suspicions from the electric company?!?!

for a small grow with one 600 watt hps

how about I just leave the light on 24 hours a day. for flowering I could just move the light away from the closet for 12 on 12 off.

I am assuming that the electric company will see patterns with the spikes of 18/6 and 12/12

do you think I would burn out my bulbs and system if I don't let them rest?

Your alrite to use the 18-6, and 12/12 schedule bro, Thousands and Thousand of other people do it, often with more wattage than 600 and never hear a thing from the electric company.
You'll be fine

I'll 2nd that opinion...I use the same bulb wattage, it's a drop in the ocean for the electric companies, they'll only get suspicious when electricity goes missing (ie. stolen).
Relax.

Agreed. If you really that paranoid just switch the scheduled around 10 to 20 minutes. Stay within the same hours to not freak the plant out, but that way it won't look regular. I wouldn't worry about it either. Like stated above, it's just too little of electricity to be noticed. 4000w and you have something to start raising eye brows

You are talking about 20 bucks in electricity a month which is a water heater, ac unit, space heater...things of that nature. No biggie.

RickSimpson said:

for a small grow with one 600 watt hps

how about I just leave the light on 24 hours a day. for flowering I could just move the light away from the closet for 12 on 12 off.

I am assuming that the electric company will see patterns with the spikes of 18/6 and 12/12

do you think I would burn out my bulbs and system if I don't let them rest?

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The average electricity consumption is 4,800 kWh per household .

A smaller than average household is taken arbitrarily to be 3,000 kWh (i.e. roughly two-thirds of the average), and a larger than average household to be 7,000 kWh (i.e. roughly 50% more).

i suggest getting spare bulbs tho.........................................................

Factor in that most people are getting larger and larger LCD & Plasma TVs, second and third refrigerators & freezers, and more laptops, ipads, and video game systems. Power tools are also getting more powerful and hungry as well and don't forget about plug in hybrids. Your electric usage is harder to identify then you think. Just don't go around stealing electricity and worry more about channeling that excess heat under the house.

unless you are on a smart meter they wouldnt know the times most consumption is used meter man comes once a month 2 weeks prior to your bill and reads your meter on a smart meter they can hone in on exact times things go on or off
but with that being said they can see a spike in your overall usage over a few months
normally they will call you which happened to me all i said is with oil heating at a higher price i started using eletricity to heat house pretty easy lie that they bought lol

As long as you pay the bill they will never question what you are using...I mean you could have bought another tv...or a hot tub, or whatever...they don't know, nor do they care, unless you leave the bill unpaid...

missnu said:

As long as you pay the bill they will never question what you are using...I mean you could have bought another tv...or a hot tub, or whatever...they don't know, nor do they care, unless you leave the bill unpaid...

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Most importantly is paying your bill now if your only running a 600 then no big deal but if you all of a sudden turned on 8000 watts no matter what just a matter of time before you will get a call from power company either by call or by letter
trying to help you conserve electricity
Don't forget they keep records and know average usage per meter serial number how do i know this cause recently i got another call stating what my average usage was last year this time and what its at now
again all i said was with our economy i am stuck letting my kids move back home is there a problem lol

I run my flower lights at night, so it looks like flood lights sucking the juice!

Not that I am worried, I am legal but I am one not to kiss and tell, unlike the guys who get busted or harrassed and ask "why/how did this happen?!".

RickSimpson said:

for a small grow with one 600 watt hps

how about I just leave the light on 24 hours a day. for flowering I could just move the light away from the closet for 12 on 12 off.

I am assuming that the electric company will see patterns with the spikes of 18/6 and 12/12

do you think I would burn out my bulbs and system if I don't let them rest?

Click to expand...

i use 1x600 and a few cfls mate,,firstly heat 1x600hps dont put out heat so dont worry about heat sig,,,well they doo but nowt visible like say 2x1k lights,,
2ndly dont worry about electric just remember to pay for the fucker,,they will only investigate if a huge amount of power is goin to a grid and the money coming in from said grid isent matching up,,but again this takes time to get averages ect,
and in the grand scheme of things 1x600 watt is fuk all my pc uses ore jice than that and as electric cheaper at night a lot do ther laundry at night to save money and washers dryers use waaaay more than 600 watts

key point PAY FOR YOUR ELECTRIC

............................................pay the bill, then toke n chill

I have 2 400w and our power bill didn't get any higher than it normally is..our power company here charges like 2x as much during winter, even if your usage is less...one of my friends runs twice as much electric stuff in summer and their bill is half as much in summer too...that is how we know it is all crap and they are ripping us off...our summer bill is around $200...but out winter bill with a woodstove is usually right around $400-$500....why? Since in summer we use central Air, and also 2 window units...in winter we son't use the central heat or air and yet twice as much bill somehow....
My friend in the next county over I mentioned...their bill is around $150 in the summer and around 3-400 in the winter, but they also have a woodstove, and they run AC and a huge pool pump in summer, and yet it costs less in summer...
They seem to not notice increased consumption as long as I add whatever during the winter time...I mean first I added the 1 400w, and we watched for the bill to go up, and it never did...not during summer or winter...
Then this last winter I added another 400w and we waited for the bill to go up, and again it did not...it stayed at our usual grossly inflated price...and when it went back down for summer, it went back down to what it was before the light...so eff 'em...they charge me whatever they want...so whatever.

the electric companies are DICKS for sure.

FYI the power companies do not work for the DEA. The more power you use, the more money the electric company makes! If power companies really reported high energy use to the police,don't you think every grower would have been busted by now? The people who get busted by the power companies and police, are the ones who are stealing power! The only time the power company would share information with the police is after you already been caught from the smell coming from your place, and the police would use your power consumption against you in court as evidence of your grow! Grow in peace! Tell no one!

Private Stash said:

FYI the power companies do not work for the DEA. The more power you use, the more money the electric company makes! If power companies really reported high energy use to the police,don't you think every grower would have been busted by now? The people who get busted by the power companies and police, are the ones who are stealing power! The only time the power company would share information with the police is after you already been caught from the smell coming from your place, and the police would use your power consumption against you in court as evidence of your grow! Grow in peace! Tell no one!

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100% agree. unless you are running crazy wattage i wouldn't worry. do you know how many install a/c units, pool heaters, 900w lamps in the yard, etc. no police are showing up at their house. you're fine.

and 24-0 schedule with a 600 will cost u a fucking fortune,mine on 12-12 cozts about £5 a day (normal household usage included)so 24-0 nrly double that

I mean my grow (250w hid, dwc, and inline fan) and my bill went up 17 bucks (18/6), alot less than my gaming computer. My gaming computer brought up my bill by about 50 bucks

IC3M4L3 said:

and 24-0 schedule with a 600 will cost u a fucking fortune,mine on 12-12 cozts about £5 a day (normal household usage included)so 24-0 nrly double that

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so you pay 150 pounds a month to run a 600 watt lamp?/ that's fucking craziness..