How many KW's can I use without throwing any "red flags"?

I was wondering how many Watts I could safely add to the bill without throwing any red flags? I live on an acreage if that makes a difference, should I be ok with adding 4000-5000 ish watts worth of lights etc?

get electronic ballasts will reduce costs and sudden spikes in your power meter on ballast start up. Thats not a whole lot of juice. you can typically run 4 1000watt lights on one 30 amp breaker

One main thing to consider is if you have a "smart meter". Those damn things let the utility company know exactly what's going on.

Do you have a Government run electrical company or Edison. Government run companies will look into high/unusual power usages & will inform authorities. Now when getting your power from say Edison as I do, they will notice the high power but will only send you a notice regarding so, something like a complimentary letter letting you know you're running alot of power, in case you were unaware. As long as you tell them its fine with a bs excuse you should be alright. Make sure you Pay your Bills on time & NEVER STEAL ELECTRICITY. They get pissed over that.

If I ever face this or have another smart meter I am going to tell them my wife has a ceramics kiln that uses a lot of power.

A big compressor and a plasma cutter will run 70-80 amps,just sayin.

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