how many watts is too many watts to stay stealth...??

[zoomatl]

i have a 4 bedroom 3 bathroom house thats made for a family ...but its just me ....i have just (1) 600 watt digi running now but the rest of my new gear(x-mas present ) will be arriving next month i have 2 large store room off of my garage where i have my garden...i plan on running (3) 600 watts digis in a deluxe hydro hut(flower room) and 2 (4) light 4 foot t5 floros in my current hydro hut as my (veg/mother/clone room) ...i will be running 2 fans for 1 for ventilation of the air cooled reflectors and the other to vent the heat from the floros and a total of 3 more for scrubbing the air...my light bill is running about $220 a month right now...will the addition off the 2 extra 600 watt digis and the 2 (4) bulb 4 foot t5 fixtures send me into the danger zone...?? m very conservative and don't waste electricity...but my neighbors haven 3-4 kids and every room in the house has a tv running plus deep freezes and the tons of lights im sure they have big electricity bills already.....if the digis are only used 12 hrs a day will the increase in my electric bill send off a red flag...??...i plan to go perpetual ...so they will be running 12/12 continuously. :smokin:

zoomatl Reviewed by zoomatl on 10-31-2007. how many watts is too many watts to stay stealth...?? i have a 4 bedroom 3 bathroom house thats made for a family ...but its just me ....i have just (1) 600 watt digi running now but the rest of my new gear(x-mas present ) will be arriving next month i have 2 large store room off of my garage where i have my garden...i plan on running (3) 600 watts digis in a deluxe hydro hut(flower room) and 2 (4) light 4 foot t5 floros in my current hydro hut as my (veg/mother/clone room) ...i will be running 2 fans for 1 for ventilation of the air cooled Rating: 5

[KushMaster5]

you should be all right man... it's not like the 5-O will be crashing down your door with the electric bill as their warrant looking for your plants. install those bad boys and get your plants started. Once the electric bill comes for that month then make your move.... you most likely will be pleasantly surprised! :jointsmile:

[!white_widow!]

WHAt r u serious? hell ye with al that increase in wattage they will be at ur front door..

Here put it like this any increase in wattage 1kw or higher of unexplained energy will cause an ivestigation and is enough for judges to serve warrants if they are considering whether to or not do it...

but if ur that much of a smoker or u gotta make sum serious bread then by all means do what u have to do.. if it's nothing life threatning please i advise u to not go that high... specially if u live n the states.. good luk man:jointsmile:

[Jerry Garcia 2007]

Dude,

Do not listen to White Widow has to say he is full of crap, I am an electrician and there are plenty of appliances out there that you can plug in that will consume more electricity than what you are going to use. It is when you get to the 5000w to 6000w range is when they start to flag people, if it were true as to what White Widow is saying they would be breaking down everyones door that has pluged in a space heater or dehumidifer. Hell even a decent entertainment system will use more than 1000 watts.

With the room where you plan on putting the 3 lights in you are going to need 2 dedicated 15 amp circuts though. I recomend only running 1500 watts on a 15 amp circut that way if you plug somthing else in only temperarily it won't trip the breaker, also make sure you never plug in your vacume cleaner into the same circut as your lights, if you do and turn it on it will send a surge and cause you to trip your breaker or with digital ballasts it will cut out the light or possiably damage the ballast, I highly recomend a surge protector for anyone running digital ballasts.

Hope this is helpful and HAPPY GROWING

[stinkyattic]

Allow yourself 1k per taxed bedroom for your total grow watts.
Don't forget to include the a/c draw.
If you have extra a/c expense in summer, consider cutting back by one big light for the months that the a/c runs most.

[the image reaper]

WHAt r u serious? hell ye with al that increase in wattage they will be at ur front door..

Here put it like this any increase in wattage 1kw or higher of unexplained energy will cause an ivestigation and is enough for judges to serve warrants if they are considering whether to or not do it...

but if ur that much of a smoker or u gotta make sum serious bread then by all means do what u have to do.. if it's nothing life threatning please i advise u to not go that high... specially if u live n the states.. good luk man:jointsmile:

bullshit

[the image reaper]

Dude,

Do not listen to White Widow has to say he is full of crap, I am an electrician and there are plenty of appliances out there that you can plug in that will consume more electricity than what you are going to use. It is when you get to the 5000w to 6000w range is when they start to flag people, if it were true as to what White Widow is saying they would be breaking down everyones door that has pluged in a space heater or dehumidifer. Hell even a decent entertainment system will use more than 1000 watts.

With the room where you plan on putting the 3 lights in you are going to need 2 dedicated 15 amp circuts though. I recomend only running 1500 watts on a 15 amp circut that way if you plug somthing else in only temperarily it won't trip the breaker, also make sure you never plug in your vacume cleaner into the same circut as your lights, if you do and turn it on it will send a surge and cause you to trip your breaker or with digital ballasts it will cut out the light or possiably damage the ballast, I highly recomend a surge protector for anyone running digital ballasts.

Hope this is helpful and HAPPY GROWING

it's great, finding accurate, professional advice on occasion ... welcome to the Forum ! :thumbsup:

[BlaZinROC]

I just got my bill for oct. and my electric bill alone was $127. Which i dont think is too bad but when i compare it to last years oct. its about 30% higher. Should i be worried, I beleive this to be the only way i could be detected since i run a very legit system and have told no one. I use a 1000w sunmaster with 2 fans and a 2' T5. Thanks for the help!

[Jerry Garcia 2007]

no need to worry, If by chance you get a curtisy call from the power company tell them you got a big reach in freezer at a yard sale. wink wink.

[Jerry Garcia 2007]

Just to add a little to this subject.

No Judge is going to issue a search warrant based soly on an electric bill. Almost all growers are busted due to poor odor control. The smell is enough alone to get a warrant but coulpled with increased electrical usage then that is enough probable cause for a warrent.

so really invest in good odor control.