how big of a hydro system can I get with out cops showing interest?

[xgenra]

Im wondering how big of a hydroponic system can I run in my house before the cops look at my electric bill? thereby eliciting a freindly visit when I least expect it.
how many plants will something like this hold and grow?

[farmergiles]

How many plantz do you want to grow?

[_tyranT]

some guy was growing 48 in his house and the police caught on.

Well if your a hot market item they can look at a bill whenever they'd like too. If your trying to grow on a bulk scale then I could only tell you that no matter what you are risking your freedom. There are other tell tale signs of a grow operation that police look for other than your elec bill. Most people who do bulk sized operations steel power, which is a really bad idea and as a wise crook always said "Never do two illegal things at the same time". You can also look into a generator, but once again if you've never done a bulk grow there is no reason to encourage doing one IMO.

If your doing it for personal use why would you need to exceed 1-2 plants?

[stoneric]

What probable cause could there be for using more electricity? Unless you use enough for a small town I can't see why the cops should be involved. I think people get overly paranoid about electrical use. If I had a hydro system for growing vegtables I wouldn't think anything about how much juice I was using. If you're safe in other ways, you shouldn't worry. Of course if you're growing to sell, you should always worry.

Thang is most people don't grow vegetables in their house^.

[Dandaweedman]

I don't want to rain on anyones parade but one of the provinces or states has been walking into peoples houses for certain electrical spikes and other things looking for grows that are pissing a lot of innocent people off but it ain't stopping.
And they are catching smaller growers in this. I'll check around and see if I can find it again.

[Dandaweedman]

BC Hydro - Marijuana Grow-ops
PILOT PROJECT TACKLES ABBOTSFORD GROW OPS

Not the one I was looking for, but I added the first one as a point of interest.

They were talking about checking house to house almost, and they were also nailing people for problems with houses and suites while they were there. Thats some scary shite

[Dandaweedman]

Little quote

High power consumption is an emblem of marijuana grow ops. And a former Calgary police officer who left the service in 2007 has developed a special meter to detect those stealing electricity.

Roger Morrison's technology has already led police to four marijuana grows in the Chestermere area. Last year, during a test on a neighbourhood of 603 homes, six of Morrison's meters found nine grow operations in just one hour.

From the outside, only three of those 13 homes had any visible signs they housed a grow op, he said.

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"That was extremely surprising for me," Morrison said. "That was an extreme wake-up call for me and some of the guys in the unit that maybe we don't really know how vast this problem is."

Morrison's meter detects atypical consumption between the primary line and the transformers that feed 80 to 100 homes in a neighbourhood.

The technology immediately notifies the utility company when a primary line shows a home with excessive consumption.

Someone from the utility can then test the particular transformers and find out which residence is the culprit.

"If you turn your hot tub on, that's not going to trigger this," Morrison said. "If you weld for two hours, that's not going to trigger this. It has to be a consistent, large power draw."

He said Canada has become a haven for marijuana production: "There's no way the amount of marijuana that we're producing in Canada can be consumed by Canadians.

"A vast majority of it is getting shipped down to the States where the profits are so much larger."

Meanwhile, tracking power consumption that's not stolen has helped push out residential marijuana grows in some jurisdictions of British Columbia.

Three years ago, the Surrey fire service began an experiment.

"I just was so frustrated with the lack of response from the system -- (it) did not seem to be deterring -- that we invented something different to achieve the same result and that's getting (grow operations) out of our neighbourhoods," Surrey fire chief Len Garis said in a recent interview.

The department obtained power consumption data from BC Hydro on homes that were suspected of growing marijuana.

Safety investigations based on high power consumption found nearly 94 per cent of the homes had serious electrical problems -- in almost all cases, they housed a grow op.

In 2006, B.C. passed legislation requiring BC Hydro to provide the addresses of residences with unusually high power consumption.

The first set of data in Surrey revealed almost 1,000 homes that met the threshold and were the likely abodes of marijuana grow ops.

Notices are posted on the doors, warning of an inspection in 48 hours. And while that gives time for growers to move out their crop, the safety inspections prove an annoyance and disruption to the trade.

That has prodded many growers to simply leave Surrey, Garin said, noting complaints concerning grow ops dropped by 38 per cent last year.

"It seems to be so that they're just simply moving out, because it's all about the money," Garin said. "And if they're not able to produce a crop undisturbed, they're going to lose money, their investment."

[Thepizzaguy]

If you're going to commit a crime, make it a big one. You'll most likely get the same amount of jail time.

[Peace seeker]

Interesting story Dan.

The right wing fascists are finding new ways to bust tax paying, peacefull citizens, who chose to grow for their own use.

Big brother watching everything. Thats unconstitutional. They shouldnt have the right to do that. BC Hydro should get sued for giving out such info to the cops.


edit: btw, is BC hydro a power company?? sounds like a grow shop..

-yeah BC hydro there?
-....yes....
- do u carry the new LUMENTECH reflectors? I also need to order a carbon filter.

[stoneric]

Originally Posted by Smaerd

Thang is most people don't grow vegetables in their house^.

My point was when you're using more electricity than normal, for things other than growing pot, you don't give it a second thought.

[Killa Cam]

Ive always heard you can use 1000 watts for every room you have in your house... Plus change all the lights in tha house to fluorescent. Youd be surprised how much power regular lights use compared to fluoros.

[Dandaweedman]

Originally Posted by Peace seeker

The right wing fascists are finding new ways to bust tax paying, peacefull citizens, who chose to grow for their own use.

Big brother watching everything. Thats unconstitutional. They shouldnt have the right to do that. BC Hydro should get sued for giving out such info to the cops.


edit: btw, is BC hydro a power company?? sounds like a grow shop..

-yeah BC hydro there?
-....yes....
- do u carry the new LUMENTECH reflectors? I also need to order a carbon filter.

LOL damn man, don't make me laff it hurts
The LEO are so horny for the adrenalin rush they want all the grow ops to be considered mob related, and they have really started a push to have them classified this way in Kanada, land of the boned.

BC hydro is the provincial electric utility. Most provinces have one.
Heck, I called them once for info on HIDs myself. A young guy on the other end stated he did not really think that I would like that light in my home and should rather use CFLs.
If he only knew.