I heard....

I heard that the power company will report power spikes to the po-po. Is this true? Just wondering cuz i bought a new grow light and its 250 watt so i dont think it would spike that bad, was just wondering if this is true or not.

so you are saying that even if it doesnt spike much, they would still be able to tell from how many hours the light runs a day? How do indoor growers from the u.s not get caught if it is this easy to moniter?

well if you pay your bill and just stay low key you should be fine. I also changed all the bulbs in my house to cfl's so I save energy and I turned off my hot tub...............

I heard? Where did you hear? Or are you just asking?

Crap, I am just preparing to start up. If my wife reads this I am out of commission before I start.

They have the capability to do so. However if you are just growing personal stuff, there shouldn't really be that much difference in your energy bill. Run your lights at night, turn your AC off during the day etc., conserve more in other ways to compensate.

thx for the replies. I feel better about the situation now.

Are you just growing personal? You can conserve by doing some of the things I am doing. Turned the hot tub down, hibernating computer when done instead of running all time, wash clothes in cold water, hang out to dry, changed all bulbs in home to new efficient ones, not using central AC this year just ceiling fans and if hot a pedestal fan when home, closing blinds during the day, turn the lights off when done, make sure nothing is plugged in to suck energy when not in use (charges for cell phones, camera etc), light cycles at night for flowering.
Basically overall conservation of energy.

I had this idea once, but then never got around to setting it up. Would it be possible to connect a tread mill, with some sort of power converter? Something where I could jog on the tread mill, and it would create energy that can be stored, and used through out the day. This is really a high idea, but could it be done? Because then I could power the lights, and get a workout at the same time.

250w is the same power as many computer power supplys. you will be fine, no one will question anything

Slickness420 said:

I had this idea once, but then never got around to setting it up. Would it be possible to connect a tread mill, with some sort of power converter? Something where I could jog on the tread mill, and it would create energy that can be stored, and used through out the day. This is really a high idea, but could it be done? Because then I could power the lights, and get a workout at the same time.

Click to expand...

Get a couple of dogs and train them to run on the tread mill? Just tie a cookie or bone to the end, they will run for hours, lol.

morp said:

250w is the same power as many computer power supplys. you will be fine, no one will question anything

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Actually a normal power supply for a pc nowadays is around 600-100 watts, but the pattern for energy consumption is different. A pc starting up doesn't use the large power spike that an HID lamp does.. as ferncakes said the power companies do have sophisticated software that tracks the power consumption and pattern of your energy usage. They can identify your grow, but it's harder if you have a fairly small grow. If you mind your own business and pay your bill you probably won't have a hard time.

So what you all are saying, is cut any energy that you may use in my house and divert it to the grow room, and also, I should mabey think about putting a minute space between the time my 6 1000w MH lights kick on..I think I am understanding this right..

Based on this, I would think it wise to have lights on during the day, as opposed to the oft suggested during the night. High energy use at night would certainly be noticed if someone were looking. I am running my stereo amps and preamps and a bunch of other stuff 24/7 and keeping my A/C set at 71 in anticpation of shutting them down, except as used, during the grow.

I, too, was always of the notion, though, that the power company software wasn't programmed to flag anything other than LARGE power spikes - those indicative of a commercial grow. At least I am hoping that a poor sap like me, just wanting to grow enough to fill a stash box under a 600W lamp, won't have to worry too much.

daddychrisg said:

So what you all are saying, is cut any energy that you may use in my house and divert it to the grow room, and also, I should mabey think about putting a minute space between the time my 6 1000w MH lights kick on..I think I am understanding this right..

Click to expand...

Did you say 6 1000w MH lamps...damn dude, sounds like some op.
Be careful with that....

How carefull could I be using that kind of wattage?

Come on. The Elect. company out searching for grow opps?? No way. They could care less about people growing. What they do look for is power thiefs. They are also looking for heavy power surgies and what is causeing them. Now that one guy with (6) 1,000 watters might get their attention, if his hot water heater was on, while doing laundry and he was also cooking, and his AC was also running. and then right at that moment, his (6) lights kicked in all at the same time. It is always,, ALWAYS best to have your lights kick on a minute to two minutes apart. Just because of that power surge, and how it can blow your breakers of even cause damage.

Just my opinion on the matter.
If you and 4 or so of your neighbors are drawing at the same time, and you are all surging, instead of one light at a time.... You could maybe cause the elect company a little trouble. I used to have a shop, where I had to flip like 8 switchs to turn on the things I needed each time I was in there. Well, I figured i would hook them all to one switch and make it easier on me, I produced such a sudden surge that I always blew the breaker. I had to change it back to a single switch for each item, and it worked fine again. Hence The words Surge Spike.

I agree completely Lord! I don't have 6 lights going, I was just exagerating like I always do when there is a simple lesson to be made here. I don't think the electric company wants to slow down there business by taking out there customers! It is in there favor we do what we do, but if you cause them problems like huge surges....Then they will try and figure out why it is happening..

if you want to try and avoid power spikes with the company checking you you should get some of these and just charge em at random intervals

Canadian Tire

It isn't against the law to use electricity folks!

STEALING power is what'll get ya caught. Do you really think the power co is BUMMED when yer meter is spinnig out of control and they are MAKING MONEY? No way. get real.

Fwiw...I run 5000 watts+ at two different houses and have done so for years.

They like me. I pay my bill on time every month and that's ALL that they care about.

Now if yer yard smells like a skunk cus yer a cheap ass...that's a different story