Power consumption/ Power Companies and Police

I live in a remote area but on the grid. I have a 24x24ft garage I am hoping to fill up with lights. I am a medical caregiver and have the patients to support the plant number. I know it is a large scale but i want to know if there is a way to power say 20 1000watts HPS and stay safe. I could say I am welding, pottery etc. But how could I power something that large without looking extremely sketchy. Serious answers only, im well experienced just need to know if this is even safely possible

that's a lot of juice. how big is your house? how many rooms? how many people live in it?

grorite said:

that's a lot of juice. how big is your house? how many rooms? how many people live in it?

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three bedroom, 2 bath. computers, tv. Its on 10 acres. no neighbors. large garage

medicalcann said:

three bedroom, 2 bath. computers, tv. Its on 10 acres. no neighbors. large garage

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how many people in the house?
the welding and wife does pottery story best

DONNYS said:

how many people in the house?
the welding and wife does pottery story best

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we have two people up here consistently. more at times. would it be stupid to call the power company and tell them we just got a kiln and welding equiptment so we understand the flex in power?

Would getting a generator be out of the question? Just seems a lot safer....

medicalcann said:

we have two people up here consistently. more at times. would it be stupid to call the power company and tell them we just got a kiln and welding equiptment so we understand the flex in power?

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no that be to obvious
power companies dont care if u use power they want sell it
u could i guess call and say u got welding and pottery shop set up and want know if since u going to be using more power do u qualify for cheaper rate per Kw
then makes it seem u not alerting them to high spike in power but concerned bout decent rate lol

bry0n31337 said:

Would getting a generator be out of the question? Just seems a lot safer....

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gas cost been studied and cost more grow then u can buy finished weed

and u can do like me change all lights in house to cfl and turn off when not in room and adjust ac thermostat so not as cold cut back in other ways
i run 2000 w and household and well pump and septic pump and bill only 165

So you don't think it would be a problem to run something that large? Safety on all other ends is covered but I've looked into solar wind etc and there is really no way to do it without dropping a ton in start up cost. If anyone has any more suggestions for safety please let me know

Just pay your bill. People get busted when they try to steal the electric. 20x1K lights is a lot of draw, I am assuming you have your wiring/circuit breaker figured out to handle that large of a draw (and the surge when all of those bad boys kick on).

** My response is based on the US, other places may be different. You mention being a caregiver and having the patients to support the plant count so I would think you have nothing to worry about as long as you keep your grow to yourself(security) and keep up on your bills.

Something makes me think you included the patients part as to sound like your legal to us, to get better advice. O5herwise you'd have no worries of LE, only the FED's and I doubt they'd bother with you. Why not get 40 600w? You get more light, and use les wattage, or find a suitable amount of lights in between 40 and use less power? If you are legit, just pay your bill and you'll be fine man.

Why pretend to be legal and then ask such a question?

I would definitely contact your energy provider to let them know, whatever your cover story is, your problem is not with how much power you are drwing, its the consistency of power usage over time, if the power company looks at your usage it will see the pattern. this will only happen if the police are actively looking into you though. i suggest staggering your growth stages that way you can mask it instead of one massive dump going off and on same time every day, and it has the additional benefit of allowing you to create a perpetual harvest, meaning your customers will not have to wait between flowering.

also my cover for alerting ur energy provider would be that you want to do "pottery, etc, whatever" and want to know if your circuit breakers need upgrading to handle the additional load, find a way for them to record this note on ur record incase of future diggers

Good idea draconus. Yea the circuits and breakers are ready to handle it. I do have the paperwork for my patients yet, as we know, care giving falls into a certain grey area. Just trying to watch my back and avoid any unnecessary risks.

as long as u have a day job, law abiding otherwise, and the police dont have a reason to look into you, you will be fine post me some for intellectual rights

That to much power to be honest the electric company will probably report it to the cops and you will get raided.

To warrant an investigation there have to be a number of supporting factors, other potential factors would be smell, people talking about your grow, grow items in your garbage, etc.. One question though, I once grew in a two-level warehouse the size of a small plane hangar, and I wasn't even running 20kW. How do you figure your consumption would be so high?

I doubt that you have the power in a residential service. You need 100 amps at 220 just to run the lights. Now add in your veg lights, fans, accessories, and a huge ac maybe even 2 to cool it. Your draw would be way over the standard 200 amp household service. Figure out your power needs, don't go over that and pay your bills on time and you would be fine. I would never call them to give a cover story, just have one ready if asked...