To steal electricity or not

[merl1n]

I understand you concerns regarding the smart meters, but I have a smart meter, never had a visit tho.

Another point, If you can justify your usage by other appliances they can't question where the power is going.

For example I have a small fan forced heater here. It uses 2400w. I never use it, but IF questions are asked, for me, I can easily justify my usage.

We have a big arse spa bath, big airconditioner, waterbed etc all things that chew the power.

 

Although you may think that people here are having a go at you regarding stealing power, we are not. There are many 'guests' roaming these sites and if we show support for the theft of power others may think "...yea, I could do that..." So by us identifying the inherent risks, not just for you but for everybody, it lets other viewers know what dangers there are with such actions. Lets face it the choice is yours but if young Johnny is reading this he might think twice cos he could burn mum and dad's house down.

 

Merl1n

[Sir PsychoHashy]

Basically if you want to grow, you have to accept that there is a risk of getting busted, no matter how careful you are.  But short of racking up insane power bills by setting up the whole house as a grow op, your power bill isn't going to bring the coppers to your house with a warrant, and even then if you pay your bill on time chances are it still won't, but don't hold me to that.

 

We all pay our power bills, and some of us run some power hungry setups, and so far none of us has been busted due to excess power usage.  Rough guide from my experience is a  bill rise of 600-800 a quarter running a setup with 2 600 watters, AC in summer does close to that, and running electric heaters in winter will easily do it as well, so power companies have no reason to pay any attention.  What I have heard of getting people caught though, is stealing power.

 

Make sure your odour control is effective, no suspicious noises or light leaks, and most importantly tell no one, and you are fairly safe.

 

Stealing power is a touchy subject here, you probably should have worded your OP differently to avoid the shit storm.  It's a subject more likely to get a reaction than saying LED's are better than HPS.

 

As for the heat sensing choppers, I have heard they do have them and use them for this purpose, but there's a lot of bullshit floating around and I've never heard of anyone getting caught for that reason, so I'm not sure how true it is.  I would imagine it would only happen in capital cities, if at all, and even if they pick up a heat signature they would still need further evidence to get a warrant.  The technology exists, but if I started to worry about that one I'd be putting my tin foil hat back on

 

We all know what we do makes us criminals, but we all also believe that as we are not hurting society or individuals by our actions that we are decent people given a label we don't deserve.  Endorsing that sort of behaviour would mean we could no longer make that claim.  Have a look around the site, there's plenty of info on stealth and legal issues etc, anything you don't understand ask questions and you'll generally get helpful answers.  Good luck

Edited December 17, 2014 by Sir PsychoHashy

[Joey Genovese]

Don't steal it mate! Let me give you a lil run down. You steal power, power company's know there is a leakage, they have the software to pin point where the leakage is coming from. This takes time, but they will find it. You get caught, and you have an extra charge with a unaccounted bill you have to pay! Cops do not fly willy nilly around town with the heat sensor on (it's a paranoid myth). Do you know the cost per hour to run a helicopter? It runs into the 1000s. They simply do not have the time, money nor resources to fly around all day everyday trying to pin point average Jo with his garden shed setup! Cops only use heat sensors when a complaint has been made eg, from neighbours smelling or hearing fans etc. If they suspect it to be bigger than your average Jo set up, they may fly a chopper over for confirmation. But in yours and most other cases, highly unlikely. Power companies will not give you up for having high power bills! I know this for a fact. As long as your paying the bill the power companies will not blink an eye. I know of people who have residential power bills at $4000 a quarter and don't have any issues. Solar panels will save you fuck all, I have them and they shave $100 off a quarter for 8 panels. They are a rort!

[billygoat]

Not to get too far off topic, but Solar is a great idea. 8 panels wont save you much thats only around a 1.6kw system.

 

I have 20 panels and was fortunate enough to get it installed when the FIT was 44c guaranteed until 2026.

 

My average saving is $550 a quarter, i have very little bill left to pay.

[tangwena]

Joey I a gree with everything you say except the sola panels my bill went from an average of 375 to 175 with 8kw of panels over 2 phases so 4kw each phase. I have 1kw of lights and fans. I run the lights during the day for most effective cost reduction, my savings were on top of running the lights when I switch them off the savings go up. $40 off the $175 to average around $135.

It depends on your consuption and when you consume it. In the west the power company pays us 8c kw for power we feed back to them and charge us 28c kw for what we buy from them.

So I try to do washing, cooking a/c, growlights ect during the day to use as much of my own power and buy as little as I can frm them.

If you have 2kw of panels and if you have 3 phase power make sure the sparky has put the panels on the phase with the heaviest load for max benefit.

Tangwena

[billygoat]

From 375 to 175 with 8kws ? Something is wrong there, you should be in credit ?

[Ford Fairlane]

I run my lights during the day too, and do all washing etc during the day, just have led lights on at night. I have a 6kw/h system, but the most i have seen it pulling is about 3500w. My latest bill was $6. Gettign10c back from the power co. Paying 28c. Zilch back from the government.

[Joey Genovese]

Joey I a gree with everything you say except the sola panels my bill went from an average of 375 to 175 with 8kw of panels over 2 phases so 4kw each phase. I have 1kw of lights and fans. I run the lights during the day for most effective cost reduction, my savings were on top of running the lights when I switch them off the savings go up. $40 off the $175 to average around $135.

It depends on your consuption and when you consume it. In the west the power company pays us 8c kw for power we feed back to them and charge us 28c kw for what we buy from them.

So I try to do washing, cooking a/c, growlights ect during the day to use as much of my own power and buy as little as I can frm them.

If you have 2kw of panels and if you have 3 phase power make sure the sparky has put the panels on the phase with the heaviest load for max benefit.

Tangwena

We get rorted here with panels mate, we got ours on the rebate and there is no night time and daytime tariff here, it's all one tariff. I couldn't tell you exactly what the rebate is without going through the bill, but our bill was about $330 with a deduction of approx $100 this is of course with no lights running etc. Obviously the more panels you have etc the more savings, but I don't trust the power companies. They have again stated another increase in prices. It seems since these panels have come about, the prices have increased, why? I believe because the power companies are not making enough since this free power has been introduced. Obviously other states have it better than the state I am in.

[tangwena]

Joey you a right there, they cut the buy back to 8c because they were looseing too much paying us the going rate.

 

Billy I have checked my power feed in totals and its right, what state do you live in? Its all about what they pay for the power you feed in. Your getting nearly double the rate they charge us (half your luck) When it reverts back you will get a shock. In the mean time I am realy envious of your ability to have lots of lights for free. nice one brother.

 

Ford I have 3 wine cellers, 6 freezers and an a/c plus its a big house so I am not surprised at my bill, but it looks like you have it down pat, good on you mate.

Tangwena

Edited December 18, 2014 by tangwena

[tangwena]

Sorry fellow stoners you are right Billy (I was very high). I have a 4kw system 2kw per phase I dont know where I got 8kw from (maybe 8 panels per phase) iether way if I had 8kw I would not be paying much of a bill. My apolagies

Tangwena