I bet if u melt a transformer in a residential neighborhood by trying to run 20 kW of light in an illegal state u might have some problems.. But that's just conjecture.. A single 600w no problem tho
-
ICMag with help from Landrace Warden and The Vault is running a NEW contest in November! You can check it here. Prizes are seeds & forum premium access. Come join in!
Electric bill
- Thread starter stemarmel
- Start date
soserthc1
Active member
Legal veggies run hydro thru the entire house yea that what were doing. Let's run up are good old pse&g electric bill up to grow squash and tomatoes. Also Uncle Sam will find a reason to enter your home if they want to and a veggie farm excuse won't stop them.
I'm paying like 300+ month , higher in summer running air and I'm looking to double that after a revamp. I don't really have any mental anguish over 250/350 bills but the day that 550/600 bill arrives at the door I'm gonna be a little concerned.
Still waiting for someone running 8/12k in a illegal residential area to pop in ?
Have a good weekend all
Stay safe
I'm paying like 300+ month , higher in summer running air and I'm looking to double that after a revamp. I don't really have any mental anguish over 250/350 bills but the day that 550/600 bill arrives at the door I'm gonna be a little concerned.
Still waiting for someone running 8/12k in a illegal residential area to pop in ?
Have a good weekend all
Stay safe
I know a guy running 10k in a residential area in an illegal (but liberal) state. I personally wouldn't push more than 6-7k... In a house that isn't lived in. More than a $500 a month elec bill n id get worried...
But that is based on nothing more than what me and my circle does and has experience running..... Mayb we could run twice as much with no probs.. Who knows
My pge bill is 400 every month with just a 1k and one t5 in veg. Plus air pumps and a.c.A/V I don't even use the main house ac or heat right now. In the peak of summer when temps exceed 100 my bill will probably be near 700. But in California we get raped on electric charges. I know people who pay 1500 a month who don't even grow, they just have a pool. My friend works for pge and has a small house and isn't even home half the time and doesn't grow and his bill is 200. So price means nothing. It's how much you're using and where you live. Nobody running less than 5kw in lights is raising any red flag at all. 10kw in lights is the bare minimum I'd start maybe getting worried. But I had a friend here who ran about 10kw in lights and he was paying about 2 grand in electricity every month. He did so for years and just paid his bill on time every month, no issues. His issues came from his ex wife when she found out about it
GreenGreenie
Member
First, thanks for the post. I am not an engineer, but have been working in the field for decades.
While HID is rated for illumination, as you know watts are also a direct calculation for heat, while incandescent lamps are more efficient for producing heat than light, I don't know about HID's, but with a ballast being just a fancy transformer, I know there has to be something to it.
I know you are also well aware of the greatly increased efficiency of heaters with increased voltage.
What I don't know is if using the wattage output as heat rather than light calculations changes the consumption.
Using the 1kW lamp set up earlier, I couldn't even run 2 fixtures for a week without blowing the breaker, and had to have every ballast on a dedicated circuit.
I just chalked that up to the fact I was using an older panel I had sitting around from a service change, and the breakers were worn.
After the harvest I went to 240 lighting.
I had 3 fixtures running, with a combined load of 7.2A.
I was blown away.
Since I replanted pretty quick, I had to do any modifications during day cycles.
I used various commercial and industrial equipment to automate some systems, added multistage cooling, and rearranged lighting configurations during my 2nd grow.
In moving the grow lights, I turned one off at a time, moved it, then restarted in order to keep constant light on the plants.
On 110V a restarted fixture could take 30 minutes to arc, whereas a 240 warm fixture restruck immediately, so that proved the efficiency.
Yes, as I said before, I tried to make a claim using wrong numbers, and was called out for it.
Actually, I thought it was funny, and told a friend yesterday I deserved the feedback for the fuzzy math, but the proof is still there.
We both understand there are lot lot of other variables that can affect consumption.
Just panel make-up can create ionic loops, lose and poor connections can generate excessive heat that double the cost of distribution alone, besides the failure threat.
Systems with ground loop feedback can decimate harmonics, and if you add an unbalanced phase conductor creating a choke all hell can happen before the place burns down.
Those installation variables aside, I have even been able to drop energy costs by balancing single phase heaters.
While theoretically possible, the math says no, until you consider the neutral only carrying the unbalanced load from the phases.
Yes, that is yesterdays science, and today's super efficient equipment is supposed to be immune, but I don't believe it.
The neutral load is almost always a couple 10ths off from the phase load on individual appliances, even on new stuff.
That has to have a cumulative effect.
Whether that happened at the panel or utility transformer, I have no idea, but you know it is a continuous system from transformer secondary all the way to the appliance.
As for "smart" meters, I was offered a contract to install in low income housing and turned it down. Aside from the install scope being a forced conversion, I personally believe they are an unconstitutional invasion of privacy, as well as unethical. I wouldn't be surprised if they are capable of using multiple algorithms simultaneously, and are programmed to use the higher value for maximum profits.
Thanks again for your post, I don't know exactly why 240 lighting works so much better for me than 110, I just know I will never wire another grow light to 110 if I have the option of 240.
ive been meaning to buy one of those prewired boxes that you plug into the dryer outlet and you can run like 8 devices off of it. and it has its own breaker box. they're only like 400 dollars. just havent gotten around to it. right now i run all my stuff 110 but its just for convenience, and the fact that every outlet in my grow location is on its own breaker. but i'd like to consolidate my AC, and lights together onto that one box plugged into the dryer 220v outlet. im also considering paying the extra to switch back to the old meter.. but then i have to let a meter guy in my locked fenced in backyard once a month. so i dont know.. give and take.
GreenGreenie
Member
There are "spyder" boxes you can probably get off craigs list in the construction section for 100 -200, and just put your own dryer cap in the baloney cable.
They make 45° and 90° meters, might check to see if one is available, then no more backyard access issues.
i looked into it again, its actually much cheaper they changed the rates to 'opt out' of the smart meter.. its a $75 dollar setup fee, then they charge you $10 a month for 36 months.. after that no monthly fee. i'll probably save at least $50 a month using the old analog meter though.
George
Active member
you missed the point. The point was the electrical companies don't care. They're not going to do anything if you're not dicking them around. The police and the electrical companies are not in bed together. The tip comes first then the investigation begins. The police really don't know much without informants and witnesses. That's the bread and butter of every single case.
Don't kid your self if that was the case why bother fucking around with couple thousand watts why not 50,000 - or 100,000 watts
in this day and age its about power consumption , since the computer age power companies have kept records of home usages
if any company notices a huge power spike ,,, its the obligation to investigate even if you pay the power bill on time you are flagged ....
power is recorded by a meter so it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out a light schedule that come close to vegging or flowering hr times
thats a dead giveaway and guess what power companies are publicly traded stocks means your info is available to anyone yup thats so true
i mean i have went to power company and mentioned buttered up the receptionist and said yeah i am thinking of buying this property i would like average power consumption and gas of this premise monthly..
Simple really think about how people that steal power get caught they can pin point where it is being stolen
To say that some house with average power consumption is 200 bucks a month jumps to 600 dude you will be flagged and trust its there obligation duty to contact the authorities if not they can also in a sense be charged for aiding and abiding a felony if you really think about it
But what happens first is you get a call from them like what happened to me and you better have a dam good answer
Wash, rinse, repeat. Another electricity thread! Boring!
an iron takes more than 600w. 1000+ on average. toaster oven 1500 easy. i get what you're saying but he's only running 600 watts.
X
xavier7995
Nerds are punctual sir...and prone to long video game binges.
But yeah, you have a good point. Going to stick with my story that they really do not care that much about something as small as a couple lights.
soserthc1
Active member
So again how would one run 8k to 12k in illegal states ? There are a few members here that I see doing this and it always has my interest. I currently run about 2k and was thinking about jumping up to 4/5 k but electric bill would obviously double and I'm close to 3 bills now without running my home ac unit. Once that kicks in during the summer a 4+ bill is usually norm.
some people steal power.. they bypass the meter for the grow breaker.. obviously requires someone that knows what they're doing, very dangerous if you aren't an electrician, and even still always dangerous working with live electricity/high voltage.
the point is electricity alone is not enough to give them probable cause.. they need an informant, or if they have a suspicion they need to go to your house and have probable cause (extremely strong smell, melted snow on your roof when every other house is snow covered, extreme heat on thermal cameras) stuff like that.. if you're too paranoid to grow, then don't do it.
the point is electricity alone is not enough to give them probable cause.. they need an informant, or if they have a suspicion they need to go to your house and have probable cause (extremely strong smell, melted snow on your roof when every other house is snow covered, extreme heat on thermal cameras) stuff like that.. if you're too paranoid to grow, then don't do it.
amen brother sidewing,
christ, if this is still over the using 600w by the OP
then by all means, don't grow!
Id be seeing busts daily in the paper if a 600w bulb was *too much*
the biggest reason you see any busts in the news is because of intel by leo
they wouldn't know jack shit if they didn't have snitches
bucketswithsoil
support your local surfboard builder...
Stealing power is a bigger charge then growing and they will notice.
