Speaking of sub-panels lol. The answer is no you can only use 50% of the total amps from your main panel. So if you have a 200 amp service you can have a 100 amp sub-panel. Why on earth do you need so much power anyway? lol Most homes these days are fine with just 100 amp service (unless you have a pool or spa). We forget how efficient devices are becoming as technology advances.a lot of houses have a 200 amp electrical boxs these days.can the main wire to my house handle an extra 200 amp box.for a total of 400 amps.
The on demand electric hot water heaters, from what I remember, can draw upwards of 50-75 amps. Electric stove/range, heat, central AC, hot water add up.Speaking of sub-panels lol. The answer is no you can only use 50% of the total amps from your main panel. So if you have a 200 amp service you can have a 100 amp sub-panel. Why on earth do you need so much power anyway? lol Most homes these days are fine with just 100 amp service (unless you have a pool or spa). We forget how efficient devices are becoming as technology advances.
Not all builders are willing to pay the extra money for a 200 amp service on a spec house.a lot of houses have a 200 amp electrical boxs these days.can the main wire to my house handle an extra 200 amp box.for a total of 400 amps.
You have to concider the fact that with one of these units your only paying to heat the water your using now not the water your using later in a regular hot water heater you pay to heat the water till you use it and to maintain the water temp for later, so an on-demand heater is in some ways more efficient also next time your at a home center just try to find an energy star rated hot water heater.The on demand electric hot water heaters, from what I remember, can draw upwards of 50-75 amps. Electric stove/range, heat, central AC, hot water add up.
(though not sure why one would go electric on demand hot water)
Sure more and more devices are getting efficient, but there are more and more devices coming out. Look at kitchens. 50 years ago, just a couple outlets was fine. Now its nearly every 2 feet.
But currently, yeah 100-150 should be fine for most homes of normal size.
I've asked the same question and have never gotten an answer that made sense.I'm also an electrician by trade, and I was wondering if you could elaborate on the reasoning behind splitting grounds and neutrals in a sub-panel. As I'm sure you know, at the main it is not necessary by US code so why is it on the sub?
His bill might have reflected additional electric needed to compensate for the higher temps created by the HPS and having to run the airconditioning more.CFLs use just as much wattage per lumens as HPS and MH and infact use more. So for a comparable grow lumens wise you would pay more to run CFLs then an HID. Saying CFLs are cheaper in that regard is about the same as saying incandescent light is cheaper then a CFL. (Not as extreme of course) Also even in alaska a 400Watt 12/12 cycle would not pull 138$ in a month. That 138$ is probably his entire bill or he has AC going. (12/12 in NC at 10cents a kilowatt hour (Its rated lower but after taxes) is about 25 bucks using a 600 watt)
All true, but at any given time everything *could* be on. (granted not heat and AC)You have to concider the fact that with one of these units your only paying to heat the water your using now not the water your using later in a regular hot water heater you pay to heat the water till you use it and to maintain the water temp for later, so an on-demand heater is in some ways more efficient also next time your at a home center just try to find an energy star rated hot water heater.
They don't exist.
And yes they do draw alot but only when you are running hot water.
That bill is hard to swallow I'm wondering if the meter reader might have made a mistake, I had an old aunt who lived alone in a small apartment and she would go down to the local power companies office and pay the bill in person and if her bill was over $13.00 she'd argue it with them till they lowered it she was a funny old lady she would only watch Lawrence Welk on her television on Sunday night and read the newspaper by the street light till it got dark then she used a 15 watt buld to finish the paper.If your talking to me Karloff my grow rooms been CFL for over a year now, just stating that HPS/MH is a more efficient technology. As for the bill, I live by myself with no AC, using propane range and water heater and my bill was over 200$ last month though it's usually more like 130. (Oh and my grow room is only pulling about 500watts right now, 400+ in CFLs and about 80 in fans.) Again just stating that there is a basic easy way to figure out a bill and 138$ from 400watts is not happening.
I agree on service load size though, and yeah even though appliances may be more efficient then ever we are still as a whole drawing more power then ever. Hell originally a house would have a single light and a receptical which they could connect an ice box to. Today though, out of 100Amps if you had two general appliance circuits which you would, 40amps would already be dedicated to that, then 20 more amps for a laundry circuit, and what 3 watts per sq/ft of general lighting. Of course those would never pull full load all at once, but on the otherside you'd never run an electrical dryer on 20amps and your looking at 50+amps for a range. (I'm running a 200A 40 slot panel board but it's a bit overkill, 100Amp would run me but would be about maxed)
The one time I installed one of those on demand hot water heaters it was on a 200 amp. service in a small two or three bedroom home with only one occupant.All true, but at any given time everything *could* be on. (granted not heat and AC)
So if I read you right, no prob with having say a 75 amp sub panel with 200 amps worth of breakers in it?
(I use 200 figuring 75 per leg would be 150 to single pole breakers)
Well I can't see the whole panel many companies use the same cover on several panels I see two open knock outs on the panel cover but that doesn't mean that there is anything behind them, but lets say you have room in the panel I would run 2 new circuits it's cheaper to do it now one for the comps and one for the ac it's cheaper to have him or her do it in one trip than to pay him to come back a second time. it would also free up the existing circuits your using.I have a relatively small two tent veg(2-2ft, 4bulb T5s)/flower(250watt HPS) setup in my home office. Using my Kill-a-watt, I've determined that I'm pulling ~ 4amps for lights and fans (soil grow, so that's it).
However, since it's a home office and I work from home frequently in addition to being a huge computer geek, I have multiple (4-5) computers running 24x7, pulling around 1.5amps a piece. Also, I live in the desert where it frequently hits 115 in the summer. Since I need to keep the door closed for both work and grow reasons, the room gets crazy hot during the summer. To combat this, I also have a portable A/C unit in the room.
I have to plug the A/C into an extension cord into the next room or I trip the breaker. Also, I had to move my wife's treadmill into the guest bedroom. I'm looking to rectify this.
I'm thinking that what I need to do is have an electrician out to run a dedicated circuit (thinking 20amp to account for possible expansion?) to plug either my grow setup or computers into and the A/C or Treadmill into. Right?
Here are pics of my breaker box. Can anyone give me a rough estimate of how much it might cost to have an extra circuit added to the box and run to my grow room/office? It's on the opposite side of the house from the box, but it's a 1-story 2300 sq foot house, so it's not terribly far.
Thanks,
DB
Yes a 12/3 wire for the circuit or circuits would be what I meant.200 Should be plenty. Easy way to figure your amp load is just take the Watts being used, and divide that by the nominal voltage. So for say a computer you would divide X watts by 120, or 240 for things like the range. Also on appliances like the range or dryer you need to then multiply that amperage you get after you did the division by 1.25. (Old houses would be 110/220, or 115) 12/3 awg would probably handle your new room fine though like I believe Karloff is saying.
No I was never in the union although I sometimes wish I was but at the time i started in the field my friends and relatives who were spent more time on layoffs than working it was during the last recession funny how history repeats it's starting to look like the eighties all over again.Are you in the IBEW, bro?
Alright man if you ever need any advice about UK wiring give us a shout, i am a electrician and its a different ball game over here.Hi there fellow RIU'ers... Over and over again I continualy see new threads and posts about electrical work question and thought I would post a couple threads to help you guys the same way all of you who have done such a great job having helped me... So, Do you have a grow room question about how to wire something up, or what are the safest ways of doing things? The most important one I see alot is people running lights and fans off power chords... I have wired my own grow room and will post an example of my work.
Please, if you have any questions and are unsure of what to do or if what you are doing is safe, PLEASE! ask me first if you are even a tad bit unsure. I would hate to hear anyone have an electrical fire because they didn't quite know what they were doing when all they needed to do was to ask a couple of questions... I will do my best to point you in the right direction.
If you want to do some wiring your self, I will either let you know if your project is too complicated if your not handy with electrical, or, IF YOU ASK, I will walk you thru your project step by step.
So please, ASK AWAY!!!
You can post questions here but you may not get your question answerd on the thread, best way to go about it is PM me. You will forsure get a response back.
PS Even if you have basic around the home electrical questions, shoot em my way.