Another power consumption thread

[Captain Howdy]

Hello IC Mag. I just wanted to get a couple opinions regarding the power use at my location. I'm out in the country, one neighbor is 500m away, the other - 2km. I got a big quonset hut with 100 amp service, a 4 car garage/shop with a welder and separate 100 amp service and a 3 bedroom house with 100 more amps. There are a few other outbuildings on the property, which is around 50 acres btw.
I'm planning to run maybe 5,000 watts including all the lights, AC, water chiller, etc.
I think that its a pretty reasonable amount, since my closest neighbor has 6 600/400 watt HPS lights around his property turning on nightly just as street lights.
The downside is that I got a smart meter, but so do all of the people in my area, although as I'm saying out in the country every night a lot of high power lights turn on to just light the place.
In any case, some feedback would be appreciated to help alleviate some of my worries.

 

[ddrew]

You could run twice that much IMO on property that size with that many outbuildings and no one would even think twice about it.

5K should be just fine.

 

[FunkBomb]

Just to be safe I'd run two different rooms. One with lights on during the day, the other with lights on at night. With that many buildings and property I don't think 5K will put up any red flags.

-Funk

 

[David762]

Title should be: YET Another Power Consumption Thread // J/K

It sounds like you have an ideal situation there, and plenty of justification for the level of power consumption that you have in mind. I like your idea about switching from one grow room to another to keep power consumption "steady".

But here's a thought -- if you own or have a long term lease on this property, it sounds like you have the space to set up a very nice photovoltaic power system. I have seen some solar panels advertised at http://www.wholesalesolar.com that could have an ROI of only 5 years. The panels themselves should last for 20 - 30 years, batteries not so much.

Good luck, and have fun. It will be interesting to see how you set up your systems.

 

[Strainhunter]

...

I'm planning to run maybe 5,000 watts including all the lights, AC, water chiller, etc.
I think that its a pretty reasonable amount, since my closest neighbor has 6 600/400 watt HPS lights around his property turning on nightly just as street lights.

.....

However you do it make sure you have something to present to justify around 90KW of daily usage (grow alone in 18/6!) not to mention what else you will go though in electricity on a property of that size.
2,700,000 Watts average on a monthly basis for your grow alone is a LOT, even where you live.

Your Power bill will knock you out of your shoes.


On a side note check out my grow, I go through more than double of what you are going to use but mine is perfectly legal and known by every one where I live.
4KW in lights for the grow, 1KW vegging, one 24.5K BTU AC (5.5KW), one 6.5K AC (1.65KW), 1.5KW Dehu & another 1KW (approx) in fans.

 

[Captain Howdy]

Cool, thanks for the replies.
I'm planning to run 4k in lights plus a water cooled air chiller/dehuey/fans; I cant break it up into two smaller rooms as that would take twice the equipment that I have.
The only residents of the property are my dog and myself, we don't waste much power.
I know how to weld and actually enjoy making art from scrap pieces of metal on my time off (thankfully many farmers have a lot of scrap machinery rusting away on their land), so the workshop already has a few large welded pieces in it and soon to add more to the collection.
If I look at my nearest 6 neighbors 5 of them are large farms/rural businesses, only one property in the 3 mile radius could be considered a small scale home/acreage with probably relatively low usage; all of the larger farms have at least two residences on them, a couple even have three houses! and thats not counting all the major outbuildings/barns, grain silos etc. My area is zoned as restricted agricultural btw.
I really don't think that the usage amount is that significant relative to my neightbors, plus I've installed 3,000 watt worth of external lighting that I will never use (lets say that I got a good reason to keep the yard lit up at night) and a welder to explain the power use.
Any more feedback is greatly appreciated!

 

[Strainhunter]

Just wanted to show you real quick the term "Smart Meter" not being an empty new age phrase but a VERY sophisticated term/technology including total control of your usage.

Yes depending on the model installed @ your property some allow your electricity being disconnected remotely (pay your bill! LOL). Other meters communicate with newer appliances and/or report individual usage patterns etc.
Others recognize the digital "foot print" of some installed electric items.
Yes (some) Digital ballasts leave a certain digital foot print easily to be recognized by a computer.

Long story short with a smart meter you are "letting your pants down" in front of the electricity company.

Below is one of of the easier to understand diagrams showing the digital footprint of some electrical items in a household.

Can you imagine how the footprint of 4KW grow looks like?

By no means am I trying to tell you not to do it but to just inform instead.

Stay safe!

 

[Dr. Buddington]

The fact that you have a smart meter doesn't necessarily mean that all of its evil features are enabled. It all depends on the stage of the smart grid in your area.
If I were you, I'd call your power provider and say something along the lines of: "I heard that the new fancy meters make your monthly charges higher, is it so?" This should warrant an explanation from the customer service rep, although who knows how much they really know of whats happening.
Otherwise I'd say that for the size of your property 5k shouldn't be an issue, just pay your bill on time.

 

[Guest 18340]

So far as I can tell, in my State there has been no increase in grow op busts since the installation of "smart meters". I know several growers that have had smart meters for a few years now without issue
The #1 reason electricity comes into play as far as getting busted is when it's being stolen.
If the law is looking at what appliances are causing your usage to spike then they are already onto you...