what's your electric bill/ how many watts do you use/do you worry about it?

basically i'm having an argument with my bro about electric bills from growing. He's grown in the past and the grow made the bill go up from the usual $90-$100 per month to around $330 per month. He feels sketched out about future grows because of power bill/power consumption. He feels that the power company will be suspicious of high power consumption and thinks either the power company or a cop will knock on his door eventually. Personally I would like to start growing with 4 x 1000 watt lights in a 12x12 flower room and have another room for veg. And that would be well over at least 6000 watts. Would that cause a knock on my door? So what is your situation? How many watts, what's your power bill, what kind of neighborhood are you in, have you had any close calls, do you worry or have concerns, etc...

every household is diff,as long as you pay your bills on time,they are the last ones to worry about..

i just pay my bills on time,thats all you need to do.

6000 watts in a non med state is a little risky IMO.

I would stay under 3000w total fans and all maybe 'run 4 600s??

Seems like overkill to start up unless you need 3lbs a month for some reason.

urban1026835 said:

6000 watts in a non med state is a little risky IMO.

I would stay under 3000w total fans and all maybe 'run 4 600s??

Seems like overkill to start up unless you need 3lbs a month for some reason.

Click to expand...

What makes it risky though? Would the power company notify police of such high power consumption?

genuity said:

every household is diff,as long as you pay your bills on time,they are the last ones to worry about..

i just pay my bills on time,thats all you need to do.

Click to expand...

ah but how high is your bill?

just my paranoia is all no specific situation or data backing it. I just wouldn't feel safe running that many watts without a dedicated circuit which means unless you have electric knowledge you will need to let at least one person know or make up a reason for needing one i.e. welder or some other machinery.

Guess in the end do what you feel comfortable with.

btw answer your other ?'s I run a 600w light with another 250w in veg plus fans and pump probably 1000watts and bill is an extra 40-50 bucks for a total of 90-120 a month in a big 2 story 5 bedroom house

Last month mine was close to $600. And I wasn't growing anything indoors/running lights that month - but was running a kiln a lot. Usually though it's somewhere around $250 - $300 (when growing plants indoor). Never had any issues w/ the power company or anything.

How about you use this thread I created; it has a few electricity bill calculators on there as well.... https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/790614-electricity-bills.html

Your bills going to be fat if this is your first grow your in for disappointment.u won't get kill unless you know how to..do you have access to clones? Seeds take longer ..soils going to cost you , nutes, equipment,the plants the fans the a.c. ...the worrying the charcoal filter. ...the time...hopefully you dont get any bugs ....its a bitch start small growing indoor is nothing like growing outdoor. ..u got to be on point with the indoe

urban1026835 said:

6000 watts in a non med state is a little risky IMO.

I would stay under 3000w total fans and all maybe 'run 4 600s??

Seems like overkill to start up unless you need 3lbs a month for some reason.

Click to expand...

well, there was this and specifically because of her electric bill:

The Virginia native cultivated 2,800 plants there, racking up suspicious Con Ed bills of $9,000 a month, which she typically paid in cash, the feds said.
http://nypost.com/2013/06/04/scarsdale-woman-busted-for-massive-pot-growing-operation-in-queens/

I cultivate so I can have medicine for myself.
My bill went up from 45 to 80, and 80 to around 135 when I started to leave the outtake on.
Now it's 900w of cfl/led plus fan, veg tent with 200w and fruit/vegetable tent with 300w.

with all that, computers, heat and other appliances we are at the 135/month. Hopefully it goes down as I am near the conclusion of flower.

schuylaar said:

well, there was this and specifically because of her electric bill:

The Virginia native cultivated 2,800 plants there, racking up suspicious Con Ed bills of $9,000 a month, which she typically paid in cash, the feds said.
http://nypost.com/2013/06/04/scarsdale-woman-busted-for-massive-pot-growing-operation-in-queens/

Click to expand...

I read that article but still don't fully understand why she got busted? She got swarmed by feds because of high electric bill? Smell? I thought they can't arrest just for a high electric bill.

Just paid my bill, $110 a month for the last 2 months, was $75 when I wasn't growing. Runs $35-$50/month depending on the stage of runs including lights, exhaust fans etc. Running 400 to 650W of LED, all at best rate times. Not enough to raise any flags, enough to grow what I need to grow, pay the bill and they're happy...

350-400 a month. includes total household usage as well (laptops, 55" plasma, 7.7 dts surround system, blah, blah). and im on the senior and night savings plan

2-600w lights 12/12
1-600w light 18/6
1-t8 24/7 in clone tent
1-8: 752cfm fan 24/7
2-6" 440cfm fans 12/12
1-6" 440 cfm 18/6
2-18" oscillating fans 24/7
8-5" clip type fans
25 site aero cloner (24/7 when needed) + air bubbler
air bubbler for water res 24/7

My bill went up about $80 in full veg but that's also because of a higher rate change... I think your plan for 4x 1000w is overkill- you can pull a big yield with way less wattage IMO but as long as you keep paying your bill & it is not too crazy the power co. can give a fuck less..most ppl are busted due to unrelated shit like domestic disputes & noise complaints

To run a 1k hps/mh in Arkansas costs roughly $106 per month at 24/7. .12kwh rate. To figure you're bill you multiply the amount of hours on per day X the amount of days in the month X the wattage of lighting. Now divide that by your cost of energy by kWh.

I do know from experience that 12kw will draw attention in a non legal state.

In other words your brother is right if you use that many 1000 watt lights you guys will be arrested 15 minutes after you turn them on. .

I never understood the idea of the power company potentially calling the cops for a spike in usage. Their business is selling electricity so I cant see why they would be anything other than stoked if you start using MORE electricity because that means they get MORE money. Seems like bad business to call the cops on your best customers. It isn't their policy to ask what you have plugged in, they just put your usage into a calculator and send you the bill.

I read or watched something where meter checkers were being pai incentive to bust high usage households. Supposedly offered 20$ per plant being grown up to 1000$.

If that is true, that's fucked up on the polices part.