Hello all, i've ran into a slight dilemna for my 'hobby'. I and everyone else pretty much living in Toronto have just received a letter from my hydro company saying that they will be installing the new Smart Meters within a month with no specific date. I'm wondering if anyone out there knows of anyway to beat them other than using a generator or growing outdoors? I will be buying a generator suitable for my needs after I harvest, but for now I'm @ week 2. Any thoughts? or experience anyone like to share? Toka-Cola
Nice smilies, anyways, why is your hydro company installing smart meters? I didn't know hydro companies could do that, what/where exactly are they?
Wow 2nd post ive read in 2 minutes where I have no idea what the person is talking about... these people think we're psychic with ESP.... and we can read their minds.
It sounds like what he's trying to say is that the electric company (hydro electric - dams possibly) is installing smart power/electrical meters to peoples houses. I haven't heard of it, but sounds like that would truely suck. In this day and age anythings possible. Seems very costly for the company if its sole purpose is to catch home growers. Are you sure they aren't just replacing them with the meters that can be read while driving by (remote monitoring/reading), instead of actually having to get out of the vehicle and physically reading it with their own eyes? Alot of cities in the US are being replaced with these, but shouldn't make a differance for the local home grower.
even if they are installed something of a smart meter, a grower using only one hid, even if it is a 1000w'er should not need to worry. there are many many (too many to list) reasons for someones power bill to go up. if you had a room full of hid's, then i'd worry. but for the personal use grower with only one or two lights needn't worry. if you really think it'll be a problem, get one of the new digital ballasts that don't spike upon start-up. or use cfl's.
Its a good thing to have in a way, itll be cheaper prices at night like it should be, and theres no more "estimates".. Its bad because they really monitor your usage and can limit it as well, so if your sucking back a lot every night theyll start to smell something funny lol..
Jeewhiz you think, I mean its canada, cold nights, how many ppl you think might have a space heater running at night, bet there's alot. Nope, they could care less about how much you use, its just more economical for them. They'll probably eliminate 1 out of every 3-4 meter reading jobs by installing them.
so let me get this straight a smart meter monitors power spikes in your household? man they would not know what hit them with my place. lol! i've ben into aquariums for twenty years now and several tanks have several lighting systems including Floris, halides and hps. all coming on at different times and all having ballasts. even when you flick on a switch and the light burns out that spark in the bulb causes a fluctuation. or when your microwave runs the microwave emitter goes on and off wile in the time cycle. how could they possibly prove that the power spike was caused by a grow room? galaxyman
hey toka im in winnipeg and the hydro company has announced they will be setting up these smart meters also in select houses just to test them see how they work.and yeah im freaked....anyway dont know how well they will work in these god forsaken winters but we will see...this winter they had trouble with these automated parking meters ,,,,they just froze up and didnt work so hope fully they will have the same problem with these new hydro meters.....i read awhile ago somebody in the states had these smart meters and what he did was run 1 1000 watt 12 hours and ran his other 1000 watt light as soon as the other one went off so he was running 1000 watts continuous and no large spike in power....anyway if they do get to my house and tell me they are putting a smart meter in ill think about getting solar panels or wind power to generate my lights ,i only run 2 1000 watts hps anyway but i still dont want the spike in elec and i cant run my lights seperate cause im running one large 4x8 flood and drain table....so good luck and keep me informed im really interested in what these new meters do and how well they do it bye and peace
istandalone is right about digital ballasts but the power company will still know you are using 1000 watts or 2 000 watts more in a 12 or 18 hour period per day .does anyone have any experieance with these new meters???
In guelph , they said they would be tying it on a few houses. they also said they are just to promote using energy at non- peak hours, these thinks click on when you use a major appliance. <TABLE class=tborder style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px" cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=6 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR title="Post 1466030" vAlign=top><TD class=alt1 align=middle width=125>ISTANDALONE</TD><TD class=alt2>digital ballasts = no spikes.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> please explain, sounds too good
most if not all of the new digi ballast have what some manufactuers call "soft start technology", which eliminates the huge draw that occurs when firing an hps bulb. hps ballasts (standard, magnetic ballasts) use way way more power then they are rated for upon start-up. a 400w hps ballast will draw almost double that for the first minute or two they are running. i can't explain better then that, basically idk how exactly it works. do a google search on this subject if you need specifics.
Even if you used 2 1000W lamps on oppisite 12/12 cycles there would still be power spikes at the switch...
well these new meters will be one more tool that the cops/government will use to get a search warrent for your house ...
Not to say--let your guard down.. but i think you are looking to much into it really.. I think the main concern is outages, meter reading and such..... could be wrong.. but they are trying to make things easier on themselves. Long as you pay the bill in a timely maner i think you wouldnt have an issue.. I am one of them that worries more than most.,,, as i mess with my meter every now and then.. RARELY but i do.. only weekend periods.. I will not mess anymore if they start installing in my comm.. not worth the chance... good luck all.. .
Smart meters are not being installed by the police, they are being installed by the electric co, and the electric co is not interested in finding ways for customers to get turned off (literally). These smart meters will save them money by not having to pay human meter readers to go house to house. Every house has spikes, and there are any number of reasons that your overall usage could go up (if anyone even cared to look, which they don't): - My new girlfriend leaves the lights on all the time - I started a cookie company in my kitchen and the oven is on all day - My poor mother moved in and is on a dialysis machine - My roommate got a new computer but decided to keep his old one running too - I took up pottery and bought a kiln - I was diagnosed with a skin condition and now have to wash and dry my bedsheets every day - I am growing indoors -- orchids - blah blah A reasonable increase in electricity use is not grounds for a search warrant. A personal grow op doesn't use that much juice relative to other appliances.
i have a smart meter, they dont have to drive out to my house to check it, it reports back on its own.. doesnt seem like a bad thing to me.