Police helicopter infrared camera ?

how is the law with police helicopter infrared camera? how is a 400w mh conversion bulb with 6" carbon filter and 6" inline fan as exhuast and inline duct fan as intake for ventilation for the hydrohut 4x4. would i be fine growing.

only thing that also gets me thinking is its going to be upstairs and i cant have the ducting leave that room without just pouring all the heat right out the window the tent is right next to and ive read that just pouring the heat directly out the window next to the room its growing in is horrible mistake and visible by the police camera. is that true ? or am i safe and just being paranoid lol

Look, everyone is going to comment right after me that LED's and Fluorescents are shit for veg, and flower, but when your stuck with a grow that has to be stealth they are awesome. Low energy consumption, very small heat signature, and they get the job done. Maybe not as great as HPS or MH, but lower yields is better then prison.

i fully agree there. All farmers in the RIGHT areas use HPS and MH lamps, along with some brave folks in "not so ok" areas. I also live in ny about an hour from nyc. For my suburbian lifestyle (and also my constant paranoia), i worry a lot about the change in my electric bill and the fright of a heat-detecting helicopter flying above lol. Im using a 10k lumen 200w CFL setup for one plant in a space thats 5ft tall 3ft wide and 2 1/2ft deep. Shes doing great.

for starters, in the US, police need a warrant to use infrared on your house. next a helicopter costs thousands an hr to run. even if they knew you had a 400 watt grow, do you think it would be worth the time & money to get a warrant & helicopter? (cultivation up to 10 lbs is a $5000 fine in NY.)
as for the electric,a hot tube draws more. hell,when my oldest daughter moved out, the bill dropped by $40. last year a buddy had a fire and it took out his grow(several 600 watt lights) but they found his mother room w/ 5-6 3 foot plants, they took the plants & told him to call a lawyer as they would be back but that was the end of it.plants in hand but not worth the paperwork for them.be more concerned w/ the smell than the heat or bill.
you can start worrying when you have 5-10 1k lights going.

With a 400W lamp you aren't even on the horizon. The PC you used to post this thread probably burns over 1kW if you include the monitors. A vent from a cooking range probably exhausts more heat.

FLIR cant see through walls. It can see hot spots.

but a 400w lamp kit doesnt mean im just using 400w in my whole grow tent ? or does it cause im debating weather to start off wit a 250w. since it is my first grow and if i go with the 250w im just gunna get a 3x3 hydrohut.

I dont think you have a problem. Let's say 1000W total. This is about the same power as a small electric heater, a PC setup. Much less than a TV, far less than a dryer, an AC unit or a range. They will not be able to see your tent as a hot spot on the roof. The vent may look a little unusual if seen through FLIR and might possibly could attract the attention of the operator but let's think about that.

In NYC real estate is very expensive. People subdivide and remodel apts in all sorts of wierd ways just to make it possible to fit more rooms into the space. People have all sorts of hobbies that use equipment that generates heat. There might even be a small legal home business operating there. The vent is only going to look a little warm as compared to the exhaust from 10kw grow. The cop isn't going to bother with it. No judge would issue a warrant based on that evidence. Even if it is from a grow it's a very small one and even if it were a huge grow, I still doubt they would automaticaly get a warrant without additional evidence. What they might do is stake the place out or keep an eye on it to see if they can build a case. The are not going to put that effort into a 400W grow op.

In fact, as I understand it, NYC is very relaxed about MJ and the cops arent going to be highly motivated to bust what might turn out to be a 70yr old woman with terminal cancer. Even if they can show you are dealing, it's small time and it's very unlikely you would go to jail.

You have something like 10 million ppl in the city proper. There are very serious crimes being comitted there every day. Some of them are large scale operations involving tens of millions of dollars. The police have limited resources. Buying and running a helicopter with FLIR is damn expensive. You don't even appear on the radar.

Two practical tips that might help some:

Run the light during the day if possible. In warmer weather the hot vent wont be as noticeable. I know it's winter but it will still help a bit.

Get one of those Y connectors for heating ducts. The kind that is a piece of straight pipe with another pipe entering at an angle. Install the Y somewhere along the exhaust duct with the exhaust pointing straight through and the Y part open and facing backwards. This will draw cool air into the duct and mix with the hot air.

In the US police can't use infrared. Court decisions have said it's illegal without a warrant. In Canada it is totally legal. If you are worried about power consumption get a business permit for a pottery business and do a half ass job of setting it up in your garage. Have a pottery wheel and broken pottery ( they take up alot of power). I have seen serious indoor setups that drew serious power that caused no issues. You could always make your own solar panels, it isn't that hard if your handy and can follow instructions and it is cheap.

It is similar in the UK as it is in Canada - completely legal to use the heat camera without a warrant. It costs £7000 an hour for the police to use their helicopter so it is a give away if its hovering above your house. There camera is not that great either here in the UK. It is good when picking up the heat of say a man in the street - but it has to practically land on your roof to detect heat through walls unless your using several HID lamps.

Digitalphd

mrmadcow said:

for starters, in the US, police need a warrant to use infrared on your house. next a helicopter costs thousands an hr to run. .

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Very true! In the US they need a warrant and they cannot just go ask for one. The need other evidence. Good luck!

Your fine with a 400w. And also T5's work great for veg if you wanna go that route for veg.
If you setup your filter right you shouldn't have to blow heat out the window and also if you get enough air blowing through hood it isn't that hot when coming out for a 400w.

i didnt even read all of this but your totally safe im in the same boat as you buddy literally, i asked same ?'s the answers i got then thinking about it..your totally 100% fine unless you have a commercial op going with 100 1k watts going your not a problem especially in the city...like they said a clothes dryer gives off more..even if they had there FLIR out they wouldn't notice you as out of the ordinary..shit there are crack dens that glow bigger than us...hope that helps be safe budd

U don't need to worry bout infared unless u got atleast a 10k watts goin minimum. A 400w grows not worth the cops time

Thank you i feel alot better just though when being so paranoid i bout a 250w mh conversion bulb but the lumatek 400w digatal ballast i wanted to buy supported 250w and 400w so could i put a 250w mh conversion bulb for veg and then when switching to 12/12 can i put a 400w hps bulb ? or sud i just stick to a 250 light thten for my first grow ?

i also figured out a place to put the tent where i can exhuast the hot air into the attic but 400w or 250w wouldnt affect my attic also right ? and my attic is just a huge empty place ive never been up there so idk if the air will then get out sud i make sure the air will get out of the attic or it doesnt matter ?

400 watts into a large attic wont hurt. a larger grow, say 2k in lights or more & you might have to make sure the attic has enough vents to get the moist air out or it could be a problem. set it up and check the attic every few weeks for excessive moisture/humidity.

so a 400w grow tent letting the aitr into the attic wont be bad right ? will i still need to worry about moisture and humidity ?

yeah when i was raided they said they couldnt see it on flir but i was grassed up an cause of old shit when i was a teen they came threw my door. iv been looking into FLIR detection an well what iv read is if somthing is reflective say a mirror when the flir or inferred beans picks up what ever is reflected init say like sky temps but FLIR cant see threw windows let alone threw walls its heat they pick up so unless your lights is warming up your roof your fine.

zvuv said:

Get one of those Y connectors for heating ducts. The kind that is a piece of straight pipe with another pipe entering at an angle. Install the Y somewhere along the exhaust duct with the exhaust pointing straight through and the Y part open and facing backwards. This will draw cool air into the duct and mix with the hot air.

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Loving that idea! Could solve my issue.
who else has used this method and what results did you have?

Would a growtent with 400w hps, situated in a loft space(vented by roof tiles),warm the loftspace enough to show on flirs? do tents leak heat?

Sorry to hijack

Dude a 400 is tiny your fine. But I'd they are using a flir on you then they are already investigating you, and are already fucked.

SupremeRemy said:

how is the law with police helicopter infrared camera? how is a 400w mh conversion bulb with 6" carbon filter and 6" inline fan as exhuast and inline duct fan as intake for ventilation for the hydrohut 4x4. would i be fine growing.

only thing that also gets me thinking is its going to be upstairs and i cant have the ducting leave that room without just pouring all the heat right out the window the tent is right next to and ive read that just pouring the heat directly out the window next to the room its growing in is horrible mistake and visible by the police camera. is that true ? or am i safe and just being paranoid lol

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If you have to ask your already busted, jk. In the USA FLIR can only be used with a search warrant. And a 400 watt light wont mean squat in any case. So yes, your just being paranoid...