Electrical Answers

I will start this thread with the intention of trying to answer reasonable questions ...

I will appreciate help from qualified electicians .

Haha ....I don't want this to be a full time job .... so please allow time for me to get back to you .


If you are not comfortable with electricity ...... call a qualified local electrician .

Remember that electricity CAN and DOES ..kill people .. even 110 Volt


Let me start with this :


Problem : I want to have 2 -1000 W lights, a 250 Watt fan and two 40 W cfl lamps .. how much power do I need ?

Answer: Watts = voltage x Current

So: 2 x 1000 Watts = 2000

+ 250 W (fan)...... =2250 W = + 80 W (cfl's)..... =2330 Watts

2330W/ 120 V =18.58 A

However : Voltage fluctuates .... what may be 117 V in the morning.. may be 113 in the afternoon

Using 110 as a minimum Voltage and using it for calculation purposes..

2330W / 110V = 21.18amps


If ballsast can be wired for 220/240

and you can suply a 220/240V circuit ..

then 2000/220 =9.09 amps

and : 330 Watts of fans and lights = 330W/110 V =3 amps



OK ... Fire away ...

I just built a new grow room and have some questions:

I want to run a sub-panel to my grow room and want to know if I should run a 10/3 feeder or an 8/3 feeder. Here is what I have layed out...using 14/2 wiring. {or should I use 12/2}

Circuit 1: Dedicated line to my 6" exhaust fan.

Circuit 2: Dedicated line to my 600wt. grow light

Circuit 3: 2 GFCI outlets and one regular outlet

Circuit 4: Single pole light switch to an overhead light and then on to a regular outlet. {I will use 14/3 between the switch and the light

I was thinking all I need is 4-15 amp breakers to do this; one for each circuit.

How close am I?

Thanks,

BikerDude

Go 12/2 and 20 amp breakers use 12/2 from the switch to the overhead light on a regular duplex receptacle. And go with the #8 for the feeder.

to answer roland yes if you supply lights with 240 you will only need 9 amps. as far as evening out voltage dont matter everything is rated for a nominal voltage of 120. This means that you supply voltage may vary up to 10% due to the way its transfered and distributed.. usually according to electrical code most things are wired to give a little heat forgiveness.. anyway back to question .. lights are most functional and less expensive the greater the voltage most commercial applications either use 277 or 347 but that is a oddball voltage caused by delta-wye configuration on incoming transformers.. been in the biz 15+ years

as far as biker dude goes how far is it from the panel or where you are picking up the feed from (voltage drop might affect this) . type of wire insulation can come into effect but if just using regular nmd (house wire ) i would go atleast 8 maybe even 6 if long enough