Ultimate grow room for 15 amps

Sup guys, Im working on building this grow cabinet in my room which is 11'1"x13'4". I plan on having 2 600 watt lights and a 6 pot DWC recirc undercurrent. I want to do CO2 And an air conditioner. I also want to put another smaller piece onto the cabinet on the side for a veg room where I would have a LED light and CFLs and a ecogrower by GH. The problem I have is knowing how big to make this cabinet and how to keep it under 15 amps. I am in an apartment so I wanna make it look like something else if the maitnence people came in. I Wanna have it completely closed off from the outside air so it doesn't smell much but that is going to get super hot in the room because of having 2 600 watters. Please help me out on this one the 600 watt lights pull 10 amps so I basically got like 5 amps to work with here. Also need help on the dimensions of the cabinet. Thanks!

on a 15 amp circuit you really shouldn't have more than 12amps. any electrician would tell you do not exceed 80% of the rated load. plus, 2 600w lights will actually pull 11amps so you won't have much wiggle room. especially for anything like an a/c, dehumidifier, etc... i would look into running less lights or figuring out a way to get additional power into that room.

I mean I could run an extension cord from downstairs I guess. How can you find out how many amps you can draw in one room?

GreenDyl said:

I mean I could run an extension cord from downstairs I guess. How can you find out how many amps you can draw in one room?

Click to expand...

plug something into the wall outlet you want to use. turn it on. then go to the breaker panel and start flipping the single pole breakers till you find the one that turns off that outlet. then on the breaker you will see a number (most likely 15, 20, or 30). that is how many amps that outlet is rated for. then take 80% of that number and that is the max load you should put on that outlet.

I have a separate bathroom thats connected to my room so i should be able to use like 25 amps which should be good and from other rooms too. What size air cooler do you think I should get? And what could i disguise my cabinet as hahaha

GreenDyl said:

I have a separate bathroom thats connected to my room so i should be able to use like 25 amps which should be good and from other rooms too. What size air cooler do you think I should get? And what could i disguise my cabinet as hahaha

Click to expand...

you need to check which outlets are wired onto which breakers. houses are usually wired in zones with all of the outlets in a room being on the same breaker. sometimes that is different though; especially in apartments and condos. just depends. a lot of times you will also see that kitchens and bathrooms will have larger breakers to accomodate appliances, hair dryers, etc... that have higher amp draws. could be though that the room and bathroom are all on the same breaker. you need to test them.

as far as a/c goes i would think that you are going to have to get a dual hose portable unit. in that case you will be exhausting hot air from the a/c back into the room and most likely some of the odor as well. those units aren't 100% sealed and to tend to leak a little. if you were able to have a carbon filter in the cab that would help.

as fas as design goes...who knows man. whatever you think wouldn't look suspicios. if you wanna maximize the space then figure that 2 600w lights are going to cover a 3x6 plant area. then you need room for the equipment, a/c, etc.. that sounds like a pretty big cabinet. maybe 4x8. at that point i would just make it look like an armoire or something.

That would be pretty dope make it look like an armoire! What other system could I use to pull down at least a pound every 8 weeks?

GreenDyl said:

That would be pretty dope make it look like an armoire! What other system could I use to pull down at least a pound every 8 weeks?

Click to expand...

you won't need 1200w to pull a pound every 8 weeks. even if you aren't that experienced of a grower you can get a pound every 8 weeks off 600w or a pound every 4 weeks with 2 600w lights. have you grown before? if not, then i would recommend soil. keep the veg times short and flower them when they reach 12". little LST and topping and you should be able to fit 6 under a 600w light. maybe 9 with some tomato cages.

well this is how i would run it, an armoire with shelves for clones and a larger space beneath for 2 mothers, 150w halide for the mothers, and x2 2ft 2bulb t5 for the clones
then a 600 hps and 400 mH or a 400hps and 400MH SOG in a 4x4 .

since your clones will be small so will your flowering plants so you will have to increase the plant number, i would do about 30-40 in a 4x4 1-3 gal pots. 2 mothers 150w mh and 40 clones 4x4 pots or dixie cups on 2 shelves and x2 2ft 2bulb t5s in the armoire.

then for ventilation a 4in centrifugal fan and filter in veg and a 6in setup in flower.

soil and some basic nutes, hell i would do soiless if your newb gives you a reason to water everyday with low nutes.

when you veg longer you get bigger yeilds need about the same wattage of lights, but it takes more space.

but there are so many ways to get an lb a mo. youll have to find what works for you.

I have grown once before I only had 4 plants 4 diff strains in soil under a 600 watt light. I let them get about 18 in. then flowered but i only got about 5 ounces. I think it was because My PH was not being done for like the first 3 weeks of veg which is pretty crucial. I really wanna do the undercurrent cause its dope as hell but My main goal is to just be able to pull a pound or more as fast as possible for the time im at school. Basically just trying to pay off my student loans. I think another reason I only got 5 ounces was bad genetics mix with old bulbs. The bulbs I used had been used once before so I dont know if that weakens them or not. Really want to try a hydro setup though just to expand my knowledge.

Oh yeah and I'm trying to keep it legal here I have my medcard which allows me to grow 12 plants, the only problem I have is the place I'm living at. I don't really want to take a chance with them? or if I am legal does that make it legal for me to grow there?

Get a 4x8 tent and a 4x4 with 400mh for vegging
run two cycles and take clones off each cycle before they leave the vegging tent. then clone/veg for a month. for each light. Id do a plant per sqaure foot so 32 plants total. Skip soil and try to get Pro mix or last resort sunshine #4.
Get two aircooled shades and 6 inch inline plus ducting and charcoal filter.

mr.smileyface said:

Get a 4x8 tent and a 4x4 with 400mh for vegging
run two cycles and take clones off each cycle before they leave the vegging tent. then clone/veg for a month. for each light. Id do a plant per sqaure foot so 32 plants total. Skip soil and try to get Pro mix or last resort sunshine #4.
Get two aircooled shades and 6 inch inline plus ducting and charcoal filter.

Click to expand...

I can only have 12 plants though

your poor yield last time was not from your bulb most likely. it takes a few harvest or a good amount of luck to get high yields. takes time to learn the plants, feeding and everything else. a RDWC system will be like starting over again from scratch. trust me. you'll need to really watch your nutes and the plants closely because they can die in a matter of hours in those systems. pump fails or power goes out and the timer fucks up or something and your plants are laying on the floor the next morning when you wake up.

Do not run extension cords to power lights or any other large load. You're asking for fire otherwise. Also the electrical for your house should be mapped out at the panel which allows you to plan your grow. The bathroom comment about how you have 25 amps doesn't make sense. These loads will be continual and as others said maximum 80%.

stoendpirate said:

Do not run extension cords to power lights or any other large load. You're asking for fire otherwise. Also the electrical for your house should be mapped out at the panel which allows you to plan your grow. The bathroom comment about how you have 25 amps doesn't make sense. These loads will be continual and as others said maximum 80%.

Click to expand...

what part of the bathroom comment don't you understand. bathrooms and kitchens are normally wired with GFCI outlets and usually given higher amperage breakers. this is on newer installations of course. in the U.S. breakers are not wired continuosly throughout the entire house or apartment. normally not even in a bathroom with the same bedroom.

If the bathroom is on a separate breaker then thats another 11 amps i can use or whatever 80% of 15 is lol

GreenDyl said:

I have a separate bathroom thats connected to my room so i should be able to use like 25 amps which should be good and from other rooms too. What size air cooler do you think I should get? And what could i disguise my cabinet as hahaha

Click to expand...

You don't have 25 amps. Several sockets are on each circuit. You may have two or three rooms all on one circuit. You will need the figure out which sockets are fed from each breaker. Sockets on both sides of a wall may share a breaker. All the sockets on one side of the whole house may share one breaker! Two 600 watt lamps will draw a little over 12 amps. That's all you can safely put on one 15 amp circuit. Figure out how much power you have available and on what outlets and breakers and then plan your room. I plugged a vacuum cleaner into a socket ON THE OTHER END OF THE HOUSE and tripped the breaker for my lights. Two bathrooms, part of my kitchen, and one side of my grow room are one circuit. Part of my living room, two bedrooms, the hallway, and the other side of my grow room are on the other. I could use up to 30 amp, but I'd have no TV, lights, etc. in the rest of the house.

ScoobyDoobyDoo said:

what part of the bathroom comment don't you understand. bathrooms and kitchens are normally wired with GFCI outlets and usually given higher amperage breakers. this is on newer installations of course. in the U.S. breakers are not wired continuosly throughout the entire house or apartment. normally not even in a bathroom with the same bedroom.

Click to expand...

Mr. Electrician here has no clue as to how you house is wired. GFCI don't have higher rated curcuits, nor are they separate from the other circuits.

GreenDyl said:

If the bathroom is on a separate breaker then thats another 11 amps i can use or whatever 80% of 15 is lol

Click to expand...

If you can't calculate 80% of 15, you're too stupid to mix nutes. You'll kill your plants or burn down the house. Just go out and buy your pot.