Currently I have a friend who would like to grow his own plants yet again. The only thing he is worried about is the electricity consumption, and the power company. Multiple people we've known have been busted/watched, because of that little meter. We sat down and were talking, and I was wondering. Is it possible to use a nice generator to power his lights and other electrical need. I know he'd be paying into gas for the generator, but it'll stop the bill for electricity. Good idea, or stupid question?
Generators cost alot of money im sure. Why would anyone watch there meter if there actually paying the electric bill?
Because in this town, that is usually the first clue you're growing to them. Electricity bills rising, then they watch your meters. So I just though that using a generator would work, but I don't know. :s
Oh, I guess it makes since to get a generator if you live in the city, and have thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars lying around. I know there expensive.
There is no way that they can tell you are growing just because your bill increases and that doesn't give police probable cause to search. You could be running three computers non-stop and a couple of space heaters and for all they know, that is what you are doing. My suggestion....change all of your bulbs out to CFLs to save energy and make sure you turn off high power consuming appliances (computers, TV, DVD player, etc.) at their source (I.E. plug them into a surge protector and turn of the protector when you are done using them). This will make your bills go down so you can use more energy for your operation. Just my 2 cents
Dwarf, thank you for those ideas. On the topic of the bill though, that is what we thought. Until one night we were up late, and these two guys were outside his house, and they were talking about his electricity usage, and as they called it "indoor gardening. Then they milled around for a bit, got into a car and left. This was like at 3am, and it was really scary actually.
Sure they did dude... The power company doesn't care if you are paying them more money, I assure you. Bad for business, it's not like they get an award from the police for rounding up excessive power consumers. Secondly, both using electricity and indoor gardening do not qualify as illegal activities, so no concerns there. Thirdly, explaining the energy bill to someone is as easy as running a computer, or saying you got a new entertainment system with a plasma tv. They don't have the right or reason to question you about it. The power company is not someone to be concerned about. If someone is on your property at 3am get a pump action and let them know that trespassing is um... how should I put this... discouraged. Doing something as simple as posting the no trespassing, no solicitors, and beware of dog signs are all you really need to do to shoot at nosey people on your lawn.