NotGrowing
Active Member
I know that the electric companies monitor how much watts you use per day, but do they know how much you use per hour or which time of day you use the most?
electricity question
- Thread starter NotGrowing
- Start date
FrostickZero
Well-Known Member
I would think that they could find out how much your using every hour
Picasso345
Well-Known Member
I have my doubts. If they could, why do they have to send a meter reader out? I think unless you are wired directly into them, the best they can see is the amount used between meter readings or the amount used by everyone sharing the line since the last line reading.
anhedonia
Well-Known Member
somone has told me that there are peak hours of wattage use and if your using electricity at peak hours its going to cost more. He was telling me that i should run my lights during the night time and leave the lights off during the day. Ive never heard of this so does anyone know if its true?
Picasso345
Well-Known Member
That is true. Many businesses get cheaper electricity during off peak hours. I think the business has to pay up front for a special meter to be installed though in order to qualify. Very electric intensive industries actually run at night in many places. zinc and steel factories and the like. I don't know if residential can qualify or not.
FrostickZero
Well-Known Member
just pay your bills ontime and maybe pay a bit more (ie $5 more a month on what you pay)
the chronicals
Active Member
why would u pay the electric company more than u owe? i dont think they take tips
lowerlevel
Well-Known Member
i think the off peak useage is more about being more friendly to the enviorment.. more green house gases during the day.. anyway
User24
Well-Known Member
unless you have a digital meter on your panel, there is no way that they could know if you had used power during peak or off peak, or during specific hours of the day or not.
they would have to sit outside your house in a van and record the old style meter every hour to get an hourly report.
pay your bill on time, thats all you have to do. the only way they will happily cooperate with the police is if they have a warrant, they dont just spend time compiling all this info for the cops for free.
90% of the time, people that get busted got snitched out by "friends" and relatives.
the other 10% is people doing stupid shit while growing, traffic stops w/ drugs in car, domestic violence calls, noise complaints, and shit like that
the only time too much power might get you busted is if you are running 20x 1000watt lights in a 2 bedroom house (normal grows are 1000-2000w per bedroom) and you blow a neighborhood transformer, causing the power company to investigate why it blew, pointing to you growing weed.
they would have to sit outside your house in a van and record the old style meter every hour to get an hourly report.
pay your bill on time, thats all you have to do. the only way they will happily cooperate with the police is if they have a warrant, they dont just spend time compiling all this info for the cops for free.
90% of the time, people that get busted got snitched out by "friends" and relatives.
the other 10% is people doing stupid shit while growing, traffic stops w/ drugs in car, domestic violence calls, noise complaints, and shit like that
the only time too much power might get you busted is if you are running 20x 1000watt lights in a 2 bedroom house (normal grows are 1000-2000w per bedroom) and you blow a neighborhood transformer, causing the power company to investigate why it blew, pointing to you growing weed.
Picasso345
Well-Known Member
I agree with you 100%. LEO has done a masterful job of scaring the population into thinking this is like the Stalin-era Soviet Union with eyes in the electric plant and the KGB keeping close tabs on every comrade's electric usage.unless you have a digital meter on your panel, there is no way that they could know if you had used power during peak or off peak, or during specific hours of the day or not.
they would have to sit outside your house in a van and record the old style meter every hour to get an hourly report.
pay your bill on time, thats all you have to do. the only way they will happily cooperate with the police is if they have a warrant, they dont just spend time compiling all this info for the cops for free.
90% of the time, people that get busted got snitched out by "friends" and relatives.
the other 10% is people doing stupid shit while growing, traffic stops w/ drugs in car, domestic violence calls, noise complaints, and shit like that
the only time too much power might get you busted is if you are running 20x 1000watt lights in a 2 bedroom house (normal grows are 1000-2000w per bedroom) and you blow a neighborhood transformer, causing the power company to investigate why it blew, pointing to you growing weed.
User24
Well-Known Member
i think we do it to ourselves. Leo probably use the info by way of warrants from time to time in order to corroborate other evidence. word gets out that they checked the consumption, then all the lemmings in the world assume that leo has a wing of supercomputers at every power plant and substation in america logging every watt we use and cross referencing it against previous usage and estimated max usages.
in the end, we are always our own worst enemy.
in the end, we are always our own worst enemy.
entropic
Well-Known Member
Almost every bust I've seen where it was power related came when they started stealing power. There was a house around me with over 50 1000w HPS lights all running 12/12 or 18/6 all the time, they didn't get caught until the guy decided he didn't want to pay this huge power bill and went and started stealing electricity, a technician noticed lines running to his house that shouldn't have been there.