Is there an electrician in the house?

[themanwiththeplan]

my grow space is in dire need of an electrical upgrade i believe.

this past summer i kept blowing in the circuit/fuse (or whatever its called..im an electrical amateur btw) in my grow room. apparently on hot days my circuit would blow from having 2 600w's, 3 fans, and an a/c unit.

well i solved the problem by using an extension cord and plugging the a/c into a different room of the property.

when they were plugged into the same circuit or room it would run for 20 mins or so and everything on the circuit would get shut off...had to go to the box...flip the switch...boom works again...(of course i unplugged the lights before doing so)

I think i need an electrician because i wanna add on or possibly trade up. looking to go to either 2 1000s or 1 1000 and 1 600 or something similar...maybe just add on another 6. im not sure yet but i want to add on & dont wanna have extension cords running all over the property.

the circuit breaker says its 100amp. how could i be blowing that with just 1 a/c unit. 2 600s and 3 fans? i dont run much else on the property other than the grow lights...maybe a tv to occupy my time while trimming and a room light on...thats about it...

so help plz?

what kind of work would need to be done? rough estimate $$$ wise? and is it possible to walk this n00b through it or is it way to complicated? i prefer to do it diy since i rather not pack up my grow to get an electrician in there (dont want anyone to get ideas to come back and knock me off if you know what i mean)

any/all help appreciated.

 

[reverof]

I had the same issue, I was running a touch more than you but either the dehumidifier or the AC would kick it off when either engaged full power... my buddy is an electrician and stated the amount of amps to power on an item is much greater than just running it, which made sense. The starting draw of certain items will pull much more amps, an AC unit is crazy.

Basically to get your grow room happy you need to have another breaker put in and and electrical line ran to your grow room, and drop in a couple outlets so you can cleanly seperate your load. Basically you are lookign at about $200-300 bucks for an electrician to come do it.

 

[themanwiththeplan]

Now heres where i ask the most dangerous question of my life...how possible is it to learn/do this/get walked through doing this on my own?

the way i grow now (which is pretty much continuously as i havent had my harvest from my last grow and im already underway on my next which is how i always do it) would make it hard for me to get an electrician in there. id have to rip out all my equipment and store it in my shed or something while he comes out to do the work. ive done that in the past before..now fun...

hoping to avoid it and possibly get help or learn how to do this. how complicated is it? (honestly you make it sound like a cakewalk)

i dont wanna get the shock of my life lol

 

[woodsmaneh!]

You have 100 amp service into your fuse box and from there it is distributed to the other breakers. The breakers in the box are likely 15 amp and that's why your blowing breakers. as^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ is correct. It is real easy to do electrical wrong and burn the place down or even electrocute yourself. Some times it takes days or weeks or months before a bad wiring job shows up. Put a man on it and sleep well.
Running an extension cord on an AC is not a good idea if it is not made for that job, the wire is thicker to handle the up and down current draws. Fire waiting to happen.

A good rule of thumb is to grab the plug just after the equipment starts and see if it gets warm, if so not good.

 

[themanwiththeplan]

ive checked my extension cord when i first did it...i still routinely check it...it doesnt get hot. i believe its a 12ga but i cant be certain.

so you guys are saying a few hundred 200-300 (or about that) to do the whole job?


what should i say when calling the electrician? i dont wanna say, "hey i wanna add more equipment to my room where i got pot, come on down"

need a reasonable excuse as to why im wanting to add on to this room.

also when i do call and they ask what im looking for whats the professional way to ask what i want (to be able to run a lot more juice in that room and basically double my lights in terms of wattage...im looking for 2K watts in lights alone plus all the fans and such)

what should i look for in terms of them scamming/trying to jack the price up? etc.


also would it be a better idea to plug one of my 600s into the extension cord and plug it outside the grow room on another circuit over the a/c or both are just as bad?

 

[themanwiththeplan]

btw thanks guys you're being amazingly helpful!

 

[UnderCurrentDWC]

You should have your electrician install a 220v breaker and run new 220 wire into the room. Your ballasts will power your lamps using less Amps this = cheeper power bills.

Excuses: New office area, new fish aquarium

If you have to use an extension cord for anything major, the thicker the gage the better.

 

[wiseguy316]

You should have your electrician install a 220v breaker and run new 220 wire into the room. Your ballasts will power your lamps using less Amps this = cheeper power bills.

Excuses: New office area, new fish aquarium

If you have to use an extension cord for anything major, the thicker the gage the better.

lol..here we go again...it will NOT use less power on 220

volts times amps equals watts.

it will use half the amps (because it is in 2 wires)but you are pulling the same amount power because you are using 2 legs of 120.

so 600 divided by 120 is 5 amps

600 divided by 220 is 2.5 amps per leg of 120 consuming the same 5 amps.

 

[themanwiththeplan]

so if the poster who said ask for a 220v is wrong then what am i asking for specifically?

the new office area or fish aquarium makes sense though...might have to use one of those ideas.


i just dont wanna say the wrong thing...and how much of an estimate is too high out the door?

 

[themanwiththeplan]

keep in mind my property (indoors) isnt even a whole 1000sq ft...more like 800-900 so its definitely a small piece of property.

 

[wiseguy316]

so if the poster who said ask for a 220v is wrong then what am i asking for specifically?

the new office area or fish aquarium makes sense though...might have to use one of those ideas.


i just dont wanna say the wrong thing...and how much of an estimate is too high out the door?

you need to upgrade your service to that room of the house, whether it be 220 or 120. however making it 220 is not going to make anything run cheaper. an amp is an amp is amp, you are billed by kilowatt hrs

 

[themanwiththeplan]

you need to upgrade your service to that room of the house, whether it be 220 or 120. however making it 220 is not going to make anything run cheaper. an amp is an amp is amp, you are billed by kilowatt hrs

i understand that much that a 200 and a 120 are no different in terms of how much the bill will cost.

my plugs are all 120 anyway so i wouldnt wanna add 220 as it would just be more difficult for me in the end.

so i just say i wanna upgrade my service to a certain room in my house (because its gonna be an office or that im gonna fill it with a aquarium tanks and need to push around 2K watts in that room) and they should know what to do from there pretty much?

 

[wiseguy316]

i understand that much that a 200 and a 120 are no different in terms of how much the bill will cost.

my plugs are all 120 anyway so i wouldnt wanna add 220 as it would just be more difficult for me in the end.

so i just say i wanna upgrade my service to a certain room in my house (because its gonna be an office or that im gonna fill it with a aquarium tanks and need to push around 2K watts in that room) and they should know what to do from there pretty much?

do you own this place?

 

[themanwiththeplan]

yes. well technically i dont but my grow partner does & we're both on board with getting it done.

is there permits that need to be taken out to do this type of work?

 

[Pravius]

No permits, well I guess that may depend on the state. My father is a Master Electrician and he is 420 friendly. I am in Michigan so if you are here I may be able to help you out.

 

[themanwiththeplan]

well actually we're in california. idk how strict the laws are here as far as electrical work goes...

 

[Captain Sisko]

Electrical work can be dangerous, but with proper precautions it is very easy if you're one of the those handy people.

If you wanna be extra safe, I recommend trying to do as much of the work as you feel comfortable with. Is this going through a finished space or is it open were everything is easy to get to? If it is fairly open and doesn't require much wire fishing I would wire up another outlet (I assume you have one already because you didn't complain about it tripping other rooms). Run the wires to the box and then call in an electrician to do the final wiring. Much cheaper that way. Lot of good videos showing step by step how to do everything you wanna do. Electrical work is very easy, at least what you wanna do.

If you wanna be cheap, like a previous poster pointed out, you probably have a 15 amp breaker in there. It is very simple to take the panel off, cut the main power and replace a breaker with a higher amp. Probably a 50.

If you do wanna hire someone, call in multiple people (set it up for the same day a half hour apart). I would stay away from chain places, but would never pay someone who isn't bonded.

Good luck!!!

EDIT: As for as permits, depends where you are. You have to know your city. Some places I have lived in wouldn't notice if you put an addition on your house others knock on your door after painting a room. Keep in mind about 220, stuff that uses it is generally more expensive.

 

[welby]

couple options depending on how maxed your panel is. How many, if any at all, spaces do you have open in your breaker panel?

Have the electrician out and run a single 20-30 amp 120v circuit to your grow room giving you 2 circuits to run all of your equipment, lights, fans, etc.

Have him run a 240v (240v in most residential areas of the US, not 220v) 2-pole 20 amp circuit to your grow room and use this circuit for the lights. This gives you more room for expansion (could safely run 4k watts of lighting) and you still have the original 120v circuit for your fans, pumps, dildo chargers, etc.

 

[welby]

Good call on the videos sisko, running the wire yourself is easy and will save you some coin. 12AWG for 20A, 14AWG for 15A.

If you wanna be cheap, like a previous poster pointed out, you probably have a 15 amp breaker in there. It is very simple to take the panel off, cut the main power and replace a breaker with a higher amp. Probably a 50.

Might have miss typed this but as a warning I'll say, DO NOT DO THIS. Bad fire and melting of metal will result.

 

[woodsmaneh!]

Electrical work can be dangerous, but with proper precautions it is very easy if you're one of the those handy people.

If you wanna be extra safe, I recommend trying to do as much of the work as you feel comfortable with. Is this going through a finished space or is it open were everything is easy to get to? If it is fairly open and doesn't require much wire fishing I would wire up another outlet (I assume you have one already because you didn't complain about it tripping other rooms). Run the wires to the box and then call in an electrician to do the final wiring. Much cheaper that way. Lot of good videos showing step by step how to do everything you wanna do. Electrical work is very easy, at least what you wanna do.

If you wanna be cheap, like a previous poster pointed out, you probably have a 15 amp breaker in there. It is very simple to take the panel off, cut the main power and replace a breaker with a higher amp. Probably a 50.

If you do wanna hire someone, call in multiple people (set it up for the same day a half hour apart). I would stay away from chain places, but would never pay someone who isn't bonded.

Good luck!!!

EDIT: As for as permits, depends where you are. You have to know your city. Some places I have lived in wouldn't notice if you put an addition on your house others knock on your door after painting a room. Keep in mind about 220, stuff that uses it is generally more expensive.

I know your trying to help but advice like that will kill someone. If you don't know what your talking about, shut up, sit down and learn.

If you replaced the 15 amp with a 50 amp and pulled say 40 to 50 amps through wire ment to carry 15 amps what do you think is going to happen? Your going to melt the wire and start a fire. There are also limits that you can run wire carrying current. That's why electricians get 50 to 80$ an hr.

The cost is time and materials, to run a new plug if they have easy access to the basement will take under 3 hours so about 30$ for mat. and 3 hr @ 60 =$180+$30 for a total of $210.00

Tell him it's for the air conditioner he won't question that and get him to put a 20amp service in for you. Might cost 20$ extra. Tell him you want to be able to upgrade your AC later.