Jesusbuiltmygro
Member
Well I'd have to disagree that you'll get busted stealing power. If done well I don't believe the meter man really has any recourse.
First off the nature of power box security is pathetic if you think about it, so it shouldn't be hard to do it well. Definitely something you'd want to research a lot before you tried. People do steal power for decades and get away with it. More importantly tampering with your electric box is not probable cause for a search, so unless you give the cop the right to search your place I doubt he could get in. However, cops don't always play fair and they might use their suspicions to fuel a closer look at you. One of your biggest security holes is usually your trash. In many cases trash pulls provide the piece of evidence that really got the warrant. Things like electric records or neighbor suspicions are nothing alone, but when combined with stem or grow medium in the trash your almost guaranteeing a raid at some point.
In the end however I'd have to say it will be a bad idea. Mostly because you have better alternatives. I doubt you really need to steal power to accomplish your goals OR perhaps you should reconsider more practical goals that keep you in the limits of not going to prison for a long time.
Have you looked at your states Mandatory Minimum laws? If not then you certainly should think about a more complete plan than simply GOING BIG. Most of the worst busts (for the grower) are either dispenseries which grow large for medical needs (which has always been a dumb idea IMO) or people who tried to GO BIG without full appreciation of all the variables.
Perhaps instead of stealing power you should tweak your grow efficiency. Reduce the houses power needs, upgrade to digital ballasts, use less AC and more fan/smarter fan cooling. In many homes the main electric draw is the heat/ac and the water heater. If you could upgrade those to non electric or reduce you dependency on them you could save a lot.
Other options are to invest in a home power generator which uses diesel, natural gas, gas or other fuels to move your entire energy needs off the grid. This is probably the most reasonable and safest overall since it's completely legal. Most people will not like this option because of the cost of the generator, but if you can't afford a couple thousand dollars then you CERTAINLY should not be pretending that you're ready to GO BIG.
The most used option is likely to rent out a second house and simply spread the operation out. This works well if you position yourself as a landlord.
You'd likely be surprised how much you can yield while staying well within the limits of reasonable power usage. The trick is smart cooling, digital ballasts, air cooled lights, light movers. Better to spend your money on these things first and throw electricity at the problem last or never. I think something like 4 600 watt digital lights with all the options would likely yield similar as a 3-4k grow of 1k analog lights that wasn't done as intelligently. The 600's run cooler, and offer better light distribution, better efficiency and much longer lamp life. At 95k lumens they do put out roughly 50k less lumen, but when you factor in the getting the light closer and the superior light distribution I doubt the 1k has much of an advantage left and it tears through rather expensive lamps about 3 times faster. That also means the lumen output drops off faster since the lamp is wearing out 3 times faster (to a degree). The lamps may not actually cost much compared to what they accomplish, but its smart to reduce your dependency on grow purchases. Digitals are also much safer. For a large grow they are especially convenient with the soft start. That means greatly reduced fire hazard, greatly reduced timer failure, and it's much easier to manage 600 watters since you can run two of them on one circuit plus with soft start they also don't trip the breakers when starting.
Steal power if you have to i guess, but it's not exactly easy and I think you have other options. At least check out your states laws and stay below the mandatory sentencing because it's never really worth it to go above. No one really needs to go above the federal or state limits for any reason. It's just stupid regardless of if you grow for other peoples medical needs or whatever. That's not a reason to become a statistic. Especially considering that most peoples 'medical needs' are complete BS just to get legal MJ status. Uh yea I can't sleep if I don't smoke weed. Uh.. well maybe that's because you've been smoking weed everyday for the last 20 years. It's easy to become disillusioned when you smoke a hallucinogenic everyday. That being said.. I highly doubt stealing power is the right path. Rarely is power usage a main factor is busts anyway. It's usually just something the cops use on top of everything else to convince the judge. Normally they are alerted by other means and then they look into the electric bill. They raid people with 250 watt grows too you know, so hiding the electric is unlikely to be enough.
More important are things like how and where you buy supplies. In your area local cops might be working with the delivery services to mine information while in other areas the local cops are oblivious or just don't care/have the resources. Anyone can use a lot of electricity, but only a tiny fraction of 20-30 somethings actually have a legit need for regular hydro supplies. From the cops perspective the hydro supplies are way safer bet to catch growers.
That is why when the DEA goes after growers they target hydro suppliers, such as Operation Green Merchant. Even dumb ass local cops can stake out a grow store and write down your license plate. SOoooo alway use a safe addy and weigh your risk well. Power usage is just one of many problems. The IR signature of your house would make me nervous. While it's not legal to use IR
without a warrant, it could still be very very useful in pinpointing the guys the cops want to do trash pulls and such on. Don't rely on the cops playing fair. I think in Europe they use IR blocking material more often because of the legality of IR scans there vs here.
First off the nature of power box security is pathetic if you think about it, so it shouldn't be hard to do it well. Definitely something you'd want to research a lot before you tried. People do steal power for decades and get away with it. More importantly tampering with your electric box is not probable cause for a search, so unless you give the cop the right to search your place I doubt he could get in. However, cops don't always play fair and they might use their suspicions to fuel a closer look at you. One of your biggest security holes is usually your trash. In many cases trash pulls provide the piece of evidence that really got the warrant. Things like electric records or neighbor suspicions are nothing alone, but when combined with stem or grow medium in the trash your almost guaranteeing a raid at some point.
In the end however I'd have to say it will be a bad idea. Mostly because you have better alternatives. I doubt you really need to steal power to accomplish your goals OR perhaps you should reconsider more practical goals that keep you in the limits of not going to prison for a long time.
Have you looked at your states Mandatory Minimum laws? If not then you certainly should think about a more complete plan than simply GOING BIG. Most of the worst busts (for the grower) are either dispenseries which grow large for medical needs (which has always been a dumb idea IMO) or people who tried to GO BIG without full appreciation of all the variables.
Perhaps instead of stealing power you should tweak your grow efficiency. Reduce the houses power needs, upgrade to digital ballasts, use less AC and more fan/smarter fan cooling. In many homes the main electric draw is the heat/ac and the water heater. If you could upgrade those to non electric or reduce you dependency on them you could save a lot.
Other options are to invest in a home power generator which uses diesel, natural gas, gas or other fuels to move your entire energy needs off the grid. This is probably the most reasonable and safest overall since it's completely legal. Most people will not like this option because of the cost of the generator, but if you can't afford a couple thousand dollars then you CERTAINLY should not be pretending that you're ready to GO BIG.
The most used option is likely to rent out a second house and simply spread the operation out. This works well if you position yourself as a landlord.
You'd likely be surprised how much you can yield while staying well within the limits of reasonable power usage. The trick is smart cooling, digital ballasts, air cooled lights, light movers. Better to spend your money on these things first and throw electricity at the problem last or never. I think something like 4 600 watt digital lights with all the options would likely yield similar as a 3-4k grow of 1k analog lights that wasn't done as intelligently. The 600's run cooler, and offer better light distribution, better efficiency and much longer lamp life. At 95k lumens they do put out roughly 50k less lumen, but when you factor in the getting the light closer and the superior light distribution I doubt the 1k has much of an advantage left and it tears through rather expensive lamps about 3 times faster. That also means the lumen output drops off faster since the lamp is wearing out 3 times faster (to a degree). The lamps may not actually cost much compared to what they accomplish, but its smart to reduce your dependency on grow purchases. Digitals are also much safer. For a large grow they are especially convenient with the soft start. That means greatly reduced fire hazard, greatly reduced timer failure, and it's much easier to manage 600 watters since you can run two of them on one circuit plus with soft start they also don't trip the breakers when starting.
Steal power if you have to i guess, but it's not exactly easy and I think you have other options. At least check out your states laws and stay below the mandatory sentencing because it's never really worth it to go above. No one really needs to go above the federal or state limits for any reason. It's just stupid regardless of if you grow for other peoples medical needs or whatever. That's not a reason to become a statistic. Especially considering that most peoples 'medical needs' are complete BS just to get legal MJ status. Uh yea I can't sleep if I don't smoke weed. Uh.. well maybe that's because you've been smoking weed everyday for the last 20 years. It's easy to become disillusioned when you smoke a hallucinogenic everyday. That being said.. I highly doubt stealing power is the right path. Rarely is power usage a main factor is busts anyway. It's usually just something the cops use on top of everything else to convince the judge. Normally they are alerted by other means and then they look into the electric bill. They raid people with 250 watt grows too you know, so hiding the electric is unlikely to be enough.
More important are things like how and where you buy supplies. In your area local cops might be working with the delivery services to mine information while in other areas the local cops are oblivious or just don't care/have the resources. Anyone can use a lot of electricity, but only a tiny fraction of 20-30 somethings actually have a legit need for regular hydro supplies. From the cops perspective the hydro supplies are way safer bet to catch growers.
That is why when the DEA goes after growers they target hydro suppliers, such as Operation Green Merchant. Even dumb ass local cops can stake out a grow store and write down your license plate. SOoooo alway use a safe addy and weigh your risk well. Power usage is just one of many problems. The IR signature of your house would make me nervous. While it's not legal to use IR
without a warrant, it could still be very very useful in pinpointing the guys the cops want to do trash pulls and such on. Don't rely on the cops playing fair. I think in Europe they use IR blocking material more often because of the legality of IR scans there vs here.
