Should I let them use my electricity?
The people who bought the vacant house next door to me want to began work on the house. Their problem is they dont have electricity in the house yet. A woman came over this evening and asked they could use the outlet in my front yard. On and off for the next couple of weekends….
The people who bought the vacant house next door to me want to began work on the house. Their problem is they dont have electricity in the house yet. A woman came over this evening and asked they could use the outlet in my front yard. On and off for the next couple of weekends. They would be willing to give me $50 toward by bill. Is this a risky thing to do? What do you guys think?
Hilarious!
Sorry I didn’t see the sarcasm… up does seem to be down these days. I saw the words “common sense” and immediately thought the worst.
Joke/Satire/Poking fun at people who worry too much about normal events/etc ;).
I did let them use it this morning. The gave the money up front as promised. They said they would be done by around 5pm. I pretty much saw the tools they had. Nothing extravagant. I try to live by the “do onto others, as you would have them do onto you”. I just hope I don’t have to learn a costly lesson from all this. I’ll let all of you know what the outcome was in the next couple of weeks.
CMU, it’s not common-sense to cling to all the worst things that could happen.
It’s much more likely that the new neighbors are going to be using power tools over a couple of weekends, will get their own electricity soon, and will, in addition to paying for the electricity, feel slightly endebted to the OP for the favor.
The chance of a bad outcome is slim.
(meth lab? negative meter connection?)
The chance of a good outcome is excellent. Common sense dictates saying Yes (perhaps after asking some more questions).
I’ll go further than vinca…Don’t do it!
If they have an electrical fire in their house or a workman gets electrocuted, they’ll sue you and your insurance won’t cover it. Also they may be running a meth shop that requires electricity to break down the chemical components, and you can be charged as a criminal accessory if caught. And what if they connect it accidentally to their solar cells making your meter run backwards, and Con-Ed charges you with an illegal negative-meter connection?
In other words, use common sense. A commodity sorely lacking these days.
Just ask them what they’re using it for. $50 will probably cover it. It’s a pretty easy way of being a good neighbor as well. I’d have no problem with it.
Look at a few of your old electric bills and then compare them to what happens with them hooked up if you tink its going to be a problem
I think it’s fine to let them use your outlet, but would want more information first. What will they be running? Do you have sufficient power from that outlet? What happens if their use adds more than $50 to your bill? It’s not that hard to get Con Ed to restore service, so personally I’d ask why they haven’t been able to do that. I think it’s better to clarify some of these questions before giving a blanket okay.
Thats the same thing I was thinking. Thanks for your input.
Well, they are going to be your next door neighbors and you can always pull the plug if need be, so IMO the risk is minimal.