Hi Folks,
Yesterday I was a happy guy knowing that I felt confident, that with the help of this site I now knew everything needed to set up and was going to order all the gear today. I even said that on a post I made to the site.

Alas, since then I've read an article saying that there is a risk that you can get picked up, because there is a substantial and consistant increase in the use of your electricity and this can be reported to the police. I don't know if this applies in the UK or not!! In my case being a moderate user of electricity as my heating is by gas, I've worked out that using 2 X 200 watt envirolites it would more than double my present use. As I pay monthly by direct debit it is regularly monitored to make sure payments cover costs.

Does this mean I have to give up the idea? I don't mind calculated risks especially as I need the stuff for pain relief, but is this a dead givaway that's going to waste all my money. To be honest I wouldn't give a damn if they locked me up, but fining me large sums of dosh and taking my gear is different!!

Interested in your comments folks.

There's no need to give up mate. We in this country are quickly approaching the coldest months of the calendar. I assume you have central heating? Doesn't matter if you don't, everyones energy consumption goes up in the winter, plus the heat will go a long way to warming your place, cutting down on energy used.

All the energy companies worry about is whether they are getting paid, you will not be investigated so long as you are paying your bill.

If you don't mind my prying, how many plants are you intending to grow, and where?

here in Ontario the government along with the hydro companies have passed legislation to allow hydro companies the power (pun intedned) tocut off your hydro and report and investigate you on as little as a hunch and a hydro bill that shows increased consumption. Now, do you think when they introduced this bill they were trying to shut down the little guys...you know..one or two lights...I believe it is for the mass growers who are also bypassing hydro whom they are trying to get. But this certainly makes it easier for police to obtain seatch warrants and I think that by owning extra electrical heaters, air conditioners/purifiers we can still continue small growth indoors without large risk of detection.
peace and hellllllllo to allllll the OGers here now it took me along time to find this site.

My grow room and house bill comes up to $800 a month. I just pay the bill. Havent had any prying eyes yet. They just want your money and are not intrested in putting you in jail. Just pay the bill.

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Yeah your fine, take for example a hot tub that will raise your bill $100/month, also to save some coin set your water heater on a timer, you don't need your water heated while your plant lights are on, you should be sleeping.

Lots of little extra's you can do, call you electricity company and ask them little things you can do to save money, ie: they might tell you when the most expensive time in your area to draw electricity so don't do laundry at that time etc...

Good luck on your grow

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Many thanks for your encouragement everybody, it's bucked me up no end, so I go ahead. $800 a month for you widow is no little in any currency, you must be getting a good return.

As skunky asked about my setup here are my initial plans. I will only be growing for my own use and the first time I will look on as experimental anyway. I have several areas I can grow in, a couple of cupboards and a small room where the boiler is which dosesn't throw out much heat. I have a fairly large bedroom with a good sized cupboard apart from my wardrobes and have my computer and desk in there as well.

The cupboard is 4ft X 2ft X 8ft high so I though I'd use that to start with. So maybe just 3 or 4 plants the first time and I'm going to use females cos I want to go away at Christmas for a few months and won't bother with clones etc as I'll have to start again when I come back. I can get a good quality reflector hood measuring about 3'6 X 2ft which holds 2 X 200 watt 6400K vegging lights, or do you think one light is enough if I put in a shelf about half way up? Then later I could use the lower part for cloning. what do you think folks?

This is an edit. I've just read an article saying you need at least 3000K of light per square foot optimum 7-8000, so obviously I need a lot more lighting!

it will have a silent running extractor fan with a carbon filter and then I guess I'll need a timer.

Let me know if you think there's any probs with that before I order folks. Thanks for everybodies kind encouragement since I joined the site which is probably only a week ago. Good wishes and happy puffs you all.

OKman

Hey Man, sorry about your paranoia, we can help with the growing stuff, but you'll have to work that out for yourself!

You're wrong about your edited comment. The 3000K number is probably a color temperature rating. An easy way to measure amount of light is to use watts/sqft. Now I understand that you don't use feet, except for Blair to stick in his mouth, so you may want to convert to watts/sq meter or something. Anyway, your 400 watts will light that closet perfectly, and being 2 lamps is even better for light distribution.

You should read my post titled Hydroponic Grow Operation in a Bedroom Closet:

Potroast Contest Entry

Happy puffs to you, too!

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Thanks again Mr Potroast,

I have just read your article and will find it immensely useful and your lighting advice. In fact if I read through all your 121 posts I don't think it will do me any harm at all. But look here, I'm old enough to remember when we used to use feet and inches, in fact many people still do. My measuring tapes have both on and I'm ambidextrous, can use both.

As for Blair, many people are out to get him now, they don't like his association with Bush for one thing and he said he will quit within a year, but he's certainly not gonna help me on this job!

Good on yer, OKman.

I'm old enough to remember the imperial measurements too, and I'm a mere 31. In fact weed over here is still bought in ounces, 9's, q's etc. funnily enough though you can't buy weed by the pound, it has to be by the half and full kilo'.

In truth I'm comfortable with both imperial and metric, although I still work out how much it is costing me per gramme.

I found this article.
Is my usage information secure and will it remain confidential?

Yes. Ontario’s electricity distribution companies are required, by law, to ensure that the Smart Meters and communication networks that are put into place are equipped with security features to prevent unauthorized access. We must also comply with federal laws regarding the privacy, protection and disclosure of personal information. Any data that is sent to the central data repository will be provided in such a way as to prevent identification of an individual customer.