electrical question

wass up riu i wnna run 4 600w hps lights i got 3 outlits 120v 2 of them are 20 amps one is a 15amp i know it aint enough cuz i needa plug in the ac and a few fans what would i have to do i got an uncle that knows how to fck wit the electrical i just wnna know what i need to get should i switch to 240v do i need another breaker box if anybody knows about this it would help out alot thankz

hey jay so what is it you are trying to do again? are you trying to run everything on 1 circuit? im not really comprehending what your trying to do atm, kinda high so forgive me if im kinda slow atm

i could run 1900 watts on 20 amps so if i plug in 2 600w on each can i add on fans to that or would i have to intall another breaker and run another wire and i got a 15amp outlit for the ac would the two 20 amps and 1 15 amp b enough for all this

thats for the reply gee

they're all on seperate circuits with seperate breakers? ie: you have 2x 20 amp circuits and 1x 15 amp circuit? seems like it would be enough, if your uncle is an electrician id get him to do the calculations and factor load of everything (AC+fans+lights+whatever else). i'd tend to think you'd be OK but im no electrician. fans shouldnt be too much i think they draw pretty low power. the big hungry devices will be your AC and 4x600w lamps. ive seen some device you can plug into an outlet then you plug your stuff into it, then it has a digitial display showing total electrical draw in watts. id figure out the max you can run on a 20 amp circuit then run like 70-80% of that to be safe..and make sure they're all on seperate circuits, 2x 20 amp receptacles on the same circuit is not the same as 2 seperate circuits.

you should be more then fine with the fans and AC on a 15 amp circuit though my roommate runs a window AC, TV, PS3 etc off one power strip, a few fans prob use much less then a big screen TV

If you have 12-3 to a grounded outlet it can be wired 240v 20A that is 4800Watts or two 2400 watt 120v outlets. A *!GROUNDED!* 240v dryer/AC outlet should supply your needs split into 2 120 volt outlets. Just add up the total watts start AC before the lights. Depending on the breaker space going to 3 240v lines =55A 240v 13200W * .7 = 9240 W

jaydiesle said:

wass up riu i wnna run 4 600w hps lights i got 3 outlits 120v 2 of them are 20 amps one is a 15amp i know it aint enough cuz i needa plug in the ac and a few fans what would i have to do i got an uncle that knows how to fck wit the electrical i just wnna know what i need to get should i switch to 240v do i need another breaker box if anybody knows about this it would help out alot thankz

Click to expand...

Just to clarify the math:

Watts = Volts x Amps (20 amps x 120 volts = 2400 watts)

Try not to exceed 80% of the max as a safety precaution.

If you can run your lights on 240v then you should as they will run more efficiently.

Peace out

grizlbr said:

If you have 12-3 to a grounded outlet it can be wired 240v 20A that is 4800Watts or two 2400 watt 120v outlets. A *!GROUNDED!* 240v dryer/AC outlet should supply your needs split into 2 120 volt outlets. Just add up the total watts start AC before the lights.

Click to expand...

koo so i should be good i wont need to upgrade to 240v i could use the 120

jay you should be fine how your planning to run it. 2x600w uses 10a and fans probably .5a each? so that wont be a problem on a 20a breaker. like the above guy mentioned dont exceed 80% of the breakers amp rating and you will be fine. so on a 20a breaker you can load it down with 16a and you'll be fine.

koo thanks guyz