New Technology for grow room electricity?

chemphlegm

Well-Known Member
lol..my local police do not have IR....
Stealing power is the same here as stealing any tangible good..it aint a felony.

Not every one on this site comes from "lock em up Merica". calm down kid.

sorry, but that is incorrect.

Ohio=prosecution for a user’s reconnecting a device that was disconnected by a utility, such activity now is considered prima facie evidence the user intended to defraud the utility.
It’s a fourth-degree felony if more than $150(worth of electricity stolen).

MI-
State Bill 1311 and State Bill 1312


  • It is a felony to steal, attempt to sell, or transfer electricity or natural gas service
  • people charged in these crimes usually face a charge of malicious destruction of property - public utility which is a five-year felony.
 

chemphlegm

Well-Known Member
Yeah there's that number on our bills too, again, they only go after businesses. Calls about private residences aren't investigated, they don't even report to LEO, not worth their time. You're talking about a multi hundred million dollar a year company, they aren't going to waste effort to recoup a few million in stolen electric by multiple homeowners when they could get a that as a single payout from one company stealing power. This is all straight from one of the admins of loss prevention. I can't see other major power companies having much different policy.

hundreds of residence per year are arrested for electricity theft in detroit.
 

chemphlegm

Well-Known Member
before my digi's were installed my meter reader came on schedule monthly year round. His team of readers visited every analog meter in the county every month, about 40 thousand he says
 

jonsnow399

Well-Known Member
Most around here only read every 60-90 days, the bills between readings are usually just averages from previous months/billing cycles. My father used to record the meter every month so he could dispute any bills during those periods. Afaik, that's fairly common across the US. It'd be nearly impossible to read EVERY meter EVERY month without a ridiculously large workforce.
nope, they used to read the meter every month here.
 

jonsnow399

Well-Known Member
Yeah there's that number on our bills too, again, they only go after businesses. Calls about private residences aren't investigated, they don't even report to LEO, not worth their time. You're talking about a multi hundred million dollar a year company, they aren't going to waste effort to recoup a few million in stolen electric by multiple homeowners when they could get a that as a single payout from one company stealing power. This is all straight from one of the admins of loss prevention. I can't see other major power companies having much different policy.
They will come after you for a dollars worth of stolen electricity here. My utility isn't a multi hundred million dollar company, but an international multi billion dollar company.
Revenue
$ 23.459 billion (FY 2015)[1]
Operating income
$ 5.367 billion (FY 2015)[1]
Net income
$ 2.831 billion (FY 2015)[1]
Total assets
$ 120.976 billion (2015)[1]
Total equity
$ 41.41 billion (FY 2013)[2]

They don't really care about recovering the money, they do it make a point.
They have full time "Energy Protection" people.
 

WeedFreak78

Well-Known Member
They will come after you for a dollars worth of stolen electricity here. My utility isn't a multi hundred million dollar company, but an international multi billion dollar company.
Revenue
$ 23.459 billion (FY 2015)[1]
Operating income
$ 5.367 billion (FY 2015)[1]
Net income
$ 2.831 billion (FY 2015)[1]
Total assets
$ 120.976 billion (2015)[1]
Total equity
$ 41.41 billion (FY 2013)[2]

They don't really care about recovering the money, they do it make a point.
They have full time "Energy Protection" people.
Huh, are you in a lower population density area, mostly residential? I'm wondering, where I'm near large city'sand industrial areas, if its not worth it to go after little fish.
 

DaveInCave

Well-Known Member
Growing rooms running on solar power produced energy would be an awesome thing.
Growing rooms running on solar is a terrible waste and very foolish.
If you have enough land and money for a solar array and battery bank you might as well grow in a greenhouse.
The sunlight's price is hard to beat - it's free.

The only reason to grow indoors is extremely hostile climate, extremely hostile neighbors or LEA, or shortage of land in urban areas.
Hopefully when the legalization hits way more people will grow outside instead of wasting energy.
 

jonsnow399

Well-Known Member
Huh, are you in a lower population density area, mostly residential? I'm wondering, where I'm near large city'sand industrial areas, if its not worth it to go after little fish.
Nope, not a huge pop but metro area is 2.5 million people. You don't understand their reasoning, they figure if they go after all electricity thieves no matter how small it will prevent future theft.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Most around here only read every 60-90 days, the bills between readings are usually just averages from previous months/billing cycles. My father used to record the meter every month so he could dispute any bills during those periods. Afaik, that's fairly common across the US. It'd be nearly impossible to read EVERY meter EVERY month without a ridiculously large workforce.
Smart meters solved that problem for the power companies here.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Growing rooms running on solar is a terrible waste and very foolish.
If you have enough land and money for a solar array and battery bank you might as well grow in a greenhouse.
The sunlight's price is hard to beat - it's free.

The only reason to grow indoors is extremely hostile climate, extremely hostile neighbors or LEA, or shortage of land in urban areas.
Hopefully when the legalization hits way more people will grow outside instead of wasting energy.
That's good for one season here but if you want a regular supply you need to be able to control your lighting 365 days a year.

Have you looked into light deprivation greenhouses? They're expensive! And running them in the winter means supplemental lighting, heating and insulation, all of which drive up the costs involved.

Add up the costs of all that and an efficiently designed indoor setup with LED lighting is surprisingly competitive.
 

WeedFreak78

Well-Known Member
Smart meters solved that problem for the power companies here.
I don't have those, yet. Right now, as I understand it, I can still refuse to allow them to install it. My meter is kinda buried behind a few cars and about a 2 tons of sharp, rusty scrap steel, so I dont really worry about it. They can see it to read it, that's it. If they want to get at it, they can move the scrap, but better not damage my cars.
 

DaveInCave

Well-Known Member
That's good for one season here but if you want a regular supply you need to be able to control your lighting 365 days a year.

Have you looked into light deprivation greenhouses? They're expensive! And running them in the winter means supplemental lighting, heating and insulation, all of which drive up the costs involved.

Add up the costs of all that and an efficiently designed indoor setup with LED lighting is surprisingly competitive.
Those are very different scales though.
Pound per pound, in most latitudes a climate controlled greenhouse will always be more efficient than indoor.
Whatever design and technology you apply to your grow room you can also apply to your greenhouse, and use it less than half the time.

What's more, to power every sq. foot of indoor grow space you will need roughly 5 sq.feet of solar panels, which mind you, like you say, half of the year your power output will be significantly reduced. It makes really no sense in most places.

I lived half of my life in the arctic circle, in winter time -25f was very common, and it was pitch black 20-24h/day.
On the other hand energy is nuclear or geothermic and is very cheap: 3 cents/Kwh.
Under these conditions, indoor growing is acceptable.
 

DaveInCave

Well-Known Member
Those are very different scales though.
Pound per pound, in most latitudes a climate controlled greenhouse will always be more efficient than indoor.
Whatever design and technology you apply to your grow room you can also apply to your greenhouse, and use it less than half the time.

What's more, to power every sq. foot of indoor grow space you will need roughly 5 sq.feet of solar panels, which mind you, like you say, half of the year your power output will be significantly reduced. It makes really no sense in most places.

I lived half of my life in the arctic circle, in winter time -25f was very common, and it was pitch black 20-24h/day.
On the other hand energy is nuclear or geothermic and is very cheap: 3 cents/Kwh.
Under these conditions, indoor growing is acceptable.
Of course the main limitation for indoor growers these days has nothing to do with energy, but with privacy and discretion.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Those are very different scales though.
Pound per pound, in most latitudes a climate controlled greenhouse will always be more efficient than indoor.
Whatever design and technology you apply to your grow room you can also apply to your greenhouse, and use it less than half the time.

What's more, to power every sq. foot of indoor grow space you will need roughly 5 sq.feet of solar panels, which mind you, like you say, half of the year your power output will be significantly reduced. It makes really no sense in most places.

I lived half of my life in the arctic circle, in winter time -25f was very common, and it was pitch black 20-24h/day.
On the other hand energy is nuclear or geothermic and is very cheap: 3 cents/Kwh.
Under these conditions, indoor growing is acceptable.
Indoor farming is much more efficient per square foot. It's better than you think.

And people still want fresh salad in February in Alaska.
 

DaveInCave

Well-Known Member
Purely in terms of energetic efficiency all current scientific evidence is showing the opposite, for most latitudes.

In terms of financial feasibility, market economy and supply and demand, indoor farming can be, and is still very feasible, for a large number of crops.
 

DaveInCave

Well-Known Member
Purely in terms of energetic efficiency all current scientific evidence is showing the opposite, for most latitudes.

In terms of financial feasibility, market economy and supply and demand, indoor farming can be, and is still very feasible, for a large number of crops.
Here's a very nice lecture, if you're interested:

This is just a glance, but he talks a little about numbers.
Bruce is a very nice guy, I met him once in a conference when I was still working on my PhD.
 

buckets

Well-Known Member
This is all very interesting to me. I'm just researching forbidden archeology and there appears to be a giant pyramid underground in ALASKA! This thing is 4X the size of the one in egypt. The men in black have known about it since the Cold War. But the thing is, the thing is still on. It's got enough power production to power all of Canada as well as several states in the USA. Look it up on youtube and see what there is about it if you're curious. I'd love to see people using methods to obtain power that be free too. Those smart meters emit something that is causing cancer. They're also imposed in Australia and cancer rates are skyrocketing.
 

ANC

Well-Known Member
I have often wondered how we would deal with a mini ice age today.
We are approaching a solar minimum. The sun's output is at some of the lowest levels it has been for hundreds of years.
I would not be surprised if it takes a little nap again soon.
 
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