I had the company come twice to read the meter one month after a large increase. Pretty sure they just wanted to make sure they got the reading right. Not a problem since I pay the bill. I agree with the person above, the electric company is in it for the money, they don't give a shit what you do with the power as long as you pay the bill and don't steal their shit.
has anyone ever been busted for a sudden electricity increase?
- Thread starter Kayos_
- Start date
G
Guest
I'm there to shut down probably 90% of the time my meter gets read,it's the only electrical precaution I take.A few years ago I happened to be outside when this young meterhead was writing down the numbers and remarked"boy you use a lot of juice don't you",I just want to make sure this is right.I confirmed that I did indeed suck some amps with my window AC's in each room,washer dryer computers ole lady kids mainly lies lol.They have a different guy come every month anyway,it's never been the same guy as long as I can remember.
G
Guest
.33 x 12 hrs a day x 4500 2805000 divide by 1000 = 28.50 a day...yeah im sure there happy thats like 855.00 in lights and i didnt even add ten percent for the ballast...shit man you have expensive electricity at .33
Germanator
Member
"400 watts!!!!! Are you insane? Dude....Why not just put a sign on your front door saying "I grow dope come in and bust me". That kind of wattage will shut down half the town. The radiated heat given off will make you look like a terrorist with a hundred kilos of plutonium in your bedroom.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, I BEG YOU, DON'T DO IT!!!"
AHAHA man posts like that make my day on ICMAG that much more enjoyable.
To add- there was something posted about a year ago about a family in Malibu CA, having the police show up at their house due to a high electric bill...it was a large family, in malibu so to dismiss a high electric bill is a bad move in my opinion...oh and they were not growing.
Germ
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, I BEG YOU, DON'T DO IT!!!"
AHAHA man posts like that make my day on ICMAG that much more enjoyable.
To add- there was something posted about a year ago about a family in Malibu CA, having the police show up at their house due to a high electric bill...it was a large family, in malibu so to dismiss a high electric bill is a bad move in my opinion...oh and they were not growing.
Germ
El Loco Smoko
Member
We've got cheap elec. here.4.9 cents.When I first started up with 2000 watts, the co. came out and changed the transformer.Luckily I had 2 R.V.s with cords running to them.I changed the water heater to an energy efficient one.The co. gives $ breaks for them, so it end up free.It dropped my bill by $25.Another thing you don't want to do, is shut down power between crops.I think that would draw alot of attention.I've got solar on an R.V. I use this to supplement my power, along with floros everywhere I can.With the solar power,and some floros, I can keep em on schedule when the power goes out for awhile, like 3 nights ago, when tornadoes blew through and blew my new 600 HPS bulb.Good thing I always have a spare.
A large electric bill in of itself is not probable cause for the police to do anything. Nor do ANY power companies care about sporadic usage, high usage or anything else so long as you pay the bill.
But, they do look at unusual usage and may confirm that it is actual and not some equipment problem. They also have the mindset that they need to Help you save power since 99.99% of people want to save power. We just want to be left alone. If you get a call, simply tell them that your running heavy equipment, your aware of the power usage and everything is just fine, thank you, goodbye.
But, they do look at unusual usage and may confirm that it is actual and not some equipment problem. They also have the mindset that they need to Help you save power since 99.99% of people want to save power. We just want to be left alone. If you get a call, simply tell them that your running heavy equipment, your aware of the power usage and everything is just fine, thank you, goodbye.
G
Guest
your desktop computer has a 300w power supply. i know a lot of families with a few computers that just leave them on all day. 400w isn't a problem.
A friend of mine started a 7 kW grow and the bill jumped from $300 to $2,000 a month!! (35c/kW). So what did the power co do? They stopped sending him bills!!!
No kidding. No bills for at least 3 months - usually he gets billed monthly. He had to call them and beg them to send him a bill. I guess they figured the equip. was malfunctioning and wanted to verify a few times.
Also have another friend been running about 6 kW in a 2 b'room for about 5 years - and on time of use meters at that. (Of course, you've got at least 3 kW on top for A/C, fans etc etc.).
No kidding. No bills for at least 3 months - usually he gets billed monthly. He had to call them and beg them to send him a bill. I guess they figured the equip. was malfunctioning and wanted to verify a few times.
Also have another friend been running about 6 kW in a 2 b'room for about 5 years - and on time of use meters at that. (Of course, you've got at least 3 kW on top for A/C, fans etc etc.).
coolx said:
id get a time-of useage if they had it as an option.
they cut u a fat discount.
plus i run my lights at night so my metere isnt spinning too much faster then my neighbors. when the metere reader comes by.
actualy- the digial meters will not show a massivly spinning wheel.
who has these old ass pc's with 300-400 psu's?
im a huge pc guru and have 600 and 800 psu's in my pc's plus a multimedia pc running 24/7 to tivo everything on tv.
check this out
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/05/ultra-products-unveils-2000-watt-x3-atx-power-supply/
2000 watts!!
my oven uses amps-n-amps of juice at 7000 watts (240V on 60 amp circuit)
i ran a 3k in a 1 bedroom apt with 2k of excess a/c useage + 1-2 pc's
i think alot of people forget about how much variance there is to electricity. like LEO comming in because we have a 600$ phone bill...
some of the best tips ive read.
- keep smell down
- keep bill below 1000$ a month that changes u to a commercial account in some places ( non house ) i remember my dads house used 800-1500$ a month is elec. cooling, pc's TV's etc. 5 bedroom too it wasnt the biggest bill on the block i bet. summer was sick central a/c running 24/7.
-be around so the neighbors will see everything 'appears normal'
shit i feel bad for the few who get in trouble for a 400 but cant think it wasnt SOMTHING else. smell, noise, coughing everyday from 5pm-12pm ??? skunk smell. wierd glowing room..?? i felt like an ax-murder leaving my old apt walking to my car with flood-tables and a res. most bizzar. use black bags / boxes to move in all ur equip.
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^^^ I'd be nervous with time of use ... so they can see that the power surges at 6 pm every single night and goes out at 6 am every single night. Not much doubt about what you're doing. Not running a kiln etc.
And can't believe anyone is worried about a 400W grow. Christ, the light bulb over your head is 250W, and the electric toilet roll dispenser another 500! I'd be willing to get that noone's ever been busted solely on the basis of the power usage on a 400W grow. Like DH said, it'd have to be something else.
And can't believe anyone is worried about a 400W grow. Christ, the light bulb over your head is 250W, and the electric toilet roll dispenser another 500! I'd be willing to get that noone's ever been busted solely on the basis of the power usage on a 400W grow. Like DH said, it'd have to be something else.
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G
Guest
Nervous about electrical usage that the utilities crave more than you crave a fatty?Why wouldn't I burn my kilns during those exact hours after a 12 hour day of some serious potting?Why wouldn't my pro wresting buddies and I not fire up the jacuuzi's at 6 p/m after a long day in the gym?I can go on and on but it seems futile,the erbal just seems to affect some in a certain way I reckon...
I'm not worried about electric bills at all. Of course, I only use a 150 watt HPS, but even if I upgrade to a 400, who really cares ? 400 watts is nothing, most appliances use way more than that.
Some people here are lucky though, because it costs the same for me to run my 150 watt as it does for them to run their 400 watt. My KWH price is insane, and I pay about $15 extra a month, and that's just for the 150 watt + a few CFLS, etc.
Do electric companies log the time of day usage though ? I can see if somebody had a big setup in their house and if every night, the usage jumps up like crazy for 12 hours and then jumps back to normal again after 12 hours, and this happens every single day like clockwork, then that might be a good tipoff, if they actually looked into things like that.
If electric bills were very detailed, they could probably even figure out if somebody was vegging or flowering, lol.
Well sir, according to our records, you were on 18/6 for 5 weeks, and then you switched to 12/12 with your 1000 K light. How are those buds turning out ?
Some people here are lucky though, because it costs the same for me to run my 150 watt as it does for them to run their 400 watt. My KWH price is insane, and I pay about $15 extra a month, and that's just for the 150 watt + a few CFLS, etc.
Do electric companies log the time of day usage though ? I can see if somebody had a big setup in their house and if every night, the usage jumps up like crazy for 12 hours and then jumps back to normal again after 12 hours, and this happens every single day like clockwork, then that might be a good tipoff, if they actually looked into things like that.
If electric bills were very detailed, they could probably even figure out if somebody was vegging or flowering, lol.
Well sir, according to our records, you were on 18/6 for 5 weeks, and then you switched to 12/12 with your 1000 K light. How are those buds turning out ?
G
Guest
Utility companies meter for total KWH usage,not specific times of usage,at least mine doesnt and I really doubt any do.If they did and it led to an arrest it would be common knowledge.
The American said:
they were refering to time of use meters
http://www.wisconsinpublicservice.com/home/tou.aspx
http://www.pge.com/biz/understanding_bill/large_biz/page1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_meter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_meter#Time_of_use_metering
still not worried. my last 3 months my 1 bedroom apt been about 300$
1200-2200 grow +1100 W a/c + 2-3 pc's (450W +each ) 1300w central air.
just pay the bill..
speaking of witch, the PGE demo bill was 10,000$ for some guy in san francisco....LOL
http://www.pge.com/biz/understanding_bill/large_biz/page1.html
G
Guest
Okay, we all agree that a 400W is NOT a problem as far as total amount of energy used in a kilowatt hour or day BUT!
What about that whole 18/6 and 12 hour/12 hour thing. Could that get us busted? Surely a light that goes off at a certain hour to the exact second and comes on EXACTLY 12 hours later has got to be suspicious.
What about that whole 18/6 and 12 hour/12 hour thing. Could that get us busted? Surely a light that goes off at a certain hour to the exact second and comes on EXACTLY 12 hours later has got to be suspicious.
hey, i'm bad at math, but could someone help me out? how much would it cost to operate a 600w (it's digital, but lets assume it uses 600w to set the bar high) plus a 78w stanley fan at high speed (again, to set bar high) for a total of 678w in one month? my service provider charges as follows:
*$5.00 for 1st 50 kwh or less
*$0.04733 for next 300 kwh
*$0.07218 for all additional kwh
much appreciated...
*$5.00 for 1st 50 kwh or less
*$0.04733 for next 300 kwh
*$0.07218 for all additional kwh
much appreciated...
G
Guest
do it at the most expensive rate .07 x 678 x 12=? for flower or .07 x 678 x 18=? for veg. everyone has a calc on their computer so you don't have to be good at math. the answer is what you'll pay per day to operate the light and fan.
