Theoretical discussion on cash crops

So a friend and I were discussing "time" as related to indoor growing and LEO response to clues/tips etc. This conversation was the culmination of a few professional grow journals/Articles sourced from both Canada and the US, as well as the SeeMoreBud's video "15 lbs in 80 Days", and BC Hardcore's "million Dollar Grow Shows".

The question I posed to him was this;

If a grower leased or bought a property in an area away from anyone they knew, Just showed up in "Peoria" so to speak, and on day one flipped the switch on a 6kw (or larger) basement grow.. How long will they reasonably have before;

A)the power company see's suspicious electrical consumption
B)LEO is notified and does an investigation
C)The landlord (if leased) does the first annual inspection (if at all).
These are all unknown variables.

Now, many arguments can be made for each of the 3 variables but a couple constants are in affect. The first is that no one (friends, significant others or relatives) will be stopping by. Second, The grower is both intelligent and well delivered as far as presentation, ie clean cut, dressed professionally when seen by neighbors, drives a "professional" vehicle etc.. Should only be leaving the house rarely for groceries anyway.

What gets these people caught? (other than time)
How long before the "jig is up"?


IMO,
60 days flat being safe

reasoning: At 60 days, you would have just paid your first months bill about 2 weeks before. It is most definitely larger than the prior month and the same month the previous year, also probably larger than neighbors with similar sq feet. Simply put, your evidently using more power. The twist is that it could be a one off thing in the eyes of the electric company, a loose AC duct under the house, you cooling/heating the neighborhood etc. All the time people get outrageous bills, deciding to use those 3kw floor heaters all over the house etc without even a raise of the eyebrow from the EC. But if your consumption did raise suspicion that something was up, How long is it from the time they figure something is up, (maybe week 6?) til the LEO is at the door?

Just some thought lol.. lemme get your feedback.





Disclaimer: This post is the result of fictitious storytelling, any information within said post or extracted from said post is hypothetical in nature and derived from theoretical conversation.
 

IAm5toned

Well-Known Member
bet you a dollar that if you keep your bill paid and current, the power company aint gonna come a knockin.
they only come a knockin when usage vs billed kwhours dont add up, or if your demand is dragging down other customers in your neighborhood, ie, your timer goes click and everyone elses lights dim... lol if you know what i mean.
 

potpimp

Sector 5 Moderator
Great question. It prompts me to find out the answer to something I've been wanting to know, so I'm posting a new question in the forum in hopes that it will also answer your question too. Stay tuned.
 

blacksun

New Member
6kw is the same as a 5 person family showing up at a new (to them) 3+ bedroom house and "flipping on the lights".

If every house that had 6kw of power going to it was investigated, cops would have no time to do anything else.
 

iblazetoomuch

Active Member
I've always wondered, since these systems for grow are relatively easy to obtain, just requiring the proper amount of resources (funding, knowledge of what to buy ect); why can't a equal or cover wattage use be available? I know this sounds really stupid because it is, and I just want to disclaim I've never grown myself, however I have close relations to people who have their hands in pounds at a time in what is a relatively small town area, I think electric consumption worries can be easily avoided if you were to set up a equal use of wattage and inquire on estimates with the power company, this way they will anticipate a spike in useage, and your main concern will appear to be cost of the new addition to your home. Now there is alot of scenarios on what you could use for cover, I was thinking maybe a equal use of wattage is some kind for that amount of energy would be like a 10-15 tower size computer lab, few 2,000 watt tower lights to highlight a field area like a basketball court ect, but realistically anything with that kind of useage would probably be suspicious unless you were already adding on obvious power consumption additions to your house ect, in a hypothetical sense having obvious units around and inquiring about them specifically is probably the biggest step you could take to avoid suspicions from local power companies.

Either way as long as your making sure the bill is footed and there is apparent use of the power other then just random unknown source, you would probably be alot better off, just my two cents. I don't personally think the electric company would have dea kicking your door down for using that amount of energy spike, but they would probably want to know whats going on if it was a smaller type town scenario. If your living within your means, have a stable job ect and have money to setup that kind of grow in your house, theoretically obtaining a cover of kw would probably be a smart idea, LEO would probably monitor other aspects, they would know how much you make a year in rough estimates I'm sure, so if you were all the sudden building, and living outside your means with wattage spikes I'm sure after 5-6 months you would be in a pretty risky/critical situation.

The above poster makes some sense as well, because big cities vs small suburban towns ect; can't really compare how the reaction would happen, what protocols would take place, and how long those would take. I wouldn't want to be in a situation like the scenario you described though without adequate comfort and dialog with power company about intended use and cost of a coverage ample amount of wattage equivalent to the grow. It wouldn't be that hard to match, pulling it off would be another story I guess.
 
I had this discussion before just based on power consumption and dialogue with the power company. It was suggested to me to call them up and tell them im installing a Salt Water fish tank which is lit by MH's and needed to know how much it would increase my bill. They would then make a note of it in the computer... But I really don't know if this is the case.
 

devolv

Active Member
if you're renting somewhere does it mean you have to move there? rent some warehouse space, build a solid room inside, a/c it...get industrial electrical rates....people in industrial areas aren't snoopy. you can come and go at any hour. and yeah if you pay your rent on time then you don't really have to worry about land lords. plan your once a year visit, if you're even going to have one. and the LEO....well I live in cali...so sorry about that one. I have my script. they can walk right in and do a count and then walk right out cause I'm legal. oh and by the way the LEO has done a walk through of my place. one of the more scarier moments of my life I can tell you. I had told my friend, who was with me, not to leave my car doors open while the car is unattended. well later on while we were packing up to leave he did just that. and a cop passing by saw my car unattended and stopped to investigate. so when my friend opened the door to the car port there was a cop kinda snooping through my car. what does my friend do????? he shuts the door and turns to me to tell me about him. I'm like "great now there's a cop standing outside my door wondering why someone just poked their head out a door saw him and slammed the door shut again. WTF is your problem?!?" at which point the cop knocked on the door. yay! I got to sit in the back of a cop car while they went in and did a count. I gave in instead of making them get a warrant first before talking to them. which i'm glad i did. becuase once they were done count and confirmed that my script was legit they let me go and to this day, almost three years later, I haven't heard from them again. still scared shitless to go over my numbers though. lol they probably know that and thats why they haven't come a knocking back. and by the way my op is about 2 hours away from where I live. i drive a prius so its not a terrible cost for the drive but being in a warehouse with industrial rates has been real sweet. sorry for tangenting I'm hash stoney :bigjoint:
 

potpimp

Sector 5 Moderator
The power companies don't care if you use a lot of power and it takes a court order for LEO to get any info on your usage; it's not like the power company has someone monitoring everybody so they can call the cops.
 
Straight NARC
If your calling me a narc, based off of the contents of this thread and a somewhat lacking number of posts, well, whatever bra.. Content quality is KING, and I asked a provocative question hoping for equally provocative answers. All of this with the hopes of educating myself and others. That aside, where in the hell could you extract that someone is a narc from these posts?! I mean, I know I sometimes use larger words where I could have used smaller words, and I try to use proper grammer, but I'm both horrible at both and self educated.. forgive me. I know me posting on riu is new, but i've been a reading member of this community for almost 2 years. If the subject matter of this post seems sketchy, then say "hey, this is a subject I don't think we need to discuss". But damn bra, I reloaded this screen hoping I'd find something to think about before I go to sleep, just to find some paranoid response from an herb that didn't even need to chime in. p.s. I'm grown kiddo, and far enough in the game to know that the guy calling peeps a narc is usually a narc.. smh
 

WeedPublican

Active Member
Well first the site is for legal grows only, im a caregiver in Oakland so im good, anybody with a illegal grow shouldnt be posting on the site in the first place
 

iblazetoomuch

Active Member
Well first the site is for legal grows only, im a caregiver in Oakland so im good, anybody with a illegal grow shouldnt be posting on the site in the first place
It was? Hmm I just googled topics and got directed here but I didn't get that impression at all when I seen various topics like masking smells, avoiding electricity suspicions, bypassing electrical stuff, or looking at numerous grows o_0.

I don't think it would be much more risky posting with an illegal op as opposed to legal as long as you took decent precautions, but it does put a damper on the will to post if its "only for legal grows".
 

smokinrav

Well-Known Member
What gets these people caught?
This is simple. People get caught when they don't control their emissions. Smell, garbage, words, heat if FLIR is a problem. Even the remains of your own usage.
Control your emissions.
The other half of running a successful medium sized grow house is to act perfectly normal. Your shades should go up and down.You should sit on the porch and read the paper. Visit with the neighbors. Put your trash out like everyone else. Common sense stuff.

The power companies don't care if you use a lot of power and it takes a court order for LEO to get any info on your usage; it's not like the power company has someone monitoring everybody so they can call the cops.
Half true. They do only care about customers paying their bill. However, LEO does not have to get a court order to ask the power company what your usage is and what it is in relation to your neighbors. I've posted several stories where LEO has began an investigation and confirmed suspicions with a call to the power Co. That is not private information and power companies love being good citizens with the local establishment.

Regardless, LEO interested in your power usage is like LEO interested in your garbage. You're busted already, you just don't know it yet.

Since it hasn't been said yet, I'll do the honors...

Do Not Steal Power! That's the easiest way to get busted and it gives all indoor growers a bad name.
 

potpimp

Sector 5 Moderator
This is simple. People get caught when they don't control their emissions. Smell, garbage, words, heat if FLIR is a problem. Even the remains of your own usage.
The other half of running a successful medium sized grow house is to act perfectly normal. Your shades should go up and down.You should sit on the porch and read the paper. Visit with the neighbors. Put your trash out like everyone else. Common sense stuff.


Half true. They do only care about customers paying their bill. However, LEO does not have to get a court order to ask the power company what your usage is and what it is in relation to your neighbors. I've posted several stories where LEO has began an investigation and confirmed suspicions with a call to the power Co. That is not private information and power companies love being good citizens with the local establishment.

Regardless, LEO interested in your power usage is like LEO interested in your garbage. You're busted already, you just don't know it yet.

Since it hasn't been said yet, I'll do the honors...

Do Not Steal Power! That's the easiest way to get busted and it gives all indoor growers a bad name.
I got my information first hand from a man that works at the power company here in Alaska. Other states may be different but up here that's how it is. You can have an oz and it's not so much as spitting on the sidewalk. Our state constitution allows up to 24 plants. All in all it's a very live and let live state and the cops here are focused on real crime, not potheads, growers and speeders. I also posted in my thread about this to not steal power.
 

smokinrav

Well-Known Member
Alaska is probably different from the lower 48 in a lot of ways, lol.

Good. The stealing power thing can't be said enough.
 
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