Electricity Bill Raid?

[kushgro]

Okay, so I've read a lot of stories about people's houses by our good friends at the DEA, sometimes finding a huge grow op and making arrests, and sometimes finding an energy-wasting family and scarring children for the rest of their lives. This raises some questions for me. I was under the impression that this was illegal. At what point does an electricity bill look suspect? How many watts are okay for a grower trying to go unnoticed? I'm curious, help me out here

 

[overachiever]

I just look at it like...if I'm paying my bill on time, how is it any different then me going to a store and buying a product, I should be able to buy as much electricity as I want!!

 

[overachiever]

But I have been told that same thing just a couple days ago from a close friend, he told me (dont know if its true or not) that his buddy is in a department that has to investigate tips that they get from the power company. He has to go out to the address and take a look at what's going on, stake it out and see if their is a business going on, or a lot of drug traffic. Checks to see what the property looks like and what nots. I guess it's by their department that tells wether or not further action has to be taken by other authority's. like I said who knows if this is true but, I just keep everything legal, the property looking amazing and absolutely nobody comes here.

 

[kushgro]

@overachiever, I just wonder at what point they are to alert the authorities. Like what amount of wattage would warrant an investigation and all that. Surely everyone's electricity bill must fluctuate - new appliances in the house, air conditioning in the summer, space heaters in the winter - things like that. I've heard things like what you're talking about too. Even people going as far as to say that the electricity company offers a $500 bonus to anyone who tips off the feds on a grow op.

 

[overachiever]

That I can't tell ya

 

[qwizoking]

Where I am the city is done in blocks 5-8 for example is where I'm from in Austin.. on the elec bill it shows me the how many kwhrs the average household uses in my neighborhood compared to what I use. Their is a limit, it will be different for you.. but like my water or my trash I can contact the city/provider and be put in a different bracket...with a higher priced rate...anyone who owns a business does something similar... I currently used 1777 kwh last month. Far below average in my area... my microwave, stereo, AC, washing machine water heater are all over 1,000 watts etc etc far outweigh what I'm using in lights..3200 is when I have to contact them or they contact me. If I know about the massive consumption they will offer to help lower then up your rates

 

[kushgro]

@overachiever thanks for the input anyway bro.

 

[kushgro]

@quizoking, so what you're saying is that if my wattage were to excede what the average or alloted wattage for homes in my area was, that would warrant an investigation? Also, a 1000w light and a 400w - do you think that would be okay?

 

[PaxEtBonum]

@quizoking, so what you're saying is that if my wattage were to excede what the average or alloted wattage for homes in my area was, that would warrant an investigation? Also, a 1000w light and a 400w - do you think that would be okay?

No one would notice a 1000w and a 400w (or even a few 1000w). That's nothing, or it's like an older model television and an ac running. For anyone that's about to start running like 15 1000w lights, you should call your power company months beforehand. Tell them you're starting a business of some kind (and then actually file the paperwork to create one) and get your account switched to commercial. Do this for two reasons:

1) Commercial accounts are averaged out through the year and save you money in the long run, even though you'll be paying slightly higher at offpeak times and seasons.

2) There's nothing suspicious about business accounts running massive power eating machines. It takes money to make money, as they say. It does look like a red flag if you have a private residence that is spiking at four or five times the average neighborhood rate of consumption. On a spreadsheet, that house would be bright red. On a graph it would be an anomaly. I'm not sure at what point it deviation from normal consumption becomes probable cause, and frankly I'm a little disgusted with the idea of a private power company cooperating with police to hunt down "people potentially growing."

 

[qwizoking]

Well I don't want to give a definite yes. But almost certainly, especially if their is a spike they will send someone to your house to make sure you are aware of the consumption as apposed to someone stealing your elec ect... they will also explain ways to reduce consumption and ask why its so high. They don't generally search and if their is no spike most likely you will just get a call from them. Realistically your good I wouldn't worry until you push 3kw in your garden. Even then its about your area, a hot tub and sound system could easily push 5kw. Most water heaters are 4kw so your grow lights are pretty minuscule in the scheme of things.......

My thoughts exactly dude above me

 

[TreeOfLiberty]

This is only my opinion. NO single HPS light grower + a shoplight fluoro for keeping clones with the normal accessories that go along with that single light such as 1 big inline fan that can perform double duty pulling air thru a carbon filter and blowing it thru an air-cooled reflector and a small fan to circulate air thru the plants shouldn't alert any red flags.


Some even say if you have a 3 bedroom house, you can figure running 3 -1000's plus accessories and still be under the radar at attracting attention but I disagree with that. I still stand by the single light HPS, plus fluoros for clones, with accessories and you should be fine.


If this is for personal grow needs, then all you need is a single HPS light and fluoros just enough for vegging/clones with the normal accessories for that personal grow. Run your single HPS light at night and off in the day to minimize the need for air conditioning. Even if you still need the air conditioning at night for cooling, you still save money compared to trying to keep your grow cool by burning the HPS during the day.


When I first started growing I ran a single 400 HPS for flower and would pull anywhere from a tad over 10 ounces to just under 12 ounces dry weight. I lived in Georgia at this time and I never had any visits or letters, but then again I lived on 30 acres in a thickly wooded area behind a locked gate off the road and the double-wide trailer I lived in could not be seen from the road for the trees ,there was about 400 yrd between the mailbox and my front door. I done this for 3 years there and no one ever knew about it. Electric bill was always paid on time.


I stepped down to a single 250 HPS since moving to Colorado in 2009 , as I do not run an air conditioner. Was verbally promised by the “overseer” of the property that I could run my window unit but the bastard renegged after I moved in. That's another story, but the reason why I stepped down to a 250 HPS.


Anyway, if this is for a personal supply, I don't see how a single 600 HPS for example with accessories could draw any electric companies attention. Florida would probably be the worst state in my opinion for snooping authorities when it comes to growing.


Smart Meters for example, now these technological devices have some invasive privacy concerns that I do not like, in addition to ill health effects. Where I live I have the old analog meter. This is a good video on Smart Meters and could present problems for growers, ESPECIALLY in non-MMJ states.



[video=youtube;FLeCTaSG2-U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLeCTaSG2-U[/video]

 

[kushgro]

@PaxEtBonum so unless it were to excede multiple thousands of watts, one should be safe from the eyes of the law (given there wasn't any unusual traffic in and out of the house, light leaks, smells, other signs of growing, etc.)?

 

[PaxEtBonum]

@PaxEtBonum so unless it were to excede multiple thousands of watts, one should be safe from the eyes of the law (given there wasn't any unusual traffic in and out of the house, light leaks, smells, other signs of growing, etc.)?

Absolutely, my friend. I disagree with the guy above. He's paranoid. If you're also looking to cut down on consumption to make up for what you're using in the light, you can run some CFLs in place of incandescent bulbs in some fixtures around your house, and minimize television. Basically, if one wanted to use more power, there are smart ways to conserve in order for the spike not to happen. But seriously, you could run a few 1000w bulbs and have no problems whatsoever. Honestly, though, (and now's where I get on my new soapbox), it's worth it for the wallet, for watt consumption, and for heat issues, to invest in some high quality LEDs and not even worry about the meter anymore. I'm a firm believer in this new generation of LEDs. Never in years of running MH/HPS have I seen plants so healthy and happy. Plus, I don't have to run all that extra cooling crap, which saves even more money. They do pay for themselves. You just have to shell out a little at the beginning.

 

[FilthyFletch]

Some cities monitor more then others. The new smart meters they are trying put on all houses are a big trouble maker fight them if you can they tattle. Things like huge jumps and drops on a cycle can get you looked at like if you have 5000 watts kick on at 8pm then all goes away at 8 am for months that might get you looked at. My bill usually shows about 3800 kwh each month which is from my month statement about twice my neighbors usage but there are also 4 vacant homes and couple stores on my street which is R3 zone meaning residential or commercial is allowed. If you keep under 4000kwh a month you should be ok. try to cut back where you can go from incandescent bulbs to leds or at least cfls. Ikea now has 100 watt equivilent led light bulbs for lamps for around $13 each now they use I beileive 12 watts or something like that. Keep tvs off when not in use especially flat screen older then 3 years old . New tv use like 35-75 watts the older plasmas use like 500 watts. Turn home computers off they tend to use from 300-1500 watts.If you have gas use gas stoves and gas water heater to pull that off your electric bill. When using the ac get a good digital thermastat keep it like 70-72 versus 67-69 as that can save 15% on the bill. Its better to divide a grow in half on opposite times so instead of 20 plants all on same schedule put 10 that flower at night and just as the timer goes off have the other 10 under a same wattage light that comes on exact same time so no bumps or drops in usage or on a schedule.Use common sense pay bills on time and dont throw things in the trash you wouldnt leave out in public.

 

[qwizoking]

Tis my opinion that word of mouth gives away most people, then smell, smoking your bud you grew under carbon filtration in your living room or patio. Trash, light leaks, elec consumption in that order..I don't have fly overs around here. But yea nobody should ever know you grow including family, I give away free meds to my fam and friends. They think I just have a buddy that grows and hooks me up.. you'll be fine bro. Good luck

 

[stak]

Even people going as far as to say that the electricity company offers a $500 bonus to anyone who tips off the feds on a grow op.

Why would the electric company pay people for eliminating their customers? I can see them not liking the people that steal their electricity but but getting rid of high paying customers doesn't make any sense.

 

[racerboy71]

I've heard the number 1k watts per bedroom is a good rule of thumb to go by. Not sure how true it is though..

 

[justugh]

Okay, so I've read a lot of stories about people's houses by our good friends at the DEA, sometimes finding a huge grow op and making arrests, and sometimes finding an energy-wasting family and scarring children for the rest of their lives. This raises some questions for me. I was under the impression that this was illegal. At what point does an electricity bill look suspect? How many watts are okay for a grower trying to go unnoticed? I'm curious, help me out here

u guys doe not pay attention ...........yes higher engery use can be a tip off for a look at by a person.......so can mass increase in shipping and spending habbits on your accounts

now a days it does not matter not one fico warrent has been turned down since 9/11 nor has the patriot act limited them in any fashion.........rem this is a war on drugs ......one of the big lines back in the day was "drug money funds terror" with now that 20 states have made some law saying it ok but the feredal goverement still willing to do something about it becuase it gets them votes in office

just keep it small let someone else convert half the house into a grow room and u just make select plants for select ppl ................if u are thinking of tring it big there is only one way to do it ..................get a big ass boat go 12 miles off the coast of usa..............live and grow there and shuttle it in to the ppl doing that u are legal 12 miles out u can shoot a man in the head and the usa can not charge u with a crime not in there area u have to go to international court ........just shuttle it in to state u are allowed and u have all the paperwork for the local cops.........keep your times and drop offs to a minal and have on a random varible routes and unbustable unless u get a narc/rat or they tag the shuttle boats with gps


if u are ever ?ed about it just simple say i got a whole bunch of new big screen tvs and sound systems .....computers to replace my old stuff since blah blah blah make some crap up and hang up the phone/walk away /shut the door ............after that take all the stuff down and sit in a chair waitting for the raid to come about 2 3 am sometimes 1am if they have multi targets

 

[colonuggs]

Where I am the city is done in blocks 5-8 for example is where I'm from in Austin.. on the elec bill it shows me the how many kwhrs the average household uses in my neighborhood compared to what I use. Their is a limit, it will be different for you.. but like my water or my trash I can contact the city/provider and be put in a different bracket...with a higher priced rate...anyone who owns a business does something similar... I currently used 1777 kwh last month. Far below average in my area... my microwave, stereo, AC, washing machine water heater are all over 1,000 watts etc etc far outweigh what I'm using in lights..3200 is when I have to contact them or they contact me. If I know about the massive consumption they will offer to help lower then up your rates

our average use is 180 kw a day using 6-1000

 

[qwizoking]

Feeling a bit paranoid today justugh?

Where I am my max is 120. Which really isn't that much