this post was submitted on 27 Sep 2024
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[–] Diuretic_Materialism@hexbear.net 23 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I think your municipal electricity bill is a matter of public record.

High electricity bills are a potential sign someone is running a growhouse (that and they can to thermal readings of the house). Idk how exactly it works but if a building has usually high energy usage for it's zoned purpose it can potentially lead to police investigation.

[–] anonochronomus@hexbear.net 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

More modern grow lights are LED, so the thermal signature thing is kinda null and void.

[–] ShimmeringKoi@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Don't they use less power, too? I'm wondering if some leds and a solar panel could totally erase the heat and energy signatures of a small indoor grow

[–] anonochronomus@hexbear.net 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I would have to do some math over it, new top of the line solar modules can have an output of like 600ish watts. The real PITA would be battery storage and maintaining power during extended periods of low insolation. Regardless, a home grow for personal consumption is already pretty much undetectable even without the solar panels. A good LED grow light will be like in the low hundreds of watts, so it's like having a few extra incandescent bulbs turned on. Negligible power draw.

[–] Hexboare@hexbear.net 3 points 1 month ago

The other thing is that the 500 watt LED light will eventually end up as heat, so if you're growing indoors it'll just look like heating usage.