smart meters

[b00m]

Every appliance has a electronic signature that runs back thru the power lines, YES they can tell what you have plugged into the wall and if it's turned on.
A way to get around this is to use a Line-Conditioner UPS between your wall and your lights etc, the L-C UPS smooths out any power surges or drops coming out of your wall and stops any electronic signatures going back out the wall to the meter, of course this wont stop your usage showing up if it's HIGH and constant power draw @ 12/12 or 18/6. You can run flip-flops or slightly change your timers by half an hour backward and forward so the power draw isn't exactly the same time every day and stops at the same time every day

 

[Donald Trump]

Unless your appliances are 'smart' it can't tell what it is, exactly. There aren't too many smart appliances on the market yet, but there will be more eventually, as smart grids are in place more around the country. It's the future.

some info i found...

A good example of an early smart appliance is GE’s heat pump hybrid water heater which I wrote about a while ago back in describing the the company’s vision for a zero energy home by 2015.
But before smart appliances can dent your electric bill and make you a more efficient consumer, the smart grid has to be built out which is beginning to happen through yesterday’s announcement and generous government funding.
“For [smart appliances] to work, you need a smart grid, sensors and communications [as well as] smarter policy for the utility to care about efficiency and smart pricing,” says Gilligan. The first step is deployment of smart meters which act as the mid communication point between the utility and the appliance. The utility constantly broadcasts rates and electricity demand to the smart meter. That meter feeds that information to the appliance which delays operation if possible (difficult for cooking) until off-peak rates or goes into an economy mode.



Your blender, tv, toaster, hps light, etc are not smart appliances.

 

[Graham Purwatt]

yeah one of the complaints against smart meters is companies data mining from the info they provide as in what type of of appliances you own and how often you use them.thats why i'm so scared to be getting one. if i start getting junk mail from htg supply and hortilux i'm going to freak the fuck out lol

 

[SOTF420]

Electric companies can still see the voltage spike from the HPS and specific power draw for 12 hours it's clear as day smart device or not. And no the LED's don't identify themselves to the meter already checked into it and I'm legal anyways & well under the limits for my county so I could give two shits!

Bottom line is the technology is there to snoop on exactly what is plugged in when and where and they will abuse it make no doubt about it!

 

[Budwhyser]

I think if you have a super small grow maybe one or two lights you're probably ok. They can't tell exactly what appliances you are using, they only have an approx idea of the draw of certain appliances. If your A/C, washer and dryer came on at the same time they have no idea what appliances came on. They mainly look for patterns, i.e. 10,000 watts coming on for 18 hrs every day. Maybe stagger your on/off times or something. I cant believe that 1 1000w light would be enough to arouse suspension. Hell it coulda been the air conditioner.I think they are mainly looking for people who are stealing power with the digital meters. Prolly prudent to be paranoid as fuck about everything you do anyways...just my 2cent

 

[Donald Trump]

To be on the safe side, I would recommend a flip-flop style grow.

 

[SOTF420]

Air conditoners cycle on and off constantly so no they would not confuse them with a growlight, HID is a large current spike usage at start-up which is unique to them and then continued constant power draw for whatever period they are on which they know very well for flowering is a 12 hours on cycle and 12 off or close to it. On a screen it looks like a perfect blip at start-up everyday at the same time and sticks out like a sore thumb *IF* they are looking. It does not matter how many things are running at once, the smart meter knows what is pulling what that is the whole spin they are putting on it is that consumers will be able to track their usage of different appliances and their various usage patterns at any time of the day and somehow that will save them money on their bills because they can monitor their usage and adjust accordingly to save energy. lmfao
us--> <---Big Brother

 

[SmilinBob]

Could you interrupt your light cycle with a 175w metal halide light?

5 hours of 1kw hps, 2 hours of mh(or hps)of a lesser wattage, and another 5 hours of 1kw hps.

If they're looking for 12/12 and 18/6 or similar patterns of usage, doesn't this method take away from that?

Doubling usage by flip flopping may not be the best idea either.

SOTF420 had a great idea with LED light, but for now they're are expensive.

 

[b00m]

Yeah these bastards scare the beejebuz outta me, they are starting to roll these smart meters out across australia and any/all information we can provide to fellow growers around the world to be/stay safe is a blessing.
SOTF420 you are bang on the nail mate

 

[SOTF420]

SOFT420 had a great idea with LED light, but for now they're are expensive.

Way less expensive than getting busted for IR heat signature or high electrical usage. I think you can call Lumigrow and they will sell them for a few hundred bucks off direct.I very HIGHLY would encourage people to consider the ES 330 LED light made by them it's a great alternative to HID and flowers plants out very nicely. One light effectively covers about a 2 x 3 foot area in flowering in my real world experience with them for solid dense nugs and nice yields per light but you could stretch that space out more if you wanted with supplemental 6500k striplight T5's around the sides which also works wonderful in conjunction with the LED anyways. For veg one easily does like a 3 x 3 space up about 18" from the canopy. Very bright LED!

 

[trichrider]

looking for cheaper alternatives to incarceration?

two tents with overlapping time frame. one tent with 2 400 watt lamps, 1 MH, 1 HPS that are timed to come on every other day.

two different lamp signatures alternating days in one tent, other tent obviously one lamp.
does not eliminate that 'signature' but disprupts the pattern....

perhaps the information gathered this manner is to gauge the ability to afford energy produced and sold; and therefore set price points...determined by the footprint? (theorizing)

we can't all afford led lighting, yet neither can we afford legal expenditures or criminal records. the idea that we can manage our way around technical difficulties is a stopgap measure. reschedule or relegalize and the only downside will be cost. imho.

 

[Manitoid]

so staggering my timer would help you think? maybe going 11/13 lights on/off? that would put them on and off at different times of the day i guess.i was wondering if i kept it on 24/7 and just moved them into a dark area for 12 hours at a time if that would be of any benefit,that way the 1k runs around the clock

get one more 1 k hood and bulb and a flip flop for the ballast.

Then you are not wasting half of the time while wanting to appear like its constant use. one ballast on 24 hours, two 1000 watt flower rooms switch every 12 hours...

or if you are up to the extra work... when you take plants out of the 24 hr room to go to dark, grab the plants that were just in the dark for 12 hours, and put them in the light... if

either way it sounds like if you want to appear constant power usage, you get twice as much flower space.

peace

 

[BUBBLEHAZE]

flip flop grow

flip flop grow

To be on the safe side, I would recommend a flip-flop style grow.

Whats a flip flop style grow?

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

it starts with a giant spatula...

j/k - two grow areas with alternating lights-on times. eliminates the 12 on/12 off giveaway.

 

[Donald Trump]

You have to have 2 flower rooms/areas. could power 2 600's from 1 ballast for example. (not at the same time)

ballast stays on 24/7 . you make or buy a flip box. while room A lights are on, room B lights are off. When the timer activates after 12 hours, room A lights go off and room B lights come on.

 

[JG's Ghost]

They sure as hell would not tell you it was because they looked at the info from a smartmeter!

Actually they would have to use the info from the meter as part of reasonable cause to get a warrant so that information would come out in legal proceedings.

I'm planning a warehouse grow. Just 2K, but still two flowering rooms. Planning on calling the power company, and telling them I'd like to put a web site server system in the warehouse with 6 computers with 1K power supplies each, and asking them if there is enough power to do it.

Figure that should put them off the track.

JG

 

[SOTF420]

Actually they would have to use the info from the meter as part of reasonable cause to get a warrant so that information would come out in legal proceedings.

Well in a perfect world this would be true but more often then not they say they got an anonymous tip from an informant or they will come do a knock & talk and scare people into letting them inside who don't know their constitutional rights very well. In theory there should be much more transparency about who is doing what and why but in the real world LEO rarely follows these rules many of us put so much faith in. Called being "above the law" round these parts which is what they are unfortunately for us. Be safe in your grow and watch those plant numbers whatever you do don't exceed 100 it's just not worth it man when you can grow fewer larger plants instead of more smaller ones.

 

[Rednick]

heres a quote that scares me

GELLERMAN: So it can tell whether I'm toasting a bagel or getting a back massage?
DORAN: Well, no. But certain appliances definitely have certain energy signatures. So it could tell if you were using a microwave, which has a certain kind of signature. It could tell if you're using an oven, which has another kind of signature.""

It 'could', but probably doesn't. That kind of monitoring is very expensive. Sure different things have different signatures, but it is the patterns that will stand out. Then the Meter would also have to be integrated into your panel.
Otherwise, all it is doing is monitoring 'aggregate' usage on a 'real-time-basis'.
You probably have: high energy costs, lot's of power thieves, and (you already mention) muni controlled power.
Smart meters are being rolled out, because it doesn't take a brainiac to steal power, and lots of people are doing it.
So instead of them auditing the bills crossed with the power sent, and then having an 'approximate' location of where the power drain is. Then they have to pay somebody to go around and look for the power drain, which could take weeks and cost thousands of dollars.
With Smart Meters, they get a tally on usage from each individual, then they can cross that with their transformer or sub-station, and Voila! Much easier to locate the power thieves.

FlipFlops have been in use for a long time to combat the patterns. As far as what's using the power, get creative. Salt-water coral reef tanks use a lot of fucking power. Kilns, ovens, furnaces...for glass, metals, ceramics. Servers, computers, consumer electronics.

 

[Rednick]

I'm legal anyways & well under the limits for my county so I could give two shits!

Bottom line is the technology is there to snoop on exactly what is plugged in when and where and they will abuse it make no doubt about it!

Since you know SOOOO much about smart meters.
Please, tell us how they identify 'non-smart' appliances. There are thousands of appliances out there, companies can't even get correct repalcement parts for them. How is the Meter going to know you are running a XtraSun 1,000w ballast on your 20A circuit?
Really, you are just spouting unsubstantiated/undocumented theories.
Now if you could provide us with classes of electrical discharge and oscillation that identify certain types of components, that would be more feasible for me to believe.
It's not 1984 yet guys.

But yeah, if you are really worried, then do what other guy said and condition your power first through and intermediary.

Patterns, in real time. That is you biggest concern.
I'm selling 'tin-foil' hats at $10 a pop, to anyone who wants one. I use only the best mindwave blocking Tin, developed by Nasa.

 

[JG's Ghost]

Her's a link to the company whose meters were recently installed at my home.

http://www.silverspringnet.com/

Although it does not come right out, and say they can tell when you are running 12/12 it does indicate that they can.