Alls going good until he gets a letter from the electric company. For the last 2 bills he has gotten it said he has used 80% more electricity than his neighbors and it showed a bar of how much he used and it made me laugh ..it looked like this Normal Use of electricity-_______________ Neighbors Use of electricity-____________ YOUR use of electricity-___________________________________ Lol best part is the day before the bill he told me hes gonna do a 23 hour light cycle which means his bill would be 10x more He took the grow op down but it was a good grow, hes just gonna put the plants in the front patio thing of his house to use natural sunlight so he doesnt get caught
Why did they send him a letter? Was it warning him of legal action? Or was he just being paranoid that they would question his electrical use? I don't see why or how the electrical company would care that he is using more electricity and paying THEM more money as a result...
That is maybe the most stupid thing I've ever read here. I don't know anything about growing indoors, well I mean I know you need lights that evidently consume a bit of electricity (though I wouldn't have thought it would be DOUBLE stardard usage?? How many did he have??) but that's about all. Though I have to say I'm not really sure why he'd be worried about the electricity company getting up in his shit. I mean...he uses the electricity, he pays for it right? He's there paying for more of their product - I'm just not sure they'd have anything against this arrangement or any cause to say, inform the authorities? I mean again, I know pretty little about all this...but, it just doesn't seem logical that this would be something to be concerned about. They were probably just like, making sure he wasn't going to sleep with every electrical device in the place on every night?
the only tine the electric company becomes concerned about usage is when you don't pay your bill. has he not been paying his bill?
[quote name='"RandomThoughts"'] That would be a bit dumb and greedy eh.[/quote] it would be wouldn't it? but people do that...
Hes not concerned about the electric company hes more worried about attracting attention to his house, from say a suspecting electric company who calls the police, or if the police are already suspicious they will look at that and get a warrant and boom, prison time and no more beautiful garden. (guessing) Lol smart decision on tearing it down, but damn on your patio? doesn't seem like that's the best idea, also grows consume and enormous amount of electricity, i have become accustomed to it, by a) not watching as much television. B) turning off all lights downstairs. C) Not running ac and shit unless my babies are sweatin upstairs. D) wood stove for heat. E) Basically try to do as many things w/o using electrcity as possible. I beleive it helps, does it really idk. but im paranoid and i too dread getting this letter, also why not shorten your cycles a bit or even take a couple lights down and a few plants out.
And our concern is that he destroyed his grow room for no reason, and now will starve his plants that were doing so well with only minimal sunlight on a porch (which would be much riskier leaving marijuana in windows, clear view in the daytime, rather than locked away in a room, hidden. The police can't monitor electircal use. It is not publically viewable information. They need to have cooperation from the electric company. But why should they cooperate with law enforcement to help bring down marijuana growers? They use ridiculous amounts of energy, that they PAY for. The electric company is a BUSINESS that likes to make....MONEY! He tore his grow room down from paranoia. He had no reason to believe he would be reported to the police. He attracted no attention to himself, until he fucking put marijuana plants in plain view by a window.
Ya dude there is no way your plants are gonna survive with light like that. Hopefully they dont herm from the change. Also how the fuck is outside on your porch less conspicuous. BTW i still think you shoulda downsized before outright destroying it. Oh also i could take some of those plants off your hands, its beautiful in Michigan i could use some good outdoor shit.
wise words!!! There are also ways to openly display things through the windows (LEO and utilities will peek, they are sneaky), like lots of computers, to explain any huge usage. I used 2 pc's, one for real use, one only had the power supply in it and 'hacked' the supply to turn on regardless of no motherboard connection...used it to send power to blinking LED's (they are made to blink on their own) in 10 pc cases...it looked like I had a freaking server room running, and was never asked about my power usage again. (I was a programmer, and could show them 3d animations I compiled if needed...) typical pc has a 250 watt supply in it, mine have 650watt supplies, but 10 typical pc's would explain 2500 watts of usage... hell, set up a small hydro bed on the front porch, with a grow light, and grow tomatoes, other veggies, let them think that is where the power is going...you get the extra benefit of home grown foods! (I've do this now more or less, I use a decoy...)
HAHAH DSC, I read your posts in goofyass sheldons voice. Oh and fuck a power bill. thats bullshit. I have a powerchart with price per kWh from 4c to 25c a kWh@ 4,6,8,12,16,18,20,24 hrs on a day from 150w-1500w @ 120-240v..If you want me to try and scan it so you can figure out and budget hollaa... And... unless your lighting up a backyard football stadium with about 20 1000watters I doubt your electrickkk kompanys gonna say shit. Or call the cops...HAHA Or show you your neighbors usage, thats gotta be illegal. KEEP your or your buddies room, Use distractions as stated above, I mean shit if you are concerned then listen coa the posts above have some true shit in em.
Easy to say he was being paranoid but I'd rather be paranoid than end up with cops kicking in my door.
I'm pretty sure I remember hearing that the police will hand out rewards to electric company employees who tip off on possible grow ops. Ibelieve that shit.
lol oh sorry electric company, i started breeding reptiles and i have a bunch of cages with heat/florescent lights on them now, im paying so this shouldnt be an issue end of story
If they notice a definite increase in electricity usage compared to the normal amount of usage they will come to your house to investigate my old friend had a grow going in his basement and one day they tried to come to his house to investigate the basement he told them to get the fuck off his property and they said they would have the police involved with a search warrant but in the end they never involved the police.
He tore it down because he thought it would bring attention to the grow because of the extreme amount of electricity used, its not on the patio in the open the walls are big enough to cover it
Sometimes, the power companies are honestly concerned that you may have a leak, someone may be tapping into your lines, or that you may not realize the size of the bill you're generating, which could effect whether or not they receive a payment for the power they've been supplying. I'm guessing he is (or was) running something close to 10 - 15,000 watts, for them to actually contact him, and for his bill to differ that much from his neighbors. When I run 3,400 watts, I can keep my bill LESS than the last owners of the house, by about $15. It's always a good idea to call your power company when you move to a new place, to get an idea of the power consumption of the last tenants or owners, it's a completely normal, and responsible move for a non-grower to make. If you go a bit, or even a lot higher, you can even ask them; "I have a few tropical birds, fish, and an Iguana, in your experience with this house, the community and the local builders, would I be able to handle X amount of watts?" This type of thing only very rarely happens, and only with the largest of power consumption, but if anyone ever does question your power consumption, just say you've got some animals, a hot tub, you like to cook a lot for your family, grandparents etc., you're usually awake at night using lights etc. A lot of 'normal' activities can add up fast, MANY non-growers use many more watts than most personal, and even legal caregivers supporting their maximum number of patients. If you're over-growing illegally for profit, you're already taking risks by selling, so you'll have to cover your butt as best you can, and accept the risk of manufacturing that much as well...
First off, the electric company has caused people to get busted before so it wasn't a highly illogical reaction to take it down. He was obviously using a fuckload of power though so I am guessing the op was pretty big. Better to be safe rather than sit in jail for however many years you get. Speaking of safe, for this guy to remove the plants from the shelter of his house because he is scared of getting caught and then placing them on the front porch is truly stupid. I mean wtf is he thinking?
If he's that paranoid, tell him not to use his A/C as much. Your A/C accounts for more than half of your energy bill, followed by your water heater, then the rest of your appliances/lighting. When I was growing, I would turn the A/C off(except during the hottest part of the day) and open my windows. I managed to keep my bill pretty low.