electricity profiling - how concerned should i be?

im sure this has been asked before......but how concerned or worried should i be that my power usage might be run through filters or analytical tools to profile me as a grower? obviously there is a fairly small power spike that occurs when i turn on my lights and fan.....but they are not run on a timer and i am usually a little early or late from day to day but i have probably an increase of 500 watts or so when everything is turned on.....


anyone have any problems with this or have some possible cover stories one can use if you are questioned about it?

the other side of me tends to think....damn doesnt the 5-0 have better things to do with their time than go investigate a POSSIBLE grow of such an obviously small scale?

then i think about how tapped into amazon or google searches these agencies might be and i guess it wouldnt be that hard to assemble a pretty reliable profile....


for this reason ive actually thought of putting some other plants in my closet so if i have enough warning i can just pull my weeds out but leave the others.....

any thoughts advice or experience?

my tv is a thousand watts, I think u fine

My TV, PS3 and Speakers use more power than a 600 Watter. I've ran computer set ups that consumed more power than a full on flower grow tent. Light, Fans, Scrubber and Dehumidifier all running etc. It looks no different than getting off work and winding doing your thing. Your kids or room mate or whatever doing the same thing.
Hell I've had a woman move in and spike the power use more than any grow room could

MonkeyGrinder said:

My TV, PS3 and Speakers use more power than a 600 Watter. I've ran computer set ups that consumed more power than a full on flower grow tent. Light, Fans, Scrubber and Dehumidifier all running etc. It looks no different than getting off work and winding doing your thing. Your kids or room mate or whatever doing the same thing.
Hell I've had a woman move in and spike the power use more than any grow room could

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yup they love long hot showers,an the elc dryer cant leave the thing turned off.no sure what dryer uses gotta be2000-3000 watts

thumper60 said:

yup they love long hot showers,an the elc dryer cant leave the thing turned off.no sure what dryer uses gotta be2000-3000 watts

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exactly......

Bro, I thought about this all the time when I first started growing. It doesn't even cross my mind anymore. Of course I keep it small and always run 1000 or less. Your number one reason for people getting busted is telling anyone about the grow. If you live with someone it better damn well be your wife, or family member. Loose lips sink ships. I think you'd be surprised to find out just how much cops rely on rats. They can't just come knock you're door down because of power usage.

I thought about this when considering a larger, multiple light, high wattage grow. Could someone set up their lights on a cycle like, sunrise, to sunset? Say, 1 on for an hour, then 2 on, 3 on, 4 on, 5 on, 6 on, 5 on, 4 on, 3 on, 2 on, 1 on, off? Could even do 3, 6, 9, 6, 3, off.

I just moved into a condo and have thought about this.
From what everyone says on here just pay your bills in full and on time. It's when you don't pay (or steal) the power companies become interested.

Lips sealed !! I think if you wanna talk and brag.... Then brag n talk to the RIU family )
As you get older you realise peoples mouths move more than their brains think)

Why worry, if you use LEDs you can use some of them, most folk don't realise they are photo-voltic (turn light into electric), green LEDs, yellow LEDs and high-bright white LEDs and high-bright red LEDs work very well. The output voltage of the LED is up to 600mV when detecting very bright illumination.
so just get a few solar panels and you should be sorted.
schnooby, did you know Tesla used Ultra violent light bulbs to tune his capacitor for the wardencliff transmitter, he probly had a grow room in the cellar as well.

pookat said:

Tesla

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Tesla was by far one of the coolest people that lived on this planet. He's for sure in my top 10 list of people I'd love to have lunch and a chat with.

I think what's most important these days is your power consumption compared to the neighbors. I get a quarterly mailing from my provider comparing my usage to other in my neighborhood. If you are in the 95-99 percentile, you may want to have an excuse why in case someone comes knocking on your door. I've known people who have built wood-working shops in their garage just to cover up the high usage in the house!!!!

If they go by usage compared to my neighbors then I'm in the clear. Neighbors next door have a hot tub that is always cranking. I hear the heater come on and off almost every time I'm outside.. where I'm at it is seriously 95% rats that will get your cooked. Luckily I've been around for a long time and know who to talk to about anything I have going on, which is nobody but myself! seriously though, I don't tell a soul about it. I've gotten so good at it I almost act like it's not even going on.

Also, if you are in an illegal state watch where you get your equipment from. Task force watches all the shops around here, at least they used to. I've also heard of hydro shop owners getting in trouble themselves and tagging tag numbers for local law enforcement to cover their shit. Its a mess to grow illegally but it is also easier than most think. Be smarter than the pigs bro, it's not hard at all. Have a buddy get your shit for you and don't get it from him until a week later. Whatever you have to do.

pookat said:

Why worry, if you use LEDs you can use some of them, most folk don't realise they are photo-voltic (turn light into electric), green LEDs, yellow LEDs and high-bright white LEDs and high-bright red LEDs work very well. The output voltage of the LED is up to 600mV when detecting very bright illumination.
so just get a few solar panels and you should be sorted.
schnooby, did you know Tesla used Ultra violent light bulbs to tune his capacitor for the wardencliff transmitter, he probly had a grow room in the cellar as well.
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Sounds dangerous using ultra "violent" lights...sorry I tried to resist the urge to mess with you but I couldn't help it