Experienced Electrician! Here to Answer Any and All Growroom Electrical Questions

Total.Hydroponic.Control said:
Yes, it is a hazzard of a certain kind. The common sense kind. Even though you have no intention to overload your megastrip, chaining power strips together creates numerous addition points of inadequate mechanical bonding. This will eventually likely cause a voltage drop further along your megastrip until your losing hundreds of watts to heat loss from poor connections. Even underloaded you'll be creating additional heat where you probably don't want or need it.
Click to expand...

how do you know he's using power strips? he could be using multiple outlets that are on the same 20amp breaker. plus, if you have the ballast plugged into the outlet then i really don't see anyproblem running the rest of that gear on a powerstrip. that's only 300w of gear which is like 2.8amps. most power strips are rated for 15 amps and you won't experience any voltage drop or heat issues running 3amps through them.
 
ScoobyDoobyDoo said:
how do you know he's using power strips? he could be using multiple outlets that are on the same 20amp breaker. plus, if you have the ballast plugged into the outlet then i really don't see anyproblem running the rest of that gear on a powerstrip. that's only 300w of gear which is like 2.8amps. most power strips are rated for 15 amps and you won't experience any voltage drop or heat issues running 3amps through them.
Click to expand...


Surge protectors are power strips... which is exactly what he stated he wanted to do. We are addressing two separate posts... notice the posters name on my quote. The poster to my reply also never specified a load... just numerous cfls and multiple power strips... add some water and tell me thats not trouble.
 
Total.Hydroponic.Control said:
Surge protectors are power strips... which is exactly what he stated he wanted to do. We are addressing two separate posts... notice the posters name on my quote. The poster to my reply also never specified a load... just numerous cfls and multiple power strips... add some water and tell me thats not trouble.
Click to expand...

sorry total...my bad. i wasn't paying attention.
 
HI guys

I live in an old townhouse and I am looking to upgrade the amount of electricity in a particular room. Currently, all outlets in the room are on the same breaker. I trip the breaker quite a bit. I want to upgrade to 2 1kw digital ballasts, run several fans, a window ac and have a 800w veg area in the same circuit. I am not even going to attempt to think about trying this myself, so i just need to know what to tell the electrician to install? Im guessing im going to want about 4kw capacity. better more than less! I think i need a subpanel? again, not even attempting myself, just need to know what to tell the electrician.

thank you and happy times
 
30-50a subpanel is your best bet leaves you lots of room to play that way
eg... i run a 3kw room of a 30a timerpanel and am only at ~half capacity (ballasts, 3 can fans, 2 wall fans, 12k btu minisplit heatpump)
 
08GSXR600 said:
HI guys

I live in an old townhouse and I am looking to upgrade the amount of electricity in a particular room. Currently, all outlets in the room are on the same breaker. I trip the breaker quite a bit. I want to upgrade to 2 1kw digital ballasts, run several fans, and have a 800w veg area in the same circuit. I am not even going to attempt to think about trying this myself, so i just need to know what to tell the electrician to install? Im guessing im going to want about 4kw capacity. better more than less! I think i need a subpanel? again, not even attempting myself, just need to know what to tell the electrician.

thank you and happy times
Click to expand...

hey bud, sounds like someone is upgrading. sweet dude. what you need from the electrician is gonna depend a lot on the equipment that you use. for example; are you using 240v ballasts or 120v? what other equipment do you have in each room? what size is the current breaker for the outlets in the room. a lot will depend on these answers. also, are you trying to do this for as cheap as possible or are you willing to spend some extra money to have it done a little nicer?

i would suggest that if you haven't bought the ballasts already that you get yourself 240v ballast cords. this will allow you to run your ballasts more efficiently and will also reduce the size of the breaker you will need and wire you need to bring from the breaker on the panel into your grow. you might even want to just think about getting a light controller instead of a subpanel. something with dual triggers will run both your flower and veg rooms.

let me know. glad to help work through it for ya.
 
oakley1984 said:
30-50a subpanel is your best bet leaves you lots of room to play that way
eg... i run a 3kw room of a 30a timerpanel and am only at ~half capacity (ballasts, 3 can fans, 2 wall fans, 12k btu minisplit heatpump)
Click to expand...

how are you running 3,000w on a 30 amp timer panel? are they 240v ballast cords? 1000w ballast pulls 10 amps at 120v and 5 amps at 240v. then you have 3 inline fans and a 12,000btu a/c all on the same circuit? you sure?
 
240v(technically 230v here, but 230v @ 30amp = ~7kw capacity, anyone who runs a subpanel at 120v is a fuckin moron in my personal opinion.
then again i understand electricity Alot better than the next (trying to get into electrical engineering at uni)
 
oakley1984 said:
its called 240v, anyone who runs a subpanel at 120v is a fuckin moron in my personal opinion.
then again i understand electricity Alot better than the next (trying to get into electrical engineering at uni)
Click to expand...

i'm not talking about what you run your panel at (it wouldn't be a subpanel if you ran it at 120v; would be a glorified powerstrip). i'm talking about what you run your equipment on. you have 60 amps at 120v on a 240v 30 amp subpanel. 3 ballasts are 30amps. 3 inline fans are 6-8 amps. 2 amps for the wall fans. 10-12 amps for the a/c unit. that's around 50 amps which is 83% of your capacity. any electrician will tell you that is MAX load recommended on any circuit. most say stay around 75-80% of your rated load to be safe.
 
and if you really want to nitpick
1100w per ballast @ 115vac = 9.56a draw each 28.68
175w can fans draw whats that, a whole 1.52a each! 4.56
80w wall fans draw a WHOPPING 0.7a each 1.4a
heatpump draws 9.8a

44.44amp draw @ 115vac or a ~22amp draw @ 230vac
either way im less than 75% of my circut
you sure like to round things up.
Do Not talk to me like you think you know my equipment, situation and room better than i.
 
oakley1984 said:
and if you really want to nitpick
1100w per ballast @ 115vac = 9.56a draw each 28.68
175w can fans draw whats that, a whole 1.52a each! 4.56
80w wall fans draw a WHOPPING 0.7a each 1.4a
heatpump draws 9.8a

44.44amp draw @ 115vac or a ~22amp draw @ 230vac
either way im less than 75% of my circut
you sure like to round things up.
Do Not talk to me like you think you know my equipment, situation and room better than i.
Click to expand...

wow...you are a fun one to deal with. good luck with that degree...while you are at it try socializing with some people on campus toolbag. sorry i was off by 5 whole amps. what a jackass. you just proved my point. i'll talk to you any way i want; it's an internet forum so stop acting like you can do something about hero boy! feel free to stfu now.
 
ScoobyDoobyDoo said:
wow...you are a fun one to deal with. good luck with that degree...while you are at it try socializing with some people on campus toolbag. sorry i was off by 5 whole amps. what a jackass. you just proved my point. i'll talk to you any way i want; it's an internet forum so stop acting like you can do something about hero boy! feel free to stfu now.
Click to expand...

numbers are numbers, theres right and theres wrong. and when it comes to electrical you damn right that 5 amps matters.

and the only tool bag here is you buddy.

you had a point to posting other than to be a judgmental douche with no actual facts?

Take a walk and let people who actually understand electricity help people.
 
oakley1984 said:
numbers are numbers, theres right and theres wrong. and when it comes to electrical you damn right that 5 amps matters.
Click to expand...

duh ass clown...i guessed the electrical draw on your 3,000w grow based on some assumptions. obviously i'm not gonna be dead on! i don't know what type of ballasts, fans, a/c you are using. what are you? retarded? socially handicapped? you are at the max recommended load for your subpanel. not running at "less than half the capacity." THAT MATTERS! you were wrong.
 
wow what happened here, this thread used to be so positive and helpfull. can you take the fighting to a pm so others can get the help they seek without fear of getting attacked...
 
2 1k watt lights, digital ballasts. Pretty sure I can switch cords easily. co2 setup ( still figuring out what controller to run) 6 inline fan, going sealed, 4in air scrubber. Veg is 6x4ft t5, & 250w mh with 4" inline. Two oscillating fans. Will put AC in if I need it. Which I probably will. In which case I don't know what Ac to get.
 
Hey this might be a noobie question but how exactly do i install lights to a grow room and give connect them to an electrical outlet? Also what is the smallest i could make my box if i have 15 plants and im using 2 400watt HID lights?
 
YoungStoner123 said:
Hey this might be a noobie question but how exactly do i install lights to a grow room and give connect them to an electrical outlet? Also what is the smallest i could make my box if i have 15 plants and im using 2 400watt HID lights?
Click to expand...

usually the bulb sits in a reflector or hood. it's screwed into a migul socket. then a cord goes from that to the ballast. ballast make heat so most people keep them outside the room. that's why most mogul cords are 10-15 feet. then the ballast plugs into the wall outlet.

two 400w lamps will cover a 3x6 area (3x3 each) to grow plants in effectively. you could go smaller but i wouldn't cause most hoods are at least 2' long. would be to tight in there. plus you would need to leave room for any other equipment that will be in the box like dehumidifier, fans, etc...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top