So I started my first grow. I purchased a 600w ballast and hood from Amazon. It is an Apollo setup. I had it in its testing phase as I was seeing how hot it would make my grow room. During the testing the cable company came and was checking poles. They stopped at my house and said that an interference was coming from my house and he wanted to hook his meter up to my house. I said sure no prob. He walked back to his truck and so I ran downstairs to shut my light off. He hooked up the meter and said well I'm not getting anything from your house, he said it must be my underground cable line. I know it must have been my lighting setup. Has anyone had an incident like this, and if so what is the solution? Please share your stories. I was sketched for like a week as my seedling started sprouting. I soon ordered an LED grow light and so far the cable company hasn't been back....yet. The LED is much cooler, I can even keep the door closed, I couldn't do that with the HID
I don't have much experience at all in growing. But my guess is that they noticed a major spike in energy consumption when you turned on the HID light. But now that your keeping it on and the spike is still there consistantly now, they probably just think your doing it yourself.
I don't believe it had anything to do with a spike in energy consumption because it was the cable TV company, not the power company, no one has any ideas?
Mate it was pure chance....roll of the dice type shit lol.....how often are the power company parked outside your house?, and think about it, are they really going to complain to the authorities about you giving them too much money??. 600 watts is less than cinema screens require, or washing machines, tumble dryers...etc etc. I have a tiny portable heater that kicks out 2000 watts ffs lol.....never had the cops at my door when I've been trying to keep warm! Of course a sudden 600 watts is going to cause a spike in your electricity usage....but bro, trust me, neither the police nor the power company will give a shit.
Lol, if it's the cable company then perhaps your light is interfering with the movie channel for your next door neighbor..... Seriously mate, don't stress it.....there are a million ways you could get busted for growing......using electricity is nowhere near the top of that list.
It was the cable TV company, and yes they said there was an interference with the cable TV and Internet. It has nothing to do with electricity, I'm not worried about electricity, I pump over 1000 watts to my chicken coop in the winter. Somehow the light and ballast were emitting RFI. I'm looking for a way to stop it
You should check out something like this. Has Silent Jacks that are isolated. Designed to keep noise out of your electronics and also keep your electronics from putting noise back in the system. Also has ridiculous surge protection. Its what I'm using. I however went with LED because of RFI concerns. I felt like it was the only security factor I couldn't control. I can use Carbon Filters, Ona Gel & Ozium for odor, I can put a Deadbolt on my grow-room door, keep my house locked up, alarm armed and monitor my security cameras for physical security. I can keep my mouth shut so only I know about it. I cant however fell good, knowing the cable company might pop in at random for a noise issue. Best Of Luck Dis! You need Dis! vvvvvvvvv http://www.tripplite.com/surge-protector-isobar-4-outlets-6-ft-cord-3330-joule~IBAR4/
OP, As you are well aware, the problem has nothing to do with the power consumption, but the fact the ballast is emmiting RFI interference detectable outside your home. Google RFI shielding for cables and you will find shields to put on the cable to stop the interference. You do not want to leave this issue unresolved because your neighbors may call the cable company if their signal is compromized by this interference. PW
After reading this thread I went and turned on my stereo to fm and couldn't get one station tuned in! I was shocked and went to radio shack purchased am rf choke for my ballast and that got the radio working with just a little static all for 3.99 was so shocked at that didn't come on the ballast when purchased