My monthly electrical bill is a bit more than three hundred US Dollar. And it is a building which is not declared as a home for living. So I am worrying a bit at the moment that I might run somehow into trouble in the case somebody gets too curious or suspicious.
Also i dont like the idea that all the consumption is sort of officially ‘documented’ over all the grows. Which would make it possible to ‘estimate’ what I was doing the whole time.
Is there a way to get electricity so nobody has informations about the amount?
Also are there some good preemptive practices you can recommend for not running into trouble?
I am a bit undecided if I should size it down and if I should do it in my own home. And if I should get electricity in my place in a way which is not traceeable. But I dont know if it is a good idea to have the grow in my home, because of visiting people or unforeseen circumstances.
i wouldnt worry about it. there are plenty of reasons a person could have a 300 dollar electric bill- computer servers, aquarium keeping, giant power tools, etc. my electric bill is around 1k monthly (higher in the summer) and i have had no problems at all. the power company is a private entity that doesnt care what you do as long as they get paid, it doesnt make sense for them to report you as long as you keep up with your bill. id bet they love cultivators, we are probably one of their most profitable demographics in residential zones. you could look into solar power if you want, but be prepared for a sizeable initial investment
My bill is around $300 during summer and I’ve never been questioned. Like another user has mentioned. They are in the business to make money and the more you use the better for them
There are no real legal ways to reduce your electricity consumption aside from using wind turbines or solar panels. Both are incredibly costly upfront investments with long ROIs
I had a phone call with a support lady from a not very big company which sells electricity and she was saying some stuff which gave me the impression that when I want to change my monthly payment, the company I buy the electricity from, has to send some notice to the provider which owns the electricity grid. And then the owner of the grid gives permission or not if that is in acceptable range for that object. Also another piece of information in that process, is that the amount of persons living in that objects, are documented.
While talking to her I ran into the problem that she refused to change my montly payment because she didn’t believe that it is only around 25 bucks per month. (It was about another object that is in my use). She refused to do change it. After a couple of months I changed the company.
Since that incident I tend to worry a bit more on that topic.
Do you guys have a special rate in the night? Would you need a second meter for that?
Do you know if the penalties are less if you get busted with a record of electricity bills or with no record of bills but stealing electricity?
most of that is beyond the scope of my experience and knowledge. i only have one option for electricity, so i havent ever had to deal with that sort of thing. what i can tell you is that stealing power is profoundly unwise and would reflect very poorly on you in the event of getting busted, not to mention increasing the likelihood of that happening
hmmm… I heard that when getting busted your bill can serve for calculation of your yields which then serves for penalty and that some people got less penalty because they stole electricity and thus had no records than some who paid their bills.
why is stealing electricity increasing the likelihood of getting busted? do you guys have smart meters and is a guy coming to you yearly for a read out?
Like said earlier solar might be an option payment plans can be made monthly we recently had some installed <15 on the roof and last two months we have had credits to the bill 20 $ on average iv been watching the outside box as far as how many watts/kilowatts are generating in a day it ranges for low 20’s to almost 30 kilowatts a day depending on overcast skies if your owning your own house there are benefits and tax breaks also with recent jumps in electric cost off peak around here is like 10 cents a kw peak is like close to 30 cents 9-9pm nice that the electric company gouges ya when it’s needed most when running air and such bastards nice to have something in place to help turn the meter in the other direction!
So I’ve had multiple convos about this with my friends bout this. ya need to realise is yes they’re in it to make money great use as much as you want. But when you start falling behind payments and keeping up the usage without paying it off they will offer things like “oh we can have a technician come out” or “well can I just ask what you’re running to use that amount as you use a fair bit” they know what we’re doing. They also know they have you by the balls.
So the one thing you must do is pay the bill. Don’t allow debt to build up at all just pay it. Here I was using £200 a month on my HPS setup. The bill seems a lot but think about what you’re getting out of it and the only thing as long as Sound and smell are covered would leave your usage as the one that can attract attention. But do not ring them complaining about the amount or they can get funny and push people to come check stuff which all draws attention and I figure you don’t want that so you have to swallow it and pay. I’ve had big bills too that £200 a month nearly killled me but what I had out of it roughly £600 was fuck all compared to the amount I got out of it.
Never ever steal electricity, that will get you busted quick smart.
Always pay your bill on time, it won’t matter if you use 10 times what you are using right now, just pay before the due date and that alone will keep them happy.
Mine is always paid 3 months in advance just in case a grow goes so bad that it won’t pay for itself, but just pay on time and you will be golden.
You have a higher chance of being busted when stealing electricity because they have information on the amount of electricity bought in a particular grid area. When it doesn’t match up to what’s being pumped through that area by a significant amount they send out techs to check meters in the area. When they find it popped they have a fine and probable cause to investigate the property
people get busted when they steal power. if you pay your bill they dont give a shit. back in my home state i ran a machine shop in my garage and my power bill was 800-1000 regularly and this was in a residential area. no one came knocking, no one cared.
the power company can tell how much is being used in an area, if it doesnt match up with the bills that are paid, they check it out. you get busted for stealing power and they find your grow then get busted for that also. as long as they get paid, they don’t care. i know the guy who liven in the house i am now. he had $3500 a month electric bills for more than a year. running 3 1k HID’s 4 600 HID’s and a bunch of tube lights. the whole basement was used. never got busted.
what happens is the police hear about you from people you sell to. maybe not in name, but they hear about some one growing in an area. they hear it enough times and start to look into it. find names and possibly look into power consumption for further proof. the point is they ask the power company because they have cause. the power company doesn’t call them because some one is using lots of power and paying their bill on time. just know who your are sharing and selling with. that’s where you can get busted.
As long as I am high, I have no qualms about this nor any worries even if I do draw more than the neighbors.
The real problem with this though is the excessive prices for electricity and distribution alongside everything else that is tacked on from taxes to service charges and expenses of any type it seems looking at my bills in comparison with say thirty years ago. I recall thinking $75 was high back then when the average home used less than $40. Seems like it has doubled in costs or more through the years…
Fuel cell? How much does soemthing like that cost? You would need a hydrogen tank in your garden?
In a cervantes book he is showing diesel generators. Are some people really growing like that, or is it just in case of power outage? I think generators must be noisy and then you would need always a fuel truck visiting you.
I was thinking the same that they would measure the electricity in the area. But I have a friend who already steals electricity since a long time. In the winter he is heating his home with electricity. That is the moment when he takes it. He never got busted and he says they can’t measure it.
What kind of meters you guys have? Is it already meters which are computers (smart meters)? Are they connected via internet or something to the grid provider?
