Electricity spikes

[bluntmastaslaya]

I am about to begin a grow, I am planning on using a 400 watt HPS with MH conversion bulb for vegetation. would using this light cause a noticeable spike in my electricity usage in which authorities would come to see me? Thanks for the advice.

[CashandPrizes]

400w is not going to cause a major change in your electricity bill.

I could be wrong but i think a average computer left on 24/7 uses approx 200-300 watts.
Large flatscreen LCD/Plasma TV's use a lot more.

If you pay your bill on time, having a high bill is not really an issue.

[stinkyattic]

Yeah- that's not even a blip on the radar screen.
A general rule for gauging when to be concerned about your E bill:
One thousand watts per bedroom your house is taxed at plus one 'for the house'.
Keep your TOTAL electric consumption lower and you are within reason for an average home. Unplug the tv when it isn't on, switch all lights to low-watt CFLs, you know the deal. You might LOWER your bill by mistake, lol.... I've seen overly-cautious growers do just that.

[Mississippi Steve]

Yeah- that's not even a blip on the radar screen.
A general rule for gauging when to be concerned about your E bill:
One thousand watts per bedroom your house is taxed at plus one 'for the house'.
Keep your TOTAL electric consumption lower and you are within reason for an average home. Unplug the tv when it isn't on, switch all lights to low-watt CFLs, you know the deal. You might LOWER your bill by mistake, lol.... I've seen overly-cautious growers do just that.

I don't know what the threshold is, but its not unusual for me to install a new, high efficiency, heating and cooling system in a customers home, and have their utility bills drop by 60% or more. A month later they get a call from the power company wanting to know whay they're not sending them so much money any more.:D

Likewise, they have upper threshold for "excess" usage, and they will investigate that too. They don't advertise what that threshold is.

Its pretty easy to figure out the aditional power usage from the HPS lights, fans, etc. Most of that can be offset by changing all the other lights in the house from incandescent to flourescent.