all bills paid???

Red1966 said:

No warrant is required to view your power records. In some areas, my own included, one can view the power consumption of any building just by inputting the address. Some power companies routinely notify local police of "suspicious" consumption.

Click to expand...

Even still, using electricity does not automatically constitute illegal activity. My wifes kiln uses way more than my grow uses, and some months that sum bitch is running non stop.

So even if they do think you are up to something, what are they gonna do about it besides knock on your door and hope you answer?

Personally j believe alm tbis hype is fof nothin aint no one or body watching your meter spin. Smart meter only sends a signal for wattage used to a truck that drives by and collects wattage used ( thats jow it is here. Quit worrying and use it. if you use 20000 watts of power then thats your bilI. Start growing and vet high and qorry about other probs

Don't know if anyone mentioned it already but it also depends on what your electric company charges if you are concerned it costing too much. In my state the kilowatts per hour (kWh) are 35 cents + so the bill for 30 days more than doubles my normal bill compared to not having a grow setup. Most states are way cheaper than that. When my bill went from $80 per month to $210, the electric company came out and checked the meter to see if something was wrong with their system. That's what they wrote in a letter to me. Hopefully, you can get a adjustable ballast like 100%, 75%, and 50% so you can turn it down if you want and plants can live with it. Also, they make transformers that slow down the inline fan. Amazon sells Variac Variable AC Transformer with a big round knob on top to adjust the power to the fan up or down. I set mine down to 60%-75%. That will save me money over time.

spandy said:

Even still, using electricity does not automatically constitute illegal activity. My wifes kiln uses way more than my grow uses, and some months that sum bitch is running non stop. So even if they do think you are up to something, what are they gonna do about it besides knock on your door and hope you answer?

Click to expand...

I prefer not to draw attention to my growing. They might do a lot of things, like making it a point to note every activity that occurs on your property whenever they go by, or going through your garbage to look for incriminating evidence. I'm just saying, a ten K grow op would cause people to take note.

tip top toker said:

Congratulations. You missed the entire point of this thread.

Click to expand...

Not sure if the original poster was concerned about security or cost but will the electric company rat you out to the local police if they see a spike in your bill? Not sure if this has already been addressed. I sure got a spike but I only got a letter from the electric company saying they checked the meter for accuracy and found it to be accurate. You definitely have to dot your i's and cross you t's. Do the cops even have probable cause to get a warrant if they see an electric bill double?

Red1966 said:

I prefer not to draw attention to my growing. They might do a lot of things, like making it a point to note every activity that occurs on your property whenever they go by, or going through your garbage to look for incriminating evidence. I'm just saying, a ten K grow op would cause people to take note.

Click to expand...

Noted.

I guess I just assumed people didn't put illegal things in the trash or leave illegal things in the yard to be seen as cops drive by.