Growing with a Smart Meter..?

Nobody is going to care about 600w don't worry. And really, as long as you pay your electricity bill on time, they could care less. My computer has a higher wattage power source than that.

 

Problem is those things are coming to just about everywhere/everyone in the near future as power companies try to figure out peak usage periods in order to know when/where power grids need to change. And so it does raise the question as to whether the power companies, at the behest of your local LEA's, are going to be reporting patterns that show up when you're growing.

Admittedly a small grower won't need to worry, but even a slightly larger grow, say 4 x 400w can make a sizeable difference (especially when you add in fans, pumps, dehumidifier, blower motors etc.). My last grow cause my light bill to jump from around $150 bucks a month to nearly $270, so that could raise red flags and then if they could check the timing pattern it would seem to be too damned easy for them to spot.

And if you request an analog meter, at an extra cost to you, I would think that's also rather suspicious as well, though you could claim invasion of privacy fears, but it's still another red flag IMO. I suppose it might boil down to what part of the country you're in or the size of the local LEA, but if you're running even a moderate size operation I don't see much of an option other than going with a generator, OR you could invest in a lot of alternative power sources like solar and wind turbines (but MAN that ain't cheap either).

I wonder if setting up a bank of batteries would help at least even out the power spikes. Course you'd have to size it to your power needs, then switch back and forth a couple of times a day and then charge em at night... any ideas ;?D

 

i nearly flipped when they snuck into my yard and installed a smart meter. then they left me a note saying changed my meter and i had to pay something like $10 extra amonth for something i dont even know i got

 

I don't think they give a fuck. I have several relatives that work at a power provider that's rolled out smart meters and I'm 99% positive it's just for cutting costs. These meters are more accurate, so if you pay more when you got one it just means you're being charged more accurately. They send usage data back on a network, so they don't have to pay a meter man to check meters. Stuff like that is why they rolled them out. All the billing and usage is computerized anyways. You use electricity, a computer monitors it, bills you for it, you pay the bill, repeat. That's all they care about. If you used an obscene amount of power, you'll be flagged, but you'd have to use a lot of power, and it'd be a total thing, not 600 watts every 12 hours. Sure it'd be easy to catch if they were looking, but I really doubt they are. They could be though, so don't blame me if you do happen to get caught, but all the conversations I've had with my power company relatives and common sense has led me to believe the above. Think about how many people the power company is billing, you really think they'd look for/care about that? If you are worried, 600 watts isn't a huge amount. If you want to look less suspicious you could cut 600 watts out of your normal usage and then just make a device to burn 600 watts during the "night cycle", or you could find some excuse for using that electricity. Either way, I can't see using 600 watts every 12 hours flying in court as probable cause for a search/warrant, so as long as you refuse any bullshit searches, take care of the odor, and take care of the heat, you should be fine, but again, don't hold me responsible if you get caught.

 

Run 24 hour veg cycles. Run two half sized flowering chambers at opposite times. That smart meter isn't so smart now.

 

I have one on my house and we were running 8,000 watts in 4 rooms all winter at 12/12 no problems they wont trip as long as you pay the bill

 

Its only a matter of time before they start using these damn things to ration our usage. Seriously though, 600w isn't much, for all they know that 600w your using about 12 hours a day could be your a/c or heater during the hottest/coldest points of the day. When your running rooms of bitcoin rigs, then you have a problem as they are powerhogs/massive heat generators which look grow roomish in residential thermal scans.

 

smart meters are just that SMART once one is attached to your house your screwed not only can they monitor your power usage better , they can dial in exactly everything i mean when a light switch goes on etc , you all need to remember one thing here you can refuse power company from changing your old meter by placing private property signs on your land only thing that will happen is a surcharge will be added on your bill allot better then having power company pretty well know whats going on in your home these meters give out electromagnetic pulses the buzzing sound cause there wireless transmitters you ever walk by them big power lines ???? that buzz can cause cancer, and other illness
DON"T LET THEM ADD IT , no different then getting spam calls power company will easily sell and or Give there knowledge of YOUR living styles to whom ever
Don't allow them to place one on your house

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB2zmbxiRa4&feature=related]SMART METERS and EMF Radiation Poison - PSA - Pd - YouTube[/ame]

 

I wouldn't worry about 600W. However I do not believe in the "they wouldn't care to have a look" attitude. Anybody who works with databases will tell you that they do not need to hire anybody to watch or check anything. A very simple database query can check for any patterns or any kind of information within a second from millions data entries. I'm not saying that they dig any kind of information but it is technically very easy to do if they have any motivation to do so.