Upgrading from 110 voltage to 200 amp. What size panel do I need?

farmingfisherman

farmingfisherman

Well-Known Member
natureboygrower said:
Thats going to be a costly electrical renovation. New panel, all new grounded romex run to outlets. Not sure where you live, but you must have a generous power company if they're going to foot the bill. The power company in my state are more crooked than the mafia.
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Pays to be friendly with folks. Was mowing the lawn when a guy from the PC drove up and went to our neighbors house. I asked him if he could take a look at where the power line from the pole was going threw a tree on the way to the house, next thing you know I learn about what his department does and why they are in the area. The combo of the height of the where it enters the house and age of the line qualified us to get the work done. His department has a budget to do safety upgrades and since they we're doing the neighbors house and a few others he was able to add us to the list.
We talked about the grounds, new panel, mast and existing wiring ECT which are all required to bring it up to current code and yes it's not a cheap. Even if they pay for a portion of it I'd be happy but being you can't do one without doing the others it sounds as if it's all going to be covered to us at no cost. Fingers crossed!
 
natureboygrower

natureboygrower

Well-Known Member
farmingfisherman said:
Pays to be friendly with folks. Was mowing the lawn when a guy from the PC drove up and went to our neighbors house. I asked him if he could take a look at where the power line from the pole was going threw a tree on the way to the house, next thing you know I learn about what his department does and why they are in the area. The combo of the height of the where it enters the house and age of the line qualified us to get the work done. His department has a budget to do safety upgrades and since they we're doing the neighbors house and a few others he was able to add us to the list.
We talked about the grounds, new panel, mast and existing wiring ECT which are all required to bring it up to current code and yes it's not a cheap. Even if they pay for a portion of it I'd be happy but being you can't do one without doing the others it sounds as if it's all going to be covered to us at no cost. Fingers crossed!
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Good deal and good luck, man. Very rarely does the little guy get a freebie from those motherfuckers.
I'll keep my fingers crossed for you
 
S

spek9

Well-Known Member
farmingfisherman said:
Pays to be friendly with folks. Was mowing the lawn when a guy from the PC drove up and went to our neighbors house. I asked him if he could take a look at where the power line from the pole was going threw a tree on the way to the house, next thing you know I learn about what his department does and why they are in the area. The combo of the height of the where it enters the house and age of the line qualified us to get the work done. His department has a budget to do safety upgrades and since they we're doing the neighbors house and a few others he was able to add us to the list.
We talked about the grounds, new panel, mast and existing wiring ECT which are all required to bring it up to current code and yes it's not a cheap. Even if they pay for a portion of it I'd be happy but being you can't do one without doing the others it sounds as if it's all going to be covered to us at no cost. Fingers crossed!
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I am very surprised to hear that the power company has said they may pay for upgrades to your property. I've never heard of that before.

I've only known the power company's responsibility to be up to the meter, if even that far. After that' it's the property owner's responsibility.

Good on you though if things work differently where you are and it will be all covered.
 
A

Apalchen

Well-Known Member
My power company doesn't do any of that either. I had two option to get a new drop to my building. One as 4k the other was 7k. The 7k option was actually the overhead option and they said it was so high because I had to pay for them to upgrade a transformer that's not even on my property and supplies other houses as well. The 4k underground option was what I went with as it was just a better option anyways. All that the 4k covered was them boring to hook up to the new meter base they provided. I had to mount meter base and wire the building and get an inspection before they would even hook up.

We are in some kinda damn co op. And I figure that's why we are responsible for so much of the equipment cost though.

I guess it was worth it though as I have a 200 amp service just for my grow now. And a seperate 200 amp service to the house so even with future expansion I should have plenty of power.

Keep us posted that old wiring can be dangerous, in my old house before I bought it the old tube and knob power caught on fire and the home had to be extensively repaired.
 
farmingfisherman

farmingfisherman

Well-Known Member
Apalchen said:
My power company doesn't do any of that either. I had two option to get a new drop to my building. One as 4k the other was 7k. The 7k option was actually the overhead option and they said it was so high because I had to pay for them to upgrade a transformer that's not even on my property and supplies other houses as well. The 4k underground option was what I went with as it was just a better option anyways. All that the 4k covered was them boring to hook up to the new meter base they provided. I had to mount meter base and wire the building and get an inspection before they would even hook up.

We are in some kinda damn co op. And I figure that's why we are responsible for so much of the equipment cost though.

I guess it was worth it though as I have a 200 amp service just for my grow now. And a seperate 200 amp service to the house so even with future expansion I should have plenty of power.

Keep us posted that old wiring can be dangerous, in my old house before I bought it the old tube and knob power caught on fire and the home had to be extensively repaired.
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Will do. Company has come and already marked where the new line and box will be mounted on the house. We are also skeptical of this work being done for free but even if it turns out they only cover the line to the house and new panel and we have to pay for the house wiring it's better than having to foot the entire bill, which is what we were looking at before.
 
B_the_s

B_the_s

Well-Known Member
farmingfisherman said:
How much to pull wires to say 15 outlets in a 850 sq ft house do you suppose?
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You may need to rewire everything to bring it up to code for the final hookup. Light fixtures, appliances, maybe even wall switches. Look for any and all potential green energy rebates and incentives available in your area too!
 
farmingfisherman

farmingfisherman

Well-Known Member
B_the_s said:
You may need to rewire everything to bring it up to code for the final hookup. Light fixtures, appliances, maybe even wall switches. Look for any and all potential green energy rebates and incentives available in your area too!
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Pretty sure nothing in our house is grounded. We have no GFI outlets and the outlets we do have all have only 2 wires going to them even though they are the modern three prong plugs. Yes since learning out of date all of the wiring is I'm no longer growing indoors. Stoked to get back up and growing once the work is done. Planning on additional outlets in all rooms as well as possible 240 line into the room I use for growing for a proper panel with addition safety built in.
 
dbz

dbz

Well-Known Member
farmingfisherman said:
Pretty sure nothing in our house is grounded. We have no GFI outlets and the outlets we do have all have only 2 wires going to them even though they are the modern three prong plugs. Yes since learning out of date all of the wiring is I'm no longer growing indoors. Stoked to get back up and growing once the work is done. Planning on additional outlets in all rooms as well as possible 240 line into the room I use for growing for a proper panel with addition safety built in.
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It is possible back then that you have metal sheathed wiring they used it between the 20s and 50s or something. I had some in one house I was in. If the sheath of the wire looks metallic it actually does function as your ground. Its probably either that or else if the hot and neutral are run separately then you have no ground, or if it is a cloth like sheath on the wiring. Either way if it is the old style with separate those sheaths break down over time and they will probably want to rewire everything. Sometimes they won't take the old out as it may be running through studs in the wall etc..so they will disconnect and cut the wires where they can and run new wires up into jacks for new outlets etc.
 
B_the_s

B_the_s

Well-Known Member
farmingfisherman said:
Pretty sure nothing in our house is grounded. We have no GFI outlets and the outlets we do have all have only 2 wires going to them even though they are the modern three prong plugs. Yes since learning out of date all of the wiring is I'm no longer growing indoors. Stoked to get back up and growing once the work is done. Planning on additional outlets in all rooms as well as possible 240 line into the room I use for growing for a proper panel with addition safety built in.
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What would you use 240V for in your grow room? Honest question. I'm still just a first time grower.
 
A

Apalchen

Well-Known Member
B_the_s said:
What would you use 240V for in your grow room? Honest question. I'm still just a first time grower.
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I'm know I'm not the person you asked but all my flower lamps are wired 240 v, gavita doesn't make 120v de hps 1k. Also mini split unit runs 240 V. Or he may just want to run a sub panel near or in his room, which is often best if your sharing power with your house and building a decent size grow.
 
natureboygrower

natureboygrower

Well-Known Member
There's nothing to 220. You just energize the 12-2 neutral (white wire) by hooking it up to one side of a double pole 20a breaker. Takes up two spots in your panel. That wont be a problem at all.
 
Powertech

Powertech

Well-Known Member
If running fans, then yes the fans would be more efficient. Electric motors are much more efficient at higher voltages

EDIT: I probably need to note that you need to make sure the equipment you are running is meant for the higher voltages lol
 
farmingfisherman

farmingfisherman

Well-Known Member
I'm thinking for safety. Honestly if I was given permission to use the entire room for growing it's only 10 x 10 or maybe 12. With 8 foot ceilings to I'd likely only use half that. Maybe a 5x10 tent with proper space for all the equipment. I'm thinking max would be maybe 3000 watts with the lights and other necessary items. I want to be able to expand if things were to shine.
 
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