Is a 20,000 watt stealth grow even possible...

legaleyes13

Well-Known Member
or is it just way too risky. Do people get away with that amount of wattage on the grid. I know there are off the grid options such as generators and solar, but I'd imagine that those would raise red flags too (I hope I'm wrong). So is there any way to remain stealth with that amount of wattage, and keep in my mind I'm talking about 20,000watts in lights alone?Thanks in advance fellas, and feel free to point me down the proper path to do research as well.
 

writtin

Well-Known Member
Keep your bills paid and up to date, dont miss a payment. Businesses like the electric company dont give a fuck how much you are using, as long as they get they money they feel they are entitled to!
 

legaleyes13

Well-Known Member
Keep your bills paid and up to date, dont miss a payment. Businesses like the electric company dont give a fuck how much you are using, as long as they get they money they feel they are entitled to!
But don't police departments have the jurisdiction to check electric records any time they please?
 

redi jedi

Well-Known Member
I know in Canada they need a warrant to view your electricity bills, or any piece of personal information/documentation.

As to using 20,000 watts. As long as your grow is in a place where that kind of power consumption is normal, you have nothing to worry about.
 
There's nothing wrong with using solar panels, especially if you plan on growing with 20,000 watts of lighting, however keep in mind that unless you have a battery bank to continuously charge, the panels are only going to work when the sun is out and therefore should not be depended upon for that kind of wattage requirement. I will say that if you are using CFL's, you can easily get to your goal in equivalent wattage and lumens, say 200 or so 27w CFL's. Still that's a lot of wattage to be using. I'm wondering what red flags you are talking about as if you are in a legal state and are legally able to grow, posses, etc., I can't imagine what red flags you are talking about.
 

Taviddude

Well-Known Member
That's A LOT of power. Stealth, and 20,000 watts doesn't really go together.
You'd have to buy a small warehouse or something and act like you were running a legitimate business out of it.
DEFINITELY wouldn't do it on a residential line. You would be close to maxing out a 200 amp service, and someone will DEFINITELY know something is REALLY going on. They'd be checking your shit for safety reasons at that point I would think.
 

frankfast

Active Member
That's A LOT of power. Stealth, and 20,000 watts doesn't really go together.
You'd have to buy a small warehouse or something and act like you were running a legitimate business out of it.
DEFINITELY wouldn't do it on a residential line. You would be close to maxing out a 200 amp service, and someone will DEFINITELY know something is REALLY going on. They'd be checking your shit for safety reasons at that point I would think.
im with ya there don't think there is much stealth in 20k watts

and for solar panels look them up you would need hundreds and hundreds of them to even come close to getting enough joice off of them, i think its like 15-25 panels to even take 400kwh off of your bill in a months time, witch is like 8-10 grand $$$$, though you wouldn't need a battery bank for them just buy the switch and feed it back into the power grid
 

FilthyFletch

Mr I Can Do That For Half
It can be done and has been but it has also been done by many who have been caught. You have to be extra careful as a few orders Obama has put into place make it very risky as he has basically gone around the law and constitution and used executive order to violate the peoples right so it is now a lot more risky. You for sure can not do it on a standard residential 100 amp service your going to need 200 amp service and use 220 instead of 110 equiptment to help the load. You will need to be sure also of where it is done. If its 20000 watts all on the same cycle ie all lights on at same time and all off at same time in a residential neighbor that alone will probably get you looked at.If you have the new smart meters installed don t do it as those are basically snitch boxes and you should petition to have them removed due to privacy concerns. They report oddities right away to the electric company.You can go solar but you need up front money. To get a roughly 15000 watt on grid solar house system its about $15 grand plus. Now you can get tax crdits for about half of that cost at tax time. Depending where you live you may only get about 6 hours of full power out of them though as other then the far south and cali the sun isnt strong enough long enough to power full 12 hour shifts but it could cut the costs down alot. That setup will need a large area though usually entire roofs of a very large home or a full yard or post setup so figure an area of no less then 20 by 20 for the panels.Your electric bill from directly using city electric will be very large somewhere in the $1500 a month range just for those lights so you will need to have a good $10 grand on hand for the bills so they get paid on time in cash. Miss one due date your fucked.
 

writtin

Well-Known Member
The property I live on is maxing a 110 amp service and almost maxing a 200 amp on top of it. It all depends on placement. We use so much because we are on a well and.. well the pump costs quite a bit. So if you can make up an excuse of some sorts like that(its a little higher but there are people who have $1500 electric bills in my area that are on "wells" so...) making small talk at PG&E helps... They kind of let you in on how many other people are paying as much as you
 

ricky6991

Well-Known Member
Hopefully you wear sunglasses is that room! Lol. Electric bill will be wayyyy more than 1500.

I know someone who ran 9000w in lights and then ac,co2 with 2 normal fans and his bills was between 1400-1600 a month. His house is empty and uses it for growing basement only.
 

writtin

Well-Known Member
Hopefully you wear sunglasses is that room! Lol. Electric bill will be wayyyy more than 1500.

I know someone who ran 9000w in lights and then ac,co2 with 2 normal fans and his bills was between 1400-1600 a month. His house is empty and uses it for growing basement only.
MY bill is around $1000 a month without growing, when I added in 3200w of light not including the other sht it went up to about $1700 so...
 

WeedPublican

Active Member
or is it just way too risky. Do people get away with that amount of wattage on the grid. I know there are off the grid options such as generators and solar, but I'd imagine that those would raise red flags too (I hope I'm wrong). So is there any way to remain stealth with that amount of wattage, and keep in my mind I'm talking about 20,000watts in lights alone?Thanks in advance fellas, and feel free to point me down the proper path to do research as well.

you gotta understand how law enforcement operates, from what google has informed me :mrgreen:............. when obtaining a search warrant law enforcement needs 3 pieces of probable cause to present to a judge to sign off on the warrant, the electricity bill is always one of them. If your suspected of growing they will try and camp out a little at the property and grab two more pieces of probable cause, usually out of your trash can.

My opinion? To risky, youll be using the most electricity in the entire neighborhood. Do know that some police departments have referral programs with electricity company employees of residents using a shitload of electricity.

You'll get good info on what your looking for here: http://www.onlinepot.org/legal/potbusts.htm
 

imchucky666

Well-Known Member
or is it just way too risky. Do people get away with that amount of wattage on the grid. I know there are off the grid options such as generators and solar, but I'd imagine that those would raise red flags too (I hope I'm wrong). So is there any way to remain stealth with that amount of wattage, and keep in my mind I'm talking about 20,000watts in lights alone?Thanks in advance fellas, and feel free to point me down the proper path to do research as well.
LOL.
Sorry, but 20k watts is NOT "stealth", but wattage is not what you really need to be concerned with.
KWH is or should be your concern if any.
If you are in an office building between 2 buildings full of people using computers and monitors, elevators, lights, A/c, your usage is going to be less than theirs, but just the opposite if you are in a slum district where the people on either side of you can't even afford televisions.
 

legaleyes13

Well-Known Member
It can be done and has been but it has also been done by many who have been caught. You have to be extra careful as a few orders Obama has put into place make it very risky as he has basically gone around the law and constitution and used executive order to violate the peoples right so it is now a lot more risky. You for sure can not do it on a standard residential 100 amp service your going to need 200 amp service and use 220 instead of 110 equiptment to help the load. You will need to be sure also of where it is done. If its 20000 watts all on the same cycle ie all lights on at same time and all off at same time in a residential neighbor that alone will probably get you looked at.If you have the new smart meters installed don t do it as those are basically snitch boxes and you should petition to have them removed due to privacy concerns. They report oddities right away to the electric company.You can go solar but you need up front money. To get a roughly 15000 watt on grid solar house system its about $15 grand plus. Now you can get tax crdits for about half of that cost at tax time. Depending where you live you may only get about 6 hours of full power out of them though as other then the far south and cali the sun isnt strong enough long enough to power full 12 hour shifts but it could cut the costs down alot. That setup will need a large area though usually entire roofs of a very large home or a full yard or post setup so figure an area of no less then 20 by 20 for the panels.Your electric bill from directly using city electric will be very large somewhere in the $1500 a month range just for those lights so you will need to have a good $10 grand on hand for the bills so they get paid on time in cash. Miss one due date your fucked.
Okay, so it seems like solar would be the way to go... but you mentioned "on the grid solar". Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose if someone would be able to see how much power I'm consuming?
 
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