Good points you raise....and in many urban areas power companies have switched to the new digital meters. All the way around I think we can all agree for safety, less heat, better efficiency & no spike..digital ballasts are the way to go. And there is definitely more real immediate danger from infared detection from the sky but remember the heat has to actually escape to be detected..some people solve this problem by having a room built within a room simply framed out with drywall or heavy mil plastic sheeting (black/white poly) and the air surrounding the inner room is air conditioned with the rest of the house..the inside room also has climate control & exhaust/odor control and is exhausted into that larger room around it..this is a near fool-proof way to avoid IR..there are also several types of readily available insulaton that will block IR heat from escaping but remember that if a room is hotter than the rest of the house it will glow on IR scanning equipment (like FLIR) which is where the smaller enclosure inside the larger enclosure comes into play as to avoid detection. Hopefully with a new president in office who is a self proclaimed former weed smoker that DID inhale maybe one day soon people won't have to think about this shit. Be safe guys...the best bet is to not break the law.