What would be the most grow lights you should have without it looking suspicious at all the power you are using? I have heard stories of some people have been busted because they were growing too much and it showed up in the power bill. Is this just a myth or could it happen?
it 'could' happen, IF...and that's a very important statement to the following... there are sloppy light leaks, the grower shows off and blabs, the place has a fresh dank smell for miles, you're burning 2-3 times the power of everyone else in the neighborhood. The best time to start a grow is incidentally at the start of summer (or winter) if you've got central heating, when you first move into a place (as there's no basis for power usage for that person for that residence) I've known some growers to sneak around the neighborhood and read the meters themselves, find the highest usage in the neighborhood and go 10-20% below them. is it possible to get busted just by your electric usage? sure, if you're sloppy and drop a dozen 1000watt lights in, a full irrigation system that could water a lawn (pumps use money) and an industrial scale air scrubbing system (eats power like candy) If you toss in a thousand watter or two, and your power remains the same from that point on, you're not likely to be bothered. If your power usage gradually increases (a few hundred kilowatts at a time) it's again, more likely that you've dropped cash on a new plasma tv or you've gotten a new tropical fish tank and you know how those heaters are.....but if your energy usage suddenly doubles in one month, they'll send someone out, just to make sure someone's not sponging off your current. so to give the short answer to 'how many lights?' I have an equally short reply -'how many can you use and still blend in with the rest of the neighborhood? how many can you use without doing something that'd cause your usage to add double or triple digit percentage increases?'
thanks. it's all pretty common sense stuff, but it requires a bit of legwork. No one ever said being a 'criminal' was easy....lol
