An over the counter "general use" (Non-Media Center or Gaming) computer will have AT LEAST a 600w power supply, with the option of getting a 750 or 800w. Who's to say you don't have 20 computers or a large server in your house? You do not have to justify WHY you have 20 computers, just tell them that you have them if you are ever asked about your spike. Tell them you run a private ISP service/Co-op for you, your friends and family, and your server draws a shitload of current. To get a warrant to prove otherwise, they'll have to have something more damning than your power bill. Remember, they still have to prove that you don't have what you say you have. If they can't, they gotta go home and pout. But if you are already on their radar, they ("they" being cops) WILL most certainly be back.
If the power company sees a sudden unexplained power drain, they're gonna investigate a possible short. They know what you normally use, and if they see you suddenly appear to be using significantly more than normal, they MIGHT call to see if you've added anything power hungry recently, but their main concern here is electrocution or fire from a broken or shorted wire, not busting some poor hapless dude who pays his bill on time.
It usually take several calls complaining about the higher than normal bills for them to come out to check for a short. They'll figure that if you are using more, and aint complaining about being overcharged, you probably bought more toys.

Hi there

i am a legal grower in canada and run 30 k in one building and 14 k in another, same proprty 2 different metres. The 30 k garden first started up and i didnt see a leccy bill for 2.5 months. I called the company and they thought they had read the metre wrong. I explained that i ran a business and they said ok...... my bill showed up and everything has been ok for 2 years now.

My 14 k building started 3.5 monthsaho and i still havnt seen a bill yet.

will be calling tuesday.

dds

Dude, you are MY new hero!!!! A 44K indoor grow!! I can only aspire to such. I max out at 6K. How in the hell do you do that? You gotta have a decent sized crew. I can't imagine trimming all that!!

It's my experience the electric companies are way more concerned about people by-passing meters (not paying for electricity). People normally by-pass to eliminate high use detection. They regulary monitor neighborhoods to make sure what they are delivering to an area is being legally used and accounted for. So, for an example, they will add up the usage for 10-25 houses and see if that agrees with that they are delivering to that area. This detects if anyone is by-passing their meters. If that's the case, an investigation is started........

True to an extent, but my wife and I live in our house alone. We went from a $200 (average) bill to a $350/$400 bill. We were never questioned at all about the usage spike. However, I also run an "at home" business, I have 6 400w MH lights in my shop area alone, and there are 4 1K HPS security lights on my property. They don't get used, but they are there to explain any spike I may produce. If they start asking questions deeper than whats obvious, then my usage records become moot, because they have something else that attracted them.
I am told that the average household uses approx 1K per bedroom in the residence. But that's just what the people use in their day to day existence. That doesn't take into account any extra freezers, medical monitoring equipment someone in your house may need, expensive, power hungry toys, or business endeavors. The list of things that explain an increase in power consumption is endless. If you have any kind of an imagination, you can easily triple your consumption and explain it sufficiently so that unless they have something else to go on they'll be leaving you alone.

Our mouths and egos are our worst enemy. The fucking cops couldn't catch the flu unless someone told them where it was and what time it would be there.

 

[Texas Kid]

My combined electric bills can get into the thousands of dollars with 10, 12, and 16 thousand watts burning, no issues at all..they have upped the everage usage number per room to triple and four times what they used to be bucuase of the electron ic centered world we live in, plasma TV pulls abour 750w, my new computer pulls 1000w at its power source..I am about to have a secound 200amp service dropped at one house, none of this is a big deal as long as you pay your bill or don't complain to them that your bill is to high..I have gone from $600 a month bills to $70 for a few months and tghem back to $1000, never a problem.

I know plenty of people that don't even grow that haver $3000 electric bill..heated pools, hot tubs, saunas, power washers, welders. etc.. all take alot of juice and if your in a commercial sace..forget about it, my last warehouse had 4000+ apmps on site in one big ass power box. My machine shop electic bill would hit $10,000 sometimes..in the big scheme of things growers don't really use that much power compared to alot of other things.

30,000 watts would be around $1200-$1500 maybe $2000 a month and that is nothing, its your a/c, fans, pumps, hairdryer, stove, heater, etc..with the high amp loads that will jack your bill through the roof.

Med states do not even consider the power company attack method because they will be sued in in federal court over and over again and loose. In a non med state they have no fear of civil reprisals because your breakin the law and the rules don't apply to law breakers, you have no civil case against anybody if your criminally neglegent in the first place.....

If the cops or the power company came here, I would deny entry and when they whenand if they showed back up with a warrant, I would show them my grow in detail and then sue the shit out of them for harrasment and for using electric company employees in a police action.

Don't steal power and your golden, the power company sells power, the more you buy the better they do, they where more than happy to come and drop a second 200amp service at my house, it's just one more cash register for them..

Tex

 

[BayAreasFinest]

There you go Tex. That second to last paragraph is exactly how I would handle it. I asked my lawyer this right before i started my big grow here last year. Gave me the same advice. He said he would have a field day if the LEOs busted my door down with a warrant. Hope I never have to deal with that though. Just a long process that takes up alot of my time that I could be spent making money

 

[fractal]

If I was a building inspector and I heard kiln I would think pot. Not that many potters out there. To go big you need a/c so get a permit for that and the future. Service panels jump from 200 to 400A so it is not that big of a deal. JK

Classic. . . "Nice pots"

"WHAT"

"The kiln, must fire fatties up pretty quickly I bet?"

"OH the kiln"


Disguises don't work if they still lead an observer to the same conclusion !

 

[Rolln J]

Ok how bout 6-10K, you folks just paying your bill on time as well?

yep - pay that bill and no worries! though this is the prop 215 state, lol

30 k - you run that in a commercial building - not your house!

 

[fractal]

About the only place I can believe that would happen would be communist China. MAYBE in the now defunct USSR, but CERTAINLY not here in the US or Canada where we still pay lip service to personal liberties and freedoms. Beleiev me, the Cops know we worry about that as much as FLIR

You must have missed it, they are no longer pretending to respect our liberty and freedom.

 

[budfarmer]

Well guy's if you have not heard the police are openly working with B.C. Hydro in the city of Burnaby and claim to have busted and shut down 80% of the grow shows in that city. The police get away with this because grow shows have started fires before and they use the claim this is in the interest of public safety, this has so far withstood court challenges. The city of Burnaby is offering all other cities an info package on how to do this. This is one reason I am interested in any new developments using fiber optics to bring sun light into a building ! Sunlight is free and by far the best light for growing plants, my hydro shop guy says generaly artificial lights are like sunlight on a cloudy day.

 

[NBfrost]

This is not the best idea , but i have a friend who works for the power comany here in nb canada , and he told me how to get around the meter . Where the pole comess into the house , if it goes threw the attic go into the attic and cut a hole into the pipe . Then you need these special high voltage connectors which go over the wire and a metal object goes threw the plastic casse . then u run the wires to a servive entrance that u have bought seccond hand , from a construction comany or anyone who would have one . OR build it brand new . this isnt reccommmend because you are basically stealing the power , i have never done this , it was just talked about one nite while we were drinking . It is very duable , and is safe as long as u have some electrical experience , jsut do not touch the live and ground at the same time . but make sure to draw about 10 , 000 watts or more form your own meter. I hope ive been some help . but please know the risk that u are talking , alot of people frown on this , but up here the power companys are goverment owned they pilfer use , at the moment i pay 50 bucks a month in my apt , and 30 bucks of it is service fees .. but they can give out millions in bonuses to there head ceo's . SO please do not judge

 

[Rolln J]

This is not the best idea , but i have a friend who works for the power comany here in nb canada , and he told me how to get around the meter . Where the pole comess into the house , if it goes threw the attic go into the attic and cut a hole into the pipe . Then you need these special high voltage connectors which go over the wire and a metal object goes threw the plastic casse . then u run the wires to a servive entrance that u have bought seccond hand , from a construction comany or anyone who would have one . OR build it brand new . this isnt reccommmend because you are basically stealing the power , i have never done this , it was just talked about one nite while we were drinking . It is very duable , and is safe as long as u have some electrical experience , jsut do not touch the live and ground at the same time . but make sure to draw about 10 , 000 watts or more form your own meter. I hope ive been some help . but please know the risk that u are talking , alot of people frown on this , but up here the power companys are goverment owned they pilfer use , at the moment i pay 50 bucks a month in my apt , and 30 bucks of it is service fees .. but they can give out millions in bonuses to there head ceo's . SO please do not judge

lol this is the best way to get caught - they have software now that helps them locate the "leaks" in the power... especially in Canada.

 

[Beeronymous]

so how much would 600 watts run you in ontario per month then?

 

[NBfrost]

not that much , the idea i posted earlier was just that a thougth . I was talking to my friend who is a linesmen for the power company here i and i asked him about that softwear , he told me that they cannot tell exactly how much power they are really loosing , becasue there are to many variables , like the further the power travels it looses strength . and they would have to test voltages at every transformer to have an accurate idea . pluse lose threw stray voltage . Generators are very uneconomical , the cost per gram would be to much , pluse you would have to have a huge desiel run genny . I wouldnt never suggest doing anything ur not comfortable doing . i know a guy who has been tapped into the grif for a very long time and has never had a problum , but he also pays for alot too . the key is moderation , not to get greedy . i only had a 400 watter mh growin my cloines 4 outdoors and my bill was only 20 bucks a month extra and it ran full time .. i have to look at my bill to know how much per kwh it is

 

[revolutionseeds]

Three words. GET A GENERATOR. You would need a 50-60k generator to run that much juice. A generator will only reliably run at 80% of capacity. You run that much juice on the grid, your days are numbered, sorry to be a party pooper. :(

 

[Olyver]

I remember working in a warehouse that was all natural gas heat, hot water, and the lunch room stove was NG too. The heat used the most. There's a formula to convert NG into energy/electrical. It worked out to be about 40 to 50KVA and hour in potential electrical energy. Worked on newer homes where everything is pretty much NG. One home had 3 fireplaces, 2 hot water tanks, stove, furnace, hot-tub, and 2 connections for barbeques. Even during summer months, the NG used if converted to electrical energy would have been about 20KVA and hour. If you have less than 10KVA in power, then maybe buy a NG generator, they're inexpensive, check Ebay. Generac and Koehler are good units.

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_tr...tural+gas+generator&_sacat=See-All-Categories

This one is kewl, 12KVA for $2500. Looks like you could fit it inside a deepfreezer.....lol

 

[sparky421]

Let me try to explain how the utilities & cities work.

First the Power companies will never rat you out, they don't care, as long as you don't care and pay on time. You can have triple the bill for all the neighbors and as long as you don't ask why its so high, and pay on time they will take your money, that's why they are "for profit" publicly traded companies. Your 30k of extra usage is all profit!

Second, permits and inspections have nothing to do with what you consumption is. Permits are just to make sure what you are hooking up (supposedly) is safe. And its a revenue stream for the city. Inspections have nothing to do with the power companies.

All those things are additional evidence you read about in the paper after a bust. What you want to do is avoid a bust & the best way is to let absolutely no one know about the grow op. Trust no one and you'll be safe.

 

[Olyver]

BC Hydro cooperates with LEO and even trains the meter readers to watch for suspicious activity. Believing the power companies won't rat you out is insane. I've seen several cases where the meter reader provided information, it was all in the ITO for the warrant. Depending on your location maybe, but like what was mentioned earlier, TRUST NO ONE. There's been times where hydro employees have told rippers about a suspected grow.


Best Regards

Olyver

 

[kushedout]

im with everyone else pay ur bills on time and dont steal, stealing will definately get u caught eventually

 

[ogluver]

san diego used power readings to get warrants a while back.

30000 in a house!!!????? good luck

 

[Pistil Pete]

If you own your home, you should look into installing newer Energy Star rated fixtures wherever possible.
I recently moved from a newly remodeled home with all new fixtures and wiring into a 60+ year old house with older fixtures and my electricity bill more than doubled. I'm actually using less electricity here and it still went up by that much.

 

[ijuswannagro]

all i can say is if you steal power dont get caught here in northern cali we pay electricity on a tiered system where u get a base usage x so many cents then when u go over by percentage say 100% your x so many cents rise to say double then 200% by more and so on i dream of a big grow someday but also know that my 2200 watts sometimes is already hard enough. the utility here doesnt cooperate with LEO unless sapina'd I cant say the sam for other utilities. i know for a fact they dont if a meter reader snitches u out its not company policy all pge cares about is money. i jus got rid of my commercial driver license so im stoned out of my mind. i work for pge fuck i usually jus read n dont post