amp usage and square footage.

HGK420

Well-Known Member
posted in michigan medical for advice from others with our unique weather. temp/humidity battles in michigan are different then most other places.

so i have 3 rooms to grow in. 8 x 24. the original plan was to cram full with big ole hogs and go. was such a pain to keep clean and to even water. i then ran a 5 x 16 run of lights down one side with path on the other and that worked well but i feel like I'm leaving square footage behind that i could be getting the benefit of.

so I'm at 20 amps in one room and 20 amps split between the other 2 for the lights alone. i have another 30 amps per room for cooling and fans and just plugs and whatnot. i can hijack some of that power for lights in the 2 rooms that share a 20 panel.

my questions. what does everyone suggest? I've got 3 led lights that cost as much as a bass boat in one room and 600s in one room and 1000s in the other. honestly they all perform about the same. the 600s are open hood and the 1000s are closed which i see very similar results between. I'm just at this hodge podge point where i have a little of everything going and i feel like i want to find the most efficient way to utilize my rooms with ease of work, any advice from anyone would be great. thanks.
 

HGK420

Well-Known Member
to add to my question i guess what I'm thinking is 600s all over. get about as much square foot i can get without overfilling the rooms. probably 6x12 in each room. 6 600s per room. i don't think i would ever completely outfit in LEDs even tho the final product is up to par the initial cost is just ridiculous still. i can get 4 600 combos for the price of one LED.

height is sorta an issue so I've steered clear of the indoor suns being passed off as a light that is gavita and the other double ended whammys. so no mojo there. whats your guys thoughts on open hooded 600s vs closed 1000s?
 

HGK420

Well-Known Member
pacific. the 600ish-w equivalent. i forget the unit name. big square unit with 6 heat sinks coming out the back. works rly well in about a 3.5x3.5 area to a 4x4 area. i have 3 of them. little cooler then a 600 and produces well.
 

captainmorgan

Well-Known Member
20 amps at 120 volts is 2400 watts and at most use 40 watts a square foot for those PLC lights. That's 60 sq/ft coverage for 20 amps using PLC lights.
 

doctordetroit

Well-Known Member
Safety first
you can draw 1920 watts on those 20 amp breakers safely 5760 on that 30 amp if you max them out itll trip the breaker. Just thinking if your using all of that then have a electrition install a couple new 30 amp plugs/breakers in the rooms/panel you need. Cost a few hundred but better then burning the house down trying to run more power then the wiring can handle.
as for the lights Im an old hat but newish to growing sorry I can't help ;)
 
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