Crazy high energy bill

i dont know y ur bills are so high..even the people from cali..im in cali and i pay an extra 30 or so dollars a month to run a 400w...u guys must got other shit running to like a/c units, heaters, maybe a hydro set up is adding to ur electic bills..idk..all i know is i pay around 30bucks for one 400w hps..some heaters can bump ur bill up real high..real quick

Cali.Grown>408 said:

i dont know y ur bills are so high..even the people from cali..im in cali and i pay an extra 30 or so dollars a month to run a 400w...u guys must got other shit running to like a/c units, heaters, maybe a hydro set up is adding to ur electic bills..idk..all i know is i pay around 30bucks for one 400w hps..some heaters can bump ur bill up real high..real quick

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Well, im from north carolina, we use heaters, but no more then weve been using since winter started. Thats why im pretty sure its the electric companies and their non-fixed rates, at least with my provider anyway....they flux like crazy every month, and i dont even think they check our meter. Also read this on the local news today, a lady living about 50 miles away from here, claiming her bill never got higher than $200, getting a bill this month for $1000+!!!!! fucking rediculous.

That cant be right. I have a 3 bedroom house. Running three 600watt hps/mh lights. Exhaust fans. Dehumidifier. Other rooms have flat screen PLASMAs which suck more juice. Washer/dryer fridge. You name it. My bill at most is 280. I understand rates are different in different places but damn bro 360 for one light? something is wrong with this picture

it might be an adjusted bill... they do that shit around here too.
but a quick way to find out what is eating up all your juice:
takes a friend with a cell phone.
you stand in front of your elec meter and watch it spin, with everything in the house on as it would be normally.
your friend stays inside and over the phone you have him shut shit off one at a time either from the panel breakers or the devices themselves, then turn it back on after a min or so.
you will see real quick what is pulling the biggest loads.... alot of times its increased hot water usage and laundry/dishwasher usage, on tpop of an estimated bill.

that being said, my estimated bill for my garage service will fluctuate by as much as 150$ between winter and summer, though my heat/ac uses the same wattage either way (1500w) and thats the only thing that runs consistantly out there, lol.. so go figure.

Its gotta be one of two things...that have nothing to do with your light..IMO
Like a previous poster said...you could have been getting estimate bills and they finally took a look at your meter and saw the actual readings
or your running heat and/or ac every bulb in the house, keeping your gadgets on all day long ie. tv, computer, gamesystems. you have chargers plugged into every outlet. have ceiling fans running, and are running your microwave, electric stove, toaster oven, clock radio, night light...etc.
Point is ..it's not possible your light is doing it.. you either have a huge fuckup in your bill (which is possible)
or you have been getting estimated energy usage bills all this time. Where is your electric meter. if it's in your house there is the answer to your question right there.

smokingrubber said:

(California) Tiered electric is a MF. I was running 1000w last month and my bill was $430. This month, I've bumped it up to 2000w and I expect my bill to be above $700. At the end of this month I'm cancelling my electric and putting it in a friend's name. He can qualify for the CARE program so I'll get off the tiered pricing. That will reduce my bill by about 80%.

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I'm on CARE in Southern California and get a 20% discount. How do you get 80%? Also, I'm still on the tier system like everyone else, just get 20% off the total.

BTW, last time I looked the base rate was 22 cents per KWH. I believe that tier rate increases that when you go over your base average.

jkmovies said:

I'm on CARE in Southern California and get a 20% discount. How do you get 80%? Also, I'm still on the tier system like everyone else, just get 20% off the total.

BTW, last time I looked the base rate was 22 cents per KWH. I believe that tier rate increases that when you go over your base average.

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It goes up ALOT when you move up tiers and when you move up you aren't billed based upon the above and beyond, it's the entire thing. So if you use enough to move up to the $.38/kwh or $.42/kwh it will really kill you. You may have only gone over by 1kwh, but you have to pay the higher rate on your entire usage. It's really quite crooked.

laserbrn said:

It goes up ALOT when you move up tiers and when you move up you aren't billed based upon the above and beyond, it's the entire thing. So if you use enough to move up to the $.38/kwh or $.42/kwh it will really kill you. You may have only gone over by 1kwh, but you have to pay the higher rate on your entire usage. It's really quite crooked.

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I didn't know that. That is quite crooked. I would say mobster-like.

that light shouldnt cost you more than 20 or 30 dollars a month running 18 hrs a day, believe me, im an electrician...but anybody who understands kilowatt hours knows this...here an example......

your power company charges you by the kilowatt houre........1000 watts=1 kilowatt, so if your power company charges 6 cents per kilowatt hour and you ran a 1000 watt light 18 hrs a day ......
6 cents x 18 hrs= $1.08 a day

There ya go man... my power company charges me 6 cents per KWH. So I can run a 1000 watts on an 18/6 schedule and it would only cost me around 35 dollars a month....something is definately wrong man.....it aint from your grow.....good luck....

He didn't answer if his meter was estimated or where his meter was located. whether it's outside or indside...if it's inside there is his problem.. he probably missed the electric company each time they came for a meter reading

call your power company and ask about the bill.it could be that they did a few estimates to low and its catching up to you but it could be a problem w/ the meter.several yrs ago my bill started spiking so i called for an evaluation.the kitchen was an add on & heated w/ an electric baseboard heater that we only used when real cold. they checked everything out & told me it was the heater & a bad weatherstrip on the fridge.I ordered a new strip & picked up a new heater that weekend.I instaled the heater but before I got the fridge fixed,they replaced my electric meter.I was doing reads daily to see what was happening & didnt notice a drop after replacing the heater so I waited,the next 2 days, my usage dropped about 30%. I put the old heater back in and waited a week(&started using it more often).still dropped almost 30% from b4 the meter swapout.I called them on this but was giving a runaround on how the meter would not have raised my bill but the rest of that winter,I ran the old heater & didnt replace the strip on the fridge.the bill stayed 30% below what it was befor the meterswap.
4 yrs ago my parents had the same problem w/ the gas,they came down,investigated,claimed it was the old boiler and swapped out the meter a week later.never serviced the boiler but the bill dropped even after another person moved in with them for a few months and it got colder.
if they do an evaluation,make sure the grow is locked & lights out when they are onsite and give them a reason they cant entry the room.

Cali.Grown>408 said:

haha hell no..not inside..y on earth would they come inside?? u sound paranoid..i grow legally so no paranoia on my part

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Well,

Maybe you grow legally,
But by the sounds of things,
I doubt he is.

And yes, they will come inside to inspect the breaker box. And to do testing if they need to.

And if you tell them they cannot come in, that might open up a can of worms.

Better off to pay the bill and keep your mouth shut sometimes.

Ever see my grow? Im not growing out of a computer case and a cfl, so yes Im paranoid.

I have a medicinal grow, and the paperwork 4 my grow, but sometimes I go beyond the plant count/yield.

Also, just because a Dr. says its ok to grow doesn't mean your 100% safe. Do your homework, and you'll see Im right.

Better being cautious/paranoid than to wind up in Prison. Ever been there?
I have. And its not fun.

Yeah way too much...I run a 1000 a 400 a whole bunch of fluorescent,270 cfm and 170 cfm inline fans,commercial pump,light mover,and that's not including house hold appliances and my bill is 130-140 during these winter months

http://www.p3international.com/products/special/P4400/P4400-CE.html

Get one and find out what's sucking up the juice.

washington state pse uses tiered pricing i use 1700 kwh and they charge me for 2K bullshit they are robbing me blind shit every 5 months is like giving then a extra payment for power that is never used its like they already know who grows and who doesnt

OP, your bill should not be that high. We pay $0.12 per kw, run a pair of 400w HPS, 648w of CFL's, six fans, and a large air purifier, and running two electric heaters on low - our bill increased by $120 for all of that per month. Better find out what's happening.

his local climate could also have alot to do with it...

CLOSETGROWTH said:

Well,

Maybe you grow legally,
But by the sounds of things,
I doubt he is.

And yes, they will come inside to inspect the breaker box. And to do testing if they need to.

And if you tell them they cannot come in, that might open up a can of worms.

Better off to pay the bill and keep your mouth shut sometimes.

Ever see my grow? Im not growing out of a computer case and a cfl, so yes Im paranoid.

I have a medicinal grow, and the paperwork 4 my grow, but sometimes I go beyond the plant count/yield.

Also, just because a Dr. says its ok to grow doesn't mean your 100% safe. Do your homework, and you'll see Im right.

Better being cautious/paranoid than to wind up in Prison. Ever been there?
I have. And its not fun.

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i've been through it already..read my homework..got extra credit ..all that shit..people have rights and cops need warrants or ur consent to search.. and dr notes do make u safe just dont get caught selling it

LT1RX7 Drifter said:

washington state pse uses tiered pricing i use 1700 kwh and they charge me for 2K bullshit they are robbing me blind shit every 5 months is like giving then a extra payment for power that is never used its like they already know who grows and who doesnt

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yeah i think we're having the same prob.seems every year i have at least 1 high ass bill, usually in the winter months and sometimes during summer, when it gets reeeeeeeeeeally hot, but thats my doing.....but this bill here....jesus christ.

luckily my wife won $400 on the pick4 lottery....so we got it covered...couldnt have happened at a better time