Maximum Electrical Footprint

[creativeprocess]

Hello Pro Growers,

Getting caught is probably the most common fear that any grower in a non-legal state/country could have.
Obviously there are a range of factors that go into "how" a person can get caught, and the one that is the most mysterious to me is that of being flagged for "excessive" electricity use, thus becoming subject to some type of investigation.

What have y'all heard/experienced in terms of "maximum" elecrtricity use before one runs the risk of being flagged as a possible grow operation?

I hear of people having 12k in lights and growing without worry, while other posts are people with merely a few hundred watts and they're shaking everytime a car drives by. But realistically speaking, what factors go into this? Example: apartment growing compared to a house? House w/ 2 bedrooms compared to 4? Rurual compared to Suburban compared to Urban? Utilizing solar panels compared to being plugged directly to the electrical company?

Please illuminate this issue and/or provide a link if you know of a similar post where this topic has been thrashed threadbare.

thanks.

 

[mitygrows]

I got 7 1000 watt gavitas.you think I'm fine

 

[creativeprocess]

Thanks for your reply guys. So you both have roughly 8k watt grows going and you've never hit a hiccup in any way? Well that's reassuring.

Do you utilize grow tents or just do full rooms with light blocking on windows?

 

[HipsterDoofus]

what factors go into this? Example: apartment growing compared to a house? House w/ 2 bedrooms compared to 4? Rurual compared to Suburban compared to Urban? Utilizing solar panels compared to being plugged directly to the electrical company?

The megamansions in my area easily consume $1000.00 plus per month running heat pumps to warm and cool their homes. Rich bastards.

 

[creativeprocess]

ok. so I talked to a family friend yesterday.. and he said this.. electric company has DEA agents that come in and do a slideshow. and offer money for snitching on growers/high energy places.. but .... he said that his higher ups.. told him.. u don't snitch unless its HUGE. because the cash incentive for snitching isn't even close to the amount the electric company is getting every month.

Thanks for getting an inside scoop here JO.

So staff members from the electric company have to "snitch out" potential grow operations -- based on what factors??
This sounds like some conspiracy level operation, haha!

It's so crazy -- how many tens of millions (if not a lot more) do gov't systems around the globe spend in order to try to squeeze the most benign industry of any in the world?
And what's even more insane is to think that if we could just find a way to make it profitable for everyone, the gov't could be making billions. Let's just keep Monsanto out of this though, lol.
I guess because the prison system is largely a privatized industry, and the prison owners are in cahoots with the politicans, then only that small cluster of people is able to profit, rather than many many people. C'est la vie.

 

[amanda88]

A lot of this question depends on your location, and more so the curse of the modern 'smart' meter, that can show the use of every watt and time its used, thanks to tech. 'we' can confuse it even more with the likes of led lights, and even the gaslight grow method.

But if you can bill power, to 'normal' levels then there is little to worry about, most people have a reasonable excuse for high steady power use, for example, glass blowers, engineers, or even fish collecting all can use about the same amount of power ..good luck

 

[creativeprocess]

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The megamansions in my area easily consume $1000.00 plus per month running heat pumps to warm and cool their homes. Rich bastards.

[/FONT]

Good point! I'm curious, like Amanda mentions below, how the stats are compared from one house to another -- are they compared? Like JO was saying, DEA peeps are the ones who actually "care" about all this, since it's their foolish job to be wasting our tax dollars in trying to incarcerate flower growers to begin with. Hence why I asked about locale itself -- if one house on a block is bumping out a $1k bill whereas everyone else is averaging $500, is it flagged in the system automatically and presented at the DEA slide show? Or are they just happy that someone's spending the extra $500 and that's the end of that?

A lot of this question depends on your location, and more so the curse of the modern 'smart' meter, that can show the use of every watt and time its used, thanks to tech. 'we' can confuse it even more with the likes of led lights, and even the gaslight grow method.

But if you can bill power, to 'normal' levels then there is little to worry about, most people have a reasonable excuse for high steady power use, for example, glass blowers, engineers, or even fish collecting all can use about the same amount of power ..good luck

Good point, I should definitely read up on Smart Meters and how they work. I think to sequence grows so that one tent is going, lets say, then the other tent flips on immediately afterwards, would help balance out any potential spikes on a "minute-to-minute" system like with Smart Meters. Any thoughts on this?
What's gaslight grow method?

Thanks for chiming in y'all, this is helpful for me and hopefully others to chew out and not be worried about.

 

[Chunkypigs]

if you are really worried flip old school magnetic ballasts for flower and fluorescent fixtures 24/7 for veg so your usage is continual
and won't look funny or identifiable to smart meters. then you look like a fish collector or somebody on an iron lung….

 

[creativeprocess]

if you are really worried flip old school magnetic ballasts for flower and fluorescent fixtures 24/7 for veg so your usage is continual
and won't look funny or identifiable to smart meters. then you look like a fish collector or somebody on an iron lung….

hahaa, awesome picture. What's that from?

My plan is to do exactly what you just said. I am not worried so much as want to understand exactly what framework "they" use to try to determine who's a grower and who's not. I'm curious if it's purely arbitrary, like "Oh this house is using 3x's the elcreticty of the average of others in # square mile radius, let's investigate" or if it's somehow more standardized/strategic.

Maybe I'll take your advice and get a few fish tanks.

 

[amanda88]

You need intel(nsa word for info ..lol) I often quiz my neighbors over the cursed power bill, and am glad to say I'm about average in my area and use T8's and Mh and HPS

For the gaslight method see Richard Delp, a method where the grower is encouraged to go
5 hours with the hps off
1 hour on
5 hours off

 

[creativeprocess]

dude put it this way.. I know a bunch of people in the electric supply business.. and they said.. depending on the state.. and how much electricity.. usualy they are pressed into snitching on big dudes only because THATS WERE THE MONEY IS FOR THEM.. so when the dea catches someone who say. has 1million in cash.. and a couple hundred pounds of buds and plants and shit. they get paid by how big just like most informants is wat I was told..
. that's the guy snitcho is going to rat out. not the guy whose bill went up 2-3 times. all the sudden. u could of bought a fucking nice fishtank. a few computers.. a server.. I mean sooooo many things use lots of electricity..

That's true that's true, you've put it explicitly and well sequenced with your example breakdown.

I'm just a stickler for understanding the gears of the machine, so I wanted to press into this issue a little bit and see what became unearthed in the process.

Thanks JO

 

[MJPassion]

Interesting convo...

Good info JO.

Welders... Plasma cutters...
A couple of those cheapo 500W halogen shop lamps.

If you were on solar it would depend entirely on how it's hooked up.
If solar is "grid connected" they have to use smart meters to sort out what your providing/using to/from the grid.
Every single little spike can be seen w smart meters... offsetting rooms/lamps by a few minutes will provide multiple spikes to be viewed.
But...
I believe some sort of tip is necessary to start an investigation no matter what.

 

[noyd666]

I read using Gavita lights with the controller it prevents any inrush of current . no timers ,contacters needed.

 

[creativeprocess]

Every single little spike can be seen w smart meters... offsetting rooms/lamps by a few minutes will provide multiple spikes to be viewed.

This is the perplexity -- if a grower has say 800w turning off and 800w turning on, unless it is somehow syncronyzed within .001 seconds, it's going to show on the smart meter, and is THAT the stone that begins to roll downhill, creating the avalanche/landslide?
Like JO just posted, usually it's smell, tell, or slop that gets someone pinched by the po, but if all those are closely gaurded, then the final varialbe is in fact the electricity company, since that is the one variable which is uncontrollable (except in an off-the-grid renewable (solar/wind/water) situation).

But.. I believe some sort of tip is necessary to start an investigation no matter what.

That's the kicker, and why I appreciated JO's input on it. In the case of a "tip", who exactly offers the tip? Electric company peeps? In which case, is it based on there being say a 5,000w spiking to another 5,000w, compared to 2000w? I just don't know how "classified/covert" this information exactly is, which is the perplexing part. At what point in amount of electricity usage does one need to begin to tone it down?

I'm settled on the issue overall, since others have chimed in with their current capacities and expereinces, but the depth of the question remains as yet unanswered. Is it unanswerable??

 

[creativeprocess]

I read using Gavita lights with the controller it prevents any inrush of current . no timers ,contacters needed.

I'm in the dark about this, do you care to elaborate how this system operates?

 

[noyd666]

Gavita Master controller EL2

Lighting control at your fingertips

Using a Gavita Master controller to control your e-series fixtures offers you maximum control, ease of use, plug and play installation and safety. Just connect the controller cables to the fixtures with the included T-splitter (see diagram), set the dials on the fixtures to EXT (External control), plug the controller and the fixtures directly into mains and you are set to go.
The controller can switch all the interconnected fixtures on and off with its internal timer, adjust them to your required output level (in percentage or exact output power) and even simulate sunrise and sunset to gradually adjust the climate in your grow room when your lights go on or off. This electronic controller replaces expensive lighting timers and contactors while preventing ballast current in-rush when switching on your lights.
Two very important features are the autodim function and emergency shut-down. When the temperature in your grow room rises beyond the control level of your climate control your crop can be damaged beyond recovery. The temperature probe senses this and will automatically dim the lights to not overshoot your safe temperature, and maintain it. The display and warning LED indicate when this happens, and also indicate if this has happened while you were away so you can correct the problem. If for any reason your climate control completely fails and the temperature rises to unacceptable levels the system will perform an emergency shutdown of all connected equipment. The alarm contact of the controller can be connected to your alarm system for instant notification.
You can connect all your e-series fixtures to one controller, even divided in 2 separate rooms with their own temperature sensor for auto-dim at high temperature and emergency shutdown at extreme temperature. For auxiliary equipment you can connect up to two accessory Gavita ECM contactor modules, one to switch equipment when lights are on (for example a humidifier, CO2 equipment or air conditioning) and one for during lights off (for example a room heater).

Features & Benefits

• 
  No need for a switchboard
• No high inrushes (ballast is always stand-by)
• Easy and safe installation (low voltage device)
• Protected against shortcuts
• Double temperature safety feature (autodim/auto shutdown)
• External alarm connection (txt/e-mail/alarm)
• For 80 ballasts, or 2x40 in two 12/12 rooms
• For DigiStar and Pro-lines e-series, incl. LEP
• Sunrise/sunset built in (0-30 mins)
• Show output in % or Watts
• Celsius or Fahrenheit and 24 hr/AM/PM
• Calibrate temperature sensors
• 
  certified

Specifications

• 24 hour timer (on/off): Yes
• Set output level: 50-115%
• Select ballast type: 400/600/750/1000W
• Show output as W or %: Yes
• Auto-dim at set temp: Yes
• Auto shutdown at set temp: Yes
• Sunrise / sunset period: Yes
• Outputs: 2 (main/aux)
• Number of ballasts per output: 40
• Total number of ballasts: 80 (either in one room or 2x40 in 12/12)
• Temperature sensors: 2 (for two rooms 12/12)
• Alarm contacts NO/NC: Yes
• External Contactor Modules (ECM): 2 optional
• Warrenty: 3 years
• Article Number: 60.56.00.23.10 (EU) | 60.56.00.24.11 (UK) | 60.56.00.12.20 (US) | 60.56.00.24.60 (AU)
• EAN code: 8718403051742 (EU) | 8718403051766 (UK) | 8718403051780 (US) | 8718403051803 (AU)
  
• 

Documentation & Downloads

Brochures & Manuals

 

[The Revolution]

Controller says it can run upto 80 ballasts.. is this even necessary, for say 2 - 4 gavitas?

 

[Tonygreen]

not everyone is rich noyd!

Bitcoin mining servers ftw.

 

[Skeeterass]

Just how worried should a person be using 200 watts or less 12/12? Like with cfl. Does that cycle flag up in thier system so much that you start being watched?

 

[sourpuss]

Need to stop using electricity and use the sun.

Skylights with blackout motorized roller blinds.

Even the motorized roller blinds can run off battery solar system no probs.

Cost savings. Zero fire hazard from lights. I see this as the good method to legalize safely around the world.....