4,000 Watts?

[rainman36]

Hi everyone,I just needed a quick answer is to weither you think 4,000 watts would be too much for a home grow? This home will not be occupied by anyone,meaning it will be just be a grow house with no one living their.It will be a 3 bedroom home with good space,what I wanted to know is,should I worry about is the energy use and my light bill,any good tips would greatly be appreciated also.

 

[patrickkawi37]

A good tip is to live there so you dont get busted for suspicious shit going on at a vacant property, or get robbed. pay your bill on time and you wont have an issue with 4k watts in a 3 bedroom

 

[rainman36]

A good tip is to live there so you dont get busted for suspicious shit going on at a vacant property, or get robbed. pay your bill on time and you wont have an issue with 4k watts in a 3 bedroom

Thanks patrick,I don't want to live their,but I will make the house looked occupied.I don't have to worry about being suspicious because the neighbors are about acre away,the country side of town is where the home is.Getting robbed I don't have to worry about so much and I'll have security cams that I can log into to check the house out every hour on the hour,I'm pretty much just want to be full proof with this thing.

 

[HotShot7414]

Someone just got caught with 6*600w=3600 in the same way you are bound to get busted.The things you said are the trademarks of a grow house to the DEA.Neighbors never see you and your light bill is high = suspicious.All it takes is 1 law enforcement officer to use thermal imaging and notice all the wasted heat that emits from the house.All i can say is be careful and keep it cool.Hope all goes well!

 

[rainman36]

Someone just got caught with 6*600w=3600 in the same way you are bound to get busted.The things you said are the trademarks of a grow house to the DEA.Neighbors never see you and your light bill is high = suspicious.All it takes is 1 law enforcement officer to use thermal imaging and notice all the wasted heat that emits from the house.All i can say is be careful and keep it cool.Hope all goes well!

Did they get caught with thermal imaging? and is that enough to get a search warrant for a grow house?

 

[HotShot7414]

Yeah that's how they got caught and people are still getting caught this way.All the heat and the high light bill in probable cause for a warrant (in some states). If you don't have a lot of traffic(cars,helicopters) then you should be good.I think the other people got caught because they still lived there and was using the normal amount of power they use plus the lights.When you get to 10k then it's really a problem.Usually greed and snitching is the downfall of growers.

 

[rainman36]

What would you say the average 3 bedroom home with 3 people living their watt usage would be? and I'll agree with loose lips do sink ships part.It will only be me and a close pal of mine in on it,but you really have me thinking about this thermal imaging,thats the only thing really that could get us in trouble,4,000 watts max and no higher than that.Any good ideas for air venting for all of that hot air?

 

[HotShot7414]

Hell if you gonna have an empty house then AC units will be the best option.

 

[patrickkawi37]

my electric bill is over a grand every month and they dont give a shit as long as its paid on time. get IR blocker to avoid flyovers and exhaust your shit inside the house, in an attic, or underneath the house. make friends with the neighbors and if they seem like snoops at all dont do it. or avoid all this and live there, your plants will get treated better and you wont have an issue with suspicion. i tell all my neighbors that my grandpa died and left me a bunch of money that i dont deserve. i live simple in the middle of nowhere and like to keep to myself. they believe me and it doesnt look weird that i dont leave often for a 9to5

 

[rainman36]

AC For the air being vented out? I'm really not worried about helicopters if I did I will just buy some reflectix to cover the room and ceiling to block heat detection from the room,and plus I will be growing in grow tents,4 tents every 1,000 watts instead of just having plants spilling everywhere,so my main concern is the vented air going out of the room.

 

[rainman36]

my electric bill is over a grand every month and they dont give a shit as long as its paid on time. get IR blocker to avoid flyovers and exhaust your shit inside the house, in an attic, or underneath the house. make friends with the neighbors and if they seem like snoops at all dont do it. or avoid all this and live there, your plants will get treated better and you wont have an issue with suspicion. i tell all my neighbors that my grandpa died and left me a bunch of money that i dont deserve. i live simple in the middle of nowhere and like to keep to myself. they believe me and it doesnt look weird that i dont leave often for a 9to5

LOL..yea the bill thing I'm not worried about,I mean as long as its paid on time,everything will be ok,thats like a pimp slapping his hoe for bringing in too much money,it doesnt make sense for the electric company to fuck me over bcuz I'm using electricity and paying my bills,thats bullshit to me.

 

[thehole]

Our three bedroom home years back we spent over 400 a month in electric alone when we weren't growing. I imagine the average is about that. 4,000 watts in a 3 bedroom is not an issue, especially if you don't plan to live there and have things like a fridge, washer/dryer and other lights going on.

Thermal imaging is about the last thing you will need to worry about. 4,000 watts in a basement or well insulted grow room built within the home will not attract the law.

When we used a home for only growing in the late 90s we vented into the largest room on the main floor and then had multiple outlets in that room to exhaust out. Two windows with window fans and one inline fan pushing out air through roof vent. Less heat trace if a plane or heli comes around with FLIR.

If nobody is living there then no appliances and other lights will be used so all those grow lights, fans and ect will amount to a normal monthly bill for a 3 bedroom. During the hot months if there is central air there just buy a digital thermostat if there isn't one already and set it properly to keep it cool. Run day at night during cooler hours. Get a few timers fro lamps by a front window and an outside light so it looks like there is some activity going on when you are not there.

Biggest risks are nosey neighbors and telling others of your grow.

 

[rainman36]

but venting under the house,I'll look into that.Thanks patrick

 

[rainman36]

Thanks thehole,love phantasm by the way,great horror films.The light by the window with timers thing I already had planned just in case someone wants to peep,and keep a car parked in diffirent positions everyday to make it look real LOL..

 

[rainman36]

Another thing,is like thehole said,theri will be no appliances being ran at all,so all of the energy will be going towards the grow,and run my grow lights at seperate times so that all of them wont be cranking on all at once.

 

[rainman36]

Over a grand a month,damn!! how many watts do you run patrick?

 

[str8sativa]

get some dogs as well preferably mean ones. ditch the tent idea hang all four in one room your gonna have to wire 30 amp 220v to run all the 1ks. get a portable a/c from home depot that along with the house a/c is plenty of cooling. as long as the air being sucked over the lights is cold helps with the cooling and vented into the attic would probably have no noticeable heat signal i think he is being paranoid with the IR. i take it your not in a medical state?

 

[tibberous]

If you in the US, you should be fine with 4000. My buddies last grow was 5200 and in the winter you can even go higher because 1) it looks like spaceheaters 2) you don't need AC / chillers.

Just make sure the house has solid doors, locked windows, ideally a car in the driveway or garage, cameras, ect. Also, if your not going to be there, remember to be super careful with all your wiring / ballast placement -- smoke detectors and fire extinguishers don't do shit if your never there.

You might want to remove your picture from your avatar too

 

[rainman36]

get some dogs as well preferably mean ones. ditch the tent idea hang all four in one room your gonna have to wire 30 amp 220v to run all the 1ks. get a portable a/c from home depot that along with the house a/c is plenty of cooling. as long as the air being sucked over the lights is cold helps with the cooling and vented into the attic would probably have no noticeable heat signal i think he is being paranoid with the IR. i take it your not in a medical state?

Not at all,i'm in florida,Instead of wiring for amps,can I just run extention cords from other rooms to the grow room?

 

[tibberous]

your gonna have to wire 30 amp 220v to run all the 1ks

Do not do this.

If you want to run 4 1000's, do it as 2, 20 amp circuts. UL listed ballasts aren't designed for 30 amp breakers - if it were to somehow malfunction, you want the breaker tripping at 20 amps, not to mention the extra risk of getting shocked and the increased difficulty of wiring.

Besides, 12 gauge wire is cheap because it's common - 10 gauge costs a damn fortune.