Hi All, We're in Tasmania and Aurora Energy are trying to install smart meters in our area. We have a small grow room. Obviously we are concerned about smart meters due to the data they provide, makes it obvious that we have a grow room due to usage/consumption patterns. I see via google searches that some Aus companies HAVE provided data to the police. I'm seeking opinions on this issue, any experiences (good or bad) with smart meters? Any constructive comments most appreciated.
Smart meters, privacy... and grow rooms.
- Thread starter iiJeebz
- Start date
Eric Blair
Member
l'm not sure this will be a viable solution with the size of your grow room but have you considered solar?
Perhaps running it at night? Not sure the latter will help or make it more obvious.
Let me know what you decided.
Cheers mate
Perhaps running it at night? Not sure the latter will help or make it more obvious.
Let me know what you decided.
Cheers mate
calvin.m16
Well-Known Member
Not sure how the laws work there but in Michigan, USA even before it was legal to grow in your home it was not possible for police to get a warrant just because of your power usage patterns. That was a common myth actually. Usually people get busted for telling everyone they grow or showing the wrong people their grow and having them come and try to rob it.
You could get equivelant lights in your VEG & Bloom rooms and run them as close apart as possible to prevent that spike/drop in power usage? Or as Eric Mentioned you may consider a solar powered system but that likely is going to be very expensive to power your grow depending on how many watts & amps you're drawing.. For my grow I'd need over 10,000 watts on demand... That'd probably cost me a good $20,000-30,000 I'd imagine.
You could get equivelant lights in your VEG & Bloom rooms and run them as close apart as possible to prevent that spike/drop in power usage? Or as Eric Mentioned you may consider a solar powered system but that likely is going to be very expensive to power your grow depending on how many watts & amps you're drawing.. For my grow I'd need over 10,000 watts on demand... That'd probably cost me a good $20,000-30,000 I'd imagine.
Eric Blair
Member
l appreciate the input. Unfortunately Australia is more than a little backward when it comes to personal privacy.
At the moment we have warrant-less access to all our telecom metadata by innumerable agencies. Electricity is a different
area entirely and l'm not sure if there is evidence of law enforcement using that data at the moment. It really depends on the
size of the grow. If it's a small room you could be only using less than a high end computer. Maybe get a watt meter and find out?
10,000 watts sounds like an amazing grow, well done. How many plants do you have?
At the moment we have warrant-less access to all our telecom metadata by innumerable agencies. Electricity is a different
area entirely and l'm not sure if there is evidence of law enforcement using that data at the moment. It really depends on the
size of the grow. If it's a small room you could be only using less than a high end computer. Maybe get a watt meter and find out?
10,000 watts sounds like an amazing grow, well done. How many plants do you have?
calvin.m16
Well-Known Member
I'm licensed to grow 36 plants so I currently am at around 32 plants so I have wiggle room. It has taken me a couple years to build the current grow but it's definitely something I'm quite proud of. It's never done being built I plan to change things a lot as funds allow.
I couldn't stand living somewhere with privacy issues like that. How embarassing that would be with all the crap I look up. I would be running a VPN 24/7 lol. I think the major thing is going to be just get a "watt meter" you plug your stuff into and see what is using how many watts then switch your rooms schedules to balance out a bit.
Running those 1000 watt DE HPS Gavita's lol.
Eric Blair
Member
Yeah.. l have a VPN on 24/7 for all of my devices. Otherwise l'm basically consenting to all my data being
logged down to the minute, including relative location. Unfortunately half the populace doesn't understand what metadata is and the
other half doesn't seem to care.
That is an amazing grow. Are you selling to a dispensary? What's the power bill like? If you've done a write up of the grow then l'd love to read it
Cheers.
logged down to the minute, including relative location. Unfortunately half the populace doesn't understand what metadata is and the
other half doesn't seem to care.
That is an amazing grow. Are you selling to a dispensary? What's the power bill like? If you've done a write up of the grow then l'd love to read it
Cheers.
calvin.m16
Well-Known Member
The grow is very much still a work in progress, thank you on the kudos though. I'm a caregiver so I dont sell to dispensaries I have patients that rely on me as their grower. I can do a video & write up on the grow once I have it where I really want. I'm just waiting for more funds to come available so I can frame in some actual rooms and add some white paint and more reflection.
The power bill here is around $800/mo in total, not too bad..
Lighting:
8 x 1000 Watt Double-ended HPS Gavita for bloom
6 x 300 Watt (Mars Hydro TSW-2000 LED) for Veg
Air Conditioning
3 Ton PerfectAire Mini Split Air Conditioner
Quest Dual 225 Dehumidifier
AirFlow
12 x 16" Hurricane Oscillating wall fans.
4 x 18" high velocity floor fans (airflow under plants and around pots)
10 gallon plastic pots with Mother Earth 70/30 Coco/Perlite as the growing medium.
House & Garden Cocos base nutrients with H&G Additives (Drip Clean, Bud-XL, Amino Treatment & Top Shooter)
That is just what I can think of off the top of my head for setup. Each plant usually pulls around 12-18 ounces.
The yellow stakes you see are just holding my trellis netting they're called "Task Support Rods" I got them from HomeDepot supplies store.
calvin.m16
Well-Known Member
I can't believe that they are logging that information and making it readily available for any law enforcement. Here I know our ISP log our IP records and thats about it but they actually just passed a new law in my state during our recent election that makes it so law enforcement needs to go through a whole new process & warrant to view peoples social media or internet data.
calvin.m16
Well-Known Member
I use a VPN as well on my devices so I can't say I blame you.. I do it out of habit for years. I can't stand being snooped on in person or on the internet. Privacy is a huge concern to me as well.
