Electricity and the police

Why is everyone always so worried about using up a little electricity, lets say 600-1000 watts.

I believe there is no reason to worry unless you have already been red flagged for some reason.

My new computer here has a 1kw power supply (thats 1000w) and the monitor uses a few hundred.

So why the hell should I worry about my 600w hps?

Hell, my tv's use a few hundred watts each when there on too.

True that. You should only worry if your electric bill spikes over $400 from what it usually is that time of year. Even then, it's usually all good if you simply pay the bill on time. Here's a good link to figuring out approximate costs:

Super-Grow Electricity Costs Calculator

check it out. -m420

i have built a few roll cages im my truck and buddys and it all has to be welded in and im useing a 220v welder for hours and i only raised the bill 10$ or 20$, no one came to my house. so i dont think youreally need to worry.

Lots of us run window unit airconditioners in the summer I know they are pretty good at running up a bill, I don't worry. I have 2 600 watts and 400 watt HID not to mention pumps, and floros and...you get the point. If you aren't running like 5 1000s I wouldn't sweat it. JUST PAY THE BILL IN FULL ON TIME!!!!!

ive noticed, with using my 2 600s, that in the past few months my bill has gone DOWN. if your just energy minded around the house u can easily drop ur bill and have hid lights. just like has been stated u dont wanna be running 5 or so 1,000s or something like that.

billybob88 said:

ive noticed, with using my 2 600s, that in the past few months my bill has gone DOWN. if your just energy minded around the house u can easily drop ur bill and have hid lights. just like has been stated u dont wanna be running 5 or so 1,000s or something like that.

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Yep being energy minded is the way to go, use CFLs in the house turn off lights when not in use, turn off TV and CPU when not in use. Unplug appliances and chargers when not using...etc. I think it was garden knome who suggested this. I wish I could find the thread but he did a good job explaining how to save money.

Also i ducted the a/c vent in the room im using into my grow area(sectioned off space the room)using some insulated ducting. i can keep my a/c on 75-77 and my growing area stays 69-75. the area in the room outside the growing area stays near 80 but the growing area gets nice, cool, dehumidifed air.

There we go now nobody needs to worry

Well, most of us.

i had over 300W of CFL's and switched to an 600W HPS for flowering... used the CFL bulbs in light fixtures around the house (most on dimmer switches... they are a little brighter) and took out the 100/60W bulbs... conserved more househould electricity and the bill went down

good post chromer. i also assume u get better results with your 600hps over 300cfl also. its very easy to run 600-1500 watts of hps and not notice an increase in your bill if you are just energy minded around the house. hell we all need to cut down on our energy useage anyways. i say its nothing to worry about if your just on top of your consumption.

Yup I cut back changed all my 75 watt home bulbs to 23 watt cfl bulbs.Turn off tvs,lights, fans computers and anything I can when not need. Now I saw above someone using cfls with a dimmer which is a fire hazard unless you bought the specially designed ones for dimmers as it says on most cfl packages not for use with dimmers and the issue is these have mercury in them so if they blow you can contaminate your house with mercury thats why you cant just toss cfls in the trash they require specila disposal.The genral rule is you can safely have a 1000 watt hid light for every bedroom in your house without any notice realy.

I've never read a news article about someone getting caught for growing marijuana JUST because of the increase in the bill, the only thing I've ever heard is after suspicion they pulled the electricity bill for more evidence for a search warrant. People always get caught because someone talked or someone saw/heard/smelt something they shouldn't have...just keep quiet and be careful.

So if I have a four-bedroom house I could have up to 4 1000wHPS in the same room and not be bothered u think? Of course taking care of smell and everything else that could cause concern.

i think so. u would just have to really watch ur consumption everywhere else in the house. if you know, whats your neighbors normal bill? if u dont know find out. then you can kinda have a baseline where u need to be around with ur bill. i mean with a 4 bedroom it would be very easy to have a 400-600 dollar bill being average during high usage times. even if your bill is 100-200 bucks higher than your neighbors i dont think it would arouse any suspicion by the power company.

I was running my grow with 4 x 1000 watts in a house some time ago for a few years. No problem. Just make sure you get one of those really big $600 carbon filters, hook it up properly and away you go. Oh yeah, conserve everything else a little, that all.

martyshoemaker said:

So if I have a four-bedroom house I could have up to 4 1000wHPS in the same room and not be bothered u think? Of course taking care of smell and everything else that could cause concern.

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Basically yeah.

damn i wish i could run 4 1000s. i have 2 600s right now. i could only imagine the illumination with 4 1000s. makes my mouth water

Cool thread. I will have to show this one to my hubby.

billybob88 said:

good post chromer. i also assume u get better results with your 600hps over 300cfl also. its very easy to run 600-1500 watts of hps and not notice an increase in your bill if you are just energy minded around the house. hell we all need to cut down on our energy useage anyways. i say its nothing to worry about if your just on top of your consumption.

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december is the best year to throw your lights on. nobody thinks anything of it because people usually put christamas lights on. nobody will kno... except santa.

of course, he knows everything.