Max watts before overload on eletricity

If I wired CFLs together, say 23W, how many could I do before I eventually overloaded a circuit and caused a spark/short. Other instances to, if I had fewer wired together but more wired plugs. (USA)

[edit] yeah electricity, can't change it now

uhm, i have no idea, ask an electrician

I plug in my 400 watt hps to the wall it pulls 430watts altogether and the outlet is fine. You could probably hook up 30+ cfl's before worrying about tripping the circuit breaker!!

A good rule of thumb is to NOT surpass 660 watts from any single electrical socket. That means about 25 23w cfls. Most Y adaptors have a 660w maximum, but if you're stripping the wires and just running your cfls in series, I don't know. Thin wires + tons of wattage probably isn't a good idea, but you should be fine with at LEAST 10 cfls in a row.

Your lamp sockets are rated by watts, but the amount you can run on one circuit has nothing to do with watts, its Amps. Most (generalizing here) household circuits are 15-20 Amps, you can't exceed that without blowing circuit/fuse.

outrunu said:

Most (generalizing here) household circuits are 15-20 Amps, you can't exceed that without blowing circuit/fuse.

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So really I can't do it unless i'm just being ridiculous with the CFls.

I was planning on wiring ~12 cfls together that will beam from the top and having one wire to the plug. Seems like it will work out. Thanks for the info everyone.

yes I had that same number of cfl's hooked up to one wire it was fine just make sure the extension cord it's hooked up to is grounded (has three plugs)

solstice08 said:

So really I can't do it unless i'm just being ridiculous with the CFls.

I was planning on wiring ~12 cfls together that will beam from the top and having one wire to the plug. Seems like it will work out. Thanks for the info everyone.

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After you wire up that mess the phone number you call is 911.

Are you seriously planning on splicing 12 electrical connections to one cord,all for the sake of having a single plug or saving a few dollars ?

What your proposing is one of the unsafest & unsound things ive read to date on how to power a grow op,no matter how many other people are splicing connections & bumbeling shit together & getting away with it this is not safe nor is it even close to being a good plan.

If your going to do this anyways & there are other people in the home please make them aware of what your planning on doing,that way they can make their own choice as to live with a chance of fire while they sleep.

You do realize that 12 cfl's can be ran safely for the cost of around $100 ?

Please dont do something so foolish & irresponsible.

one 400w HPS has 1 plug.