I am using quite a bit of power and was wondering if anyone is ever concerned about the electric company being an issue. I am probably using 6-8 times what my neighbors are, should I be concerned about this being a security issue, and what should i tell the Power company if there were questions about my energy usage? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
The most important thing: Don't give the Electric company a reason to think about you, pay your bill on time. For a modest jump in consumption there are lots of things you could claim: Hot tub, tanning bed, new roommate, updated to all electric house, ceramics kiln, etc etc. If you pay you're bill a modest increase won't raise any flags, peoples energy needs change all the time. However, if you think your using "6-8 times" the electricity you did before, and you're in a residential setting, that might raise a flag. Or it might not.
What all are you running? Lights,light movers,fans,hydro,ac,co2. Most that get busted from the electric company is when there steeling it. Do what ever you can to save on ac,washer,dryer,water heater,change bulbs to clfs in home. 6-8 times is a reason to tune it down if you can.
6-8 is huge, are you sure your using that much more? Consider ANYTHING that you can reduce both in your grow and in your lifestyle. Really thats a ton of energy, and my biggest concern would be how to lower it, but paying your bill on time is your first step to not raising attention.
I know peeps running WAY more then Ur are man Pg&E Don't care as long as u give them there money. If Pg&e Cared and turned in all the growers with mass Electrical Consumption They go Bankrupt ! We pay There Bill's Which make Them Money That all they care about!
6-8 times... are you sure? An average home uses 936KWH / month if you were 8 times that would be 7,488 kwh per month, that's like 13,000 watts of lighting.... ok very possible. I know someone running 30,000 watts... never mind.
Hi all thanks for the response, I think I was a little paranoid. I am using about 3500kwh a month and everyone made some valid points. I had not recieved my bill for almost two months which was casuing me some worry. I got my bill and all is well so far, I think the delay was caused from the new smart meters that went in. thanks again for the responses, I am new to this scene and am learning as I go and with the help of you peeps Cheers!
Smart meters... now you have a whole different issue. They can see when you use your power so they can use computer software to see if you are using grow lights on 12 or 18 hour cycles. Your so screwed.
The Problem there is You could be growing Organic vegetable or running welder or Better Yet an electric Drier ( 5,500k an Hour ) . There Just no way for them to know what Your really doing with The Electricity. All they Know is you use a lot. So If Ur worrying about Pg&e Ur just being paranoid!! ( Unless Ur Using 100k an hour no way they going to lift an Eye!) Just My Opinion!
Old school meters just tell the electric company how much you have used since the last time they read you meter. Smart meters plot a chart and can see when you have power spikes and for the duration so when your light kicks on they can see a 400W jump for 12 hours. Very cheap software can tell you how many lights you are using in veg and flowering with a smart meter.
lol ,leds blow .you are still goping to get the same wattage if you have a big grow n waste money ...,go green with solar, off grid fo rthe price of a thousand watts of led . with what are you running that costs so much?