I am paying far to much for power,what can i do to pay less?

greasemonkeymann

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
headbandrocker said:
I have a residential property and I am interested in ways to lower my pge bill,right now im being raped by pge and want to figure out if there is a program or some other way to drastically reduce my monthly bill.(besides cfl and led lol)
I have heard of agricultural meters,commercial rates,and medical baseline and even getting first tier electric prices by getting an electric vehicle.
Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.
Pretty sure my usage puts me outside of the care program,it was nice while it lasted but now im payin full price for power and need to solve this dilema soon.
What can i do to save money with the power co?
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I think you have the best idea, with commercial rates, get a different place, and some kind of commercial front to it, and the electricity is like half price or so, maybe 2/3rds
 
Red1966

Red1966

Well-Known Member
ElfoodStampo said:
yea in a hypothetical, not reailty because it's illegal, but I would build a relay breaker that you wire in-line with your power coming into the house, split the power and run a *free* line where ever you want as long as the breaker is close to the original power main. wire the relay so that it's normally closed. have it powered by a breaker in you electrical box so when the company comes to check for ground readings and they pull your meeter, poof, the line you split stops drawing power and is invisible. In my fantasy world the electric company makes enough money that it never matters by the time I wake up..
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Stealing power is the quickest way to get busted. The electric company doesn't pull meters to take a reading.
 
Lo Budget

Lo Budget

Well-Known Member
If only LEDs were better and cheaper. They will be, of course. Someday.
/jg wentworth
"IT'S OUR LIGHT AND WE WANT IT NOW!"
/jg wentworth

One of these days, I figure my grand kids will view hid bulbs with the same eye as we now do with vacuum tubes.
 
TubePot

TubePot

Well-Known Member
Red1966 said:
Stealing power is the quickest way to get busted. The electric company doesn't pull meters to take a reading.
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Sometimes it's the only way to go. Wonder what the bill would look like on 18- 1000 watt lamps, 4- 30,000 btu ac units, fans, pumps, ect? :blsmoke:

Would it raise supission?
 
ElfoodStampo

ElfoodStampo

Well-Known Member
waterdawg said:
I can see some real bad things happening with that lol. Although if done properly (as properly as u can when stealing power lol), not a bad concept. Wonder what their capable of monitoring re: load draws on grid sections? I think it is just asking for a whole shit load of troubles though lol.:roll:
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It was never a problem in my dreams, I had a friend, who "incepted this dream in me, that had the power company AEP come out and they to
Red1966 said:
Stealing power is the quickest way to get busted. The electric company doesn't pull meters to take a reading.
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So the way it works is the power company will track the usage to a block or transformer, from there they go to each house and pull the meeter. Once they do that there is no current drawing from the pole then they sweep the ground from the pole to see if you spliced in anywhere and see where it runs. If they find a hot line running to your home your fucked. with this device it's undetectable, in my dreams.
 
Red1966

Red1966

Well-Known Member
ElfoodStampo said:
It was never a problem in my dreams, I had a friend, who "incepted this dream in me, that had the power company AEP come out and they to

So the way it works is the power company will track the usage to a block or transformer, from there they go to each house and pull the meeter. Once they do that there is no current drawing from the pole then they sweep the ground from the pole to see if you spliced in anywhere and see where it runs. If they find a hot line running to your home your fucked. with this device it's undetectable, in my dreams.
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" in my dreams." is right. They don't pull the meter. Period. They can measure the current from the pole. If it doesn't match your meter, you're busted.
 
Aeroknow

Aeroknow

Well-Known Member
SnapsProvolone said:
Every provider is different.

Some plans charge less for nighttime kWh (off peak)
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PG&E here in Ca, has a time-of-use rate plan. Sure, you save a very tiny bit during offpeak, but they fuck you up your ass big time, for any power used during reg hours. IMO its not even worth it for large grows.
There really is no cheaper than 34 cents(top tier) per kwh, where i live through the power co. Unless your in commercial zone building :-)
Just gotta grow more to offset their fucked up rates
 
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Aeroknow

Aeroknow

Well-Known Member
waterdawg said:
I knew it sounded to easy lol. Also I'm pretty brave but screwing with live feed wires is a dance with death and I'm a terrible dancer lol.
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And just think......people used to do it by chopping the mains in half, stripping insulation off them big wires, and stuffing them into them insulated aluminum blocks. At least the thieves can use those self piercing EZ-taps now. Lol
 
a senile fungus

a senile fungus

Well-Known Member
Grow vertically.

For me in a 4'x8' space horizontal light placement of my 2 bulbs will get me 32ft² while vertical bulb placement and growing will allow me more like 120ft². This is in a 4'x8'x6.5' space. I triple my grow area by going vertical, you should look into it...

It won't save you on any power, but you can triple your square footage easily, and with those extra yields you can more easily justify your power expenditure.
 
Aeroknow

Aeroknow

Well-Known Member
Back in the day, the power co would turn you in. And a large power bill was Exactly enough reason for a search warrant. Main reason allot of people spanked the power. Not sure why now.
This is 2014, and the power co don't give a shit anymore, as long as you don't blow up their transformer(here in cali at least) :-)
 
SnapsProvolone

SnapsProvolone

Well-Known Member
Seen some bugbite taps in my day.. (electrician here)

I try, oh I try so hard to inform the user that power theft is a pretty thick penalty.

As far as poco and warrants, well depends on the state.
 
Aeroknow

Aeroknow

Well-Known Member
SnapsProvolone said:
Seen some bugbite taps in my day.. (electrician here)

I try, oh I try so hard to inform the user that power theft is a pretty thick penalty.

As far as poco and warrants, well depends on the state.
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Oh, I know your a sparky ;-)
I'm a union drywall/lather(metalstudframer) by trade. Remember?
Hey, you still need to borrow that stud stretcher, along with that structural tape? Lol
 
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