I was talking to a guy at a hydroponics store who lives in an apartment, and what he was saying is that if you remain under 5000kWh's/month total power consumption you will be safe.
The average Energy consumption per household in Canada in 2007 was 2453kWh's/month
The national average for a 900Sq/ft apartments in 2007 was 1018kWh's/month
And for a 1600Sq/ft single detached house was 3194kWh's/month
source:
http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/publications/statistics/sheu07/factsheet/summary.cfm?attr=0
That being said... From what I understand, there are MANY factors that could arouse suspicion. IE: You don't pay your bills on time, one month you use 1100kWh's and the next you use 5200kWh's (high electricity fluctuation/inconsistency) You see, technically speaking as long as you pay your bill on time, and your electricity consumption is not impossibly out of the ordinary IE: 9000kWh's in an apartment in 1 month.. when some people only use 14 000kWh's in a year.. No one should look your way. Obviously if you are renting it would be inadvisable to get "electricity included in your rent" if you intend on using a decent amount of electricity, such acts may also look suspicious..
Here is a list of Residential energy rates in and across Canada.
Residential Bill Calculations
One Month Bill For:
Cities 375 kWh 750 kWh 1,000 kWh 2,000 kWh 5,000 kWh
Calgary AB $50.17 $82.85 $104.63 $191.76 $453.16
Charlottetown PE $69.76 $114.95 $145.07 $265.57 $541.57
Edmonton AB $52.25 $83.77 $104.79 $188.86 $441.07
Englehart ON $66.34 $111.92 $143.36 $272.82 $661.22
Halifax NS $57.86 $104.88 $136.23 $261.63 $637.83
Kenora ON $48.04 $83.49 $108.05 $210.55 $518.09
Moncton NB $56.67 $93.61 $118.23 $216.73 $512.23
Montreal QC $32.40 $52.62 $68.21 $143.31 $368.61
Regina SK $59.07 $98.86 $125.38 $231.48 $549.78
Saskatoon SK $59.06 $98.85 $125.37 $231.46 $549.74
Saint John NB $49.09 $83.03 $105.65 $196.15 $467.65
St. John's NL $50.63 $86.26 $109.86 $204.26 $487.47
Toronto ON $54.72 $92.92 $119.26 $229.04 $558.37
Vancouver BC $30.15 $58.06 $82.71 $181.31 $477.12
Winnipeg MB $31.68 $56.50 $73.05 $139.25 $337.85
So Assuming 5000kWh/month is the maximum you can consume before the cops were to knock, you would probably want to stay somewhere under 80% of that, so lets say 4000kWh's/month.. If you live where you grow Consider 1000kWh's/month in general electricity usage. That leaves 3000kWh's/month for growing.. if 25% of the electricity used was for things other then the lights IE: heating, cooling, hydroponic, air filters, fans... ETC.. that leaves 2250kWh's/month for lighting, which could break down to something along the lines of. 4x 1000W hps running @ 18/6 = 72kWh's/day or 2160kWh's/month. Another example would be. 10x 600W @ 12/12 = 72kWh's/day or 2160kWh's/month.. Either of these 2 combinations will keep you WELL under 5000kWh's/month, which IMO I would consider to be a very high energy consumption for anything smaller then a 5 1/2 apartment.
Food for thought!
