satan's dalmation
Active Member
Would there be any problem running 2 1000w hps lights and a 750w little portable heater on a 12/3 romex feed?
2000w on 12/3 wire
- Thread starter satan's dalmation
- Start date
panhead
Well-Known Member
Are you sure its a 12/3 wire,if it is what is the wiring supplying at the moment & how is the wire being supplied its power,,is it connected at the main in 240 volt with a single 20 amp 240 volt breaker,a single 110 volt breaker or dual 110 volt breakers ?
For the record 12/3 wire is not a standard wire if you did not know that allready,a 12/3 wire is a 4 conductor wire that usually contains one (black) one (white) one (red) & one (bare copper or green) wire,both the black & red wires are hot with the white being neutral & the bare copper or green wire being the ground wire.
A standard 20 amp line is able to conduct 2,200 watts max load but should not have that large a load & is not meant to carry that large a load either ,the duty cycle of any line is rated at 80%of full power which in the case of a 20 amp line would be 1,750 watts constant draw.
If the 12/3 wire is being supplied from 2 seperate 20 amp 110 volt breakers you would be able to run 1,750 watts constant draw from each hot leg of the wire,if the 12/3 is being fed from two 15amp 110 volt breakers you would be able to run 1,650 watts max load from each leg,keeping in mind that same duty cycle of 80% that applies to all wiring you'd then be able to run 1,320 watts constant draw from each hot leg of the wire.
Best case scenario is that the 12/3 is being fed from 2 seperate 20 amp breakers,then you'd be able to run a 1,000 watt light from each hot leg of the wire but keep this in mind,durring start up of your light the ignighter can be pulling alot more than 1,000 watts until the lamp is fully light & the ignighter is then taken out of the equastion,you would be able to run a single 1,000 watt light plus the 750 watt heater as long as the heater was not powered on durring start up of the light,you would need to have the heater on a timer so it wouldnt power on while the lamp is starting up,chances are that if the heater was powered on durring ignition of the lamp the draw on the line would exceed the duty cycle & pop the breaker switch.
If it were me i would not include the heater in the mix,instead i'd try & find another circuit to plug the heater into,at 1,000 watts constant draw with the light, then the 750 watts of the heater you'd be right at the maximum constant load thats acceptable for a 20 amp line,and all of this is speculating that the 12/3 wire is being supplied it's power from dual 20 amp breakers,if the 12/3 is being fed from dual 15 amp 110 volt breakers then your max wattage draw would be 1,650 watts max draw with the 80% duty cycle being a much lower 1,350 watt constant draw.
There is also the possibility that the 12/3 wire is being supplied from either a single 20 amp 110 volt breaker or even a single 15 amp 110 volt breaker,in either of the single breaker scenarios you can only run a single 1,000 watt light safely,much here depends on the application of the 12/3 wire & how it's being supplied it's power direct from the breaker panel.
For the record 12/3 wire is not a standard wire if you did not know that allready,a 12/3 wire is a 4 conductor wire that usually contains one (black) one (white) one (red) & one (bare copper or green) wire,both the black & red wires are hot with the white being neutral & the bare copper or green wire being the ground wire.
A standard 20 amp line is able to conduct 2,200 watts max load but should not have that large a load & is not meant to carry that large a load either ,the duty cycle of any line is rated at 80%of full power which in the case of a 20 amp line would be 1,750 watts constant draw.
If the 12/3 wire is being supplied from 2 seperate 20 amp 110 volt breakers you would be able to run 1,750 watts constant draw from each hot leg of the wire,if the 12/3 is being fed from two 15amp 110 volt breakers you would be able to run 1,650 watts max load from each leg,keeping in mind that same duty cycle of 80% that applies to all wiring you'd then be able to run 1,320 watts constant draw from each hot leg of the wire.
Best case scenario is that the 12/3 is being fed from 2 seperate 20 amp breakers,then you'd be able to run a 1,000 watt light from each hot leg of the wire but keep this in mind,durring start up of your light the ignighter can be pulling alot more than 1,000 watts until the lamp is fully light & the ignighter is then taken out of the equastion,you would be able to run a single 1,000 watt light plus the 750 watt heater as long as the heater was not powered on durring start up of the light,you would need to have the heater on a timer so it wouldnt power on while the lamp is starting up,chances are that if the heater was powered on durring ignition of the lamp the draw on the line would exceed the duty cycle & pop the breaker switch.
If it were me i would not include the heater in the mix,instead i'd try & find another circuit to plug the heater into,at 1,000 watts constant draw with the light, then the 750 watts of the heater you'd be right at the maximum constant load thats acceptable for a 20 amp line,and all of this is speculating that the 12/3 wire is being supplied it's power from dual 20 amp breakers,if the 12/3 is being fed from dual 15 amp 110 volt breakers then your max wattage draw would be 1,650 watts max draw with the 80% duty cycle being a much lower 1,350 watt constant draw.
There is also the possibility that the 12/3 wire is being supplied from either a single 20 amp 110 volt breaker or even a single 15 amp 110 volt breaker,in either of the single breaker scenarios you can only run a single 1,000 watt light safely,much here depends on the application of the 12/3 wire & how it's being supplied it's power direct from the breaker panel.
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fureelz
Guest
panhead can i fly you to my house?
panhead
Well-Known Member
If your truly in Ireland then you got a deal
fat sam
Well-Known Member
yeah man pan head is right on, for my set up i ran a 12/3 wire off a single 20 amp breaker on the fuse pannel and im only running a 600 and a 430, i have the fans just plugged in to the wall next to the tent on an existing circuit because they are only drawing 100 watts max, i suggest you go to home depot and buy the book called wiring simplified, its like 5 bucks and then go run seperate circuits for your room, wiring is really not that hard once you read a little and get comfortable with it
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fureelz
Guest
panhead
Well-Known Member
Dammit,your now off my visit list with all that snowKindabut it snows here?
When i was a boy i loved te snow,couldnt wait till winter,all the parks had skating rinks & we'd all pl;ay hockey all winter it was a blast,now that im a crusty geezer (so my sons say) i hate winter,my knees & back hurt all winter long,im looking out my home office window as i type & the shit is 2ft deep in my yard,im not going out there for a month,maybe longer
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fureelz
Guest
lol ya, the cold sucks most of the time especially when your crusty bones can feel it 