Electricity and AMP

[tomtom1499]

Hey all !
Im planning on running a 400watt grow room .
My line can run 16 AMP max , should I worry ?
I spoke with an electrician , he said it is nearly impossible to add another 16 break , to a final 32 line .
Im just starting with the growing thing , and i really wouldnt want to burn my house
on the first try lol .
can anyone confirm 16 amp is enough for 400 watt grow room ?
BTW , the washing machine plugged on the same line of the room .
thnx in advance !

 

[Scientific]

To get amps, divide watts by volts.

400 watts / 120 volts = 3.3 amps, so you should have room to spare.

(There are niggley details that the engineering types like to argue/fuss/worry about, like "power factor," but that's the essence of it.)

Chances are your washing machine is on a separate circuit breaker. You can test which outlets are on which breaker, of course, by flipping the breakers off one by one and seeing which outlets lose power.

 

[KingJoe83]

Hey all !
Im planning on running a 400watt grow room .
My line can run 16 AMP max , should I worry ?
I spoke with an electrician , he said it is nearly impossible to add another 16 break , to a final 32 line .
Im just starting with the growing thing , and i really wouldnt want to burn my house
on the first try lol .
can anyone confirm 16 amp is enough for 400 watt grow room ?
BTW , the washing machine plugged on the same line of the room .
thnx in advance !

Lots of room your good. I got told to check fuse panel if warm that is not good. But I run almost 2000 watts into one outlet on timers. 20 amp fuse. I'm good 15 cutting it close

 

[tomtom1409]

To get amps, divide watts by volts.

400 watts / 120 volts = 3.3 amps, so you should have room to spare.

(There are niggley details that the engineering types like to argue/fuss/worry about, like "power factor," but that's the essence of it.)

Chances are your washing machine is on a separate circuit breaker. You can test which outlets are on which breaker, of course, by flipping the breakers off one by one and seeing which outlets lose power.

thank you very much , though I did not understabd how you calculated this .
can you please explian it for future knowledge ? + I think you forgot about the ballast , and a fan both for sucking hot air and another one for sucking air from outside

 

[Scientific]

thank you very much , though I did not understabd how you calculated this .
can you please explian it for future knowledge ? + I think you forgot about the ballast , and a fan both for sucking hot air and another one for sucking air from outside

Hi -- Basic electricity stuff is super simple. There are just four things to consider, voltage, current, resistance, and power, and they're all related to each other in simple ways.

Voltage is electrical "pressure." It's just like the water pressure in a pipe.
Electric current is just like the water current flowing in a pipe, except it's a current of electrons flowing in a wire.
Resistance is just what it sounds like: resistance to the flow of current. Electric current flows better through copper than steel, so we say copper has lower resistance.
Power is the actual work that gets done. If water pressure (voltage) was pushing a current of water (electrons) through a big pipe (very little resistance) to make a water wheel turn to grind grain that work is power.

So the physics is really simple. So are the formulas that explain the relations between them. For example, power = voltage times current, so using the value for your setup, 400 watts (which are the units for power) = 120 volts time 3.3 amps (which are the units for current).

Maybe when you said "400 watt grow room" you meant a 400 what light plus the other stuff in the room?
A ventilation fan adds about 50 watts. You mention having two of them so say 100 watts. That brings the total to 500 watts.

The formula for electric current (amps) is watts (power) divided by volts ("pressure").

With a 120 volt line, 500 watts / 120 volts give 4.2 amps.

A typical household circuit will handle 15 amps before the circuit breaker pops, so you can still plug in a lot of stuff on that line.

Another way to look at it is using the formula, "Power = current times voltage." So with a 15 amp circuit breaker and 120 volts, power = 120 time 15 = 1,800. So you you can have a maximum of 1,800 watts plugged into a 15 amp circuit. You're only using 500.

One more thing: most devices tell you what voltage they are for and how many amps they use or how many watts. With just those formulas I give you, you can figure out how much power and current you're using on a 120 volt line.

It's all really pretty simple once you look at it. Just a few formulas are all you need to figure stuff like this out. There are online calculators too. In fact, if you just type "How many amps is 400 watts at 120 volts?" into Google, it will give you the answer.

I hope that helps. Cool that your are doing your planning in advance. No "oh-no's!" that way.

 

[Scientific]

Lots of room your good. I got told to check fuse panel if warm that is not good. But I run almost 2000 watts into one outlet on timers. 20 amp fuse. I'm good 15 cutting it close

120 volts times 20 amps equals 2400 watts, so at 2000 watts you are using 83% of the power available.

If you want to check temperatures, I'd recommend checking your cords. High power lights should be fed with heavy duty cords (fat wires = low resistance). You want 10 gauge wire, not 16 gauge.

 

[Scientific]

Here's a good resource for electrical calculations: How To Convert watts to amps - Cannaversity

 

[tomtom1409]

Here's a good resource for electrical calculations: How To Convert watts to amps - Cannaversity

Holy sh*t man !
thank you SO much for the informative comment .
you Defiently help me a TON .
I love thisr communtiy so much , everyone here is helping with such great love , thanx again really much !
and yes , im trying to plan ahead as much as possible , I dont want to be running into problems .

 

[tomtom1409]

Here's a good resource for electrical calculations: How To Convert watts to amps - Cannaversity

BTW , I just double cheked , in my country its a 240v line .. not 110 .

 

[Scientific]

BTW , I just double cheked , in my country its a 240v line .. not 110 .

So much the better! (Except for the shock hazard...)

To make it as simple as possible, just read the labels on all the devices to see how many watts they use, then divide by 240. That will give you the amps.

And if you really do have a 15 amp line at 240 volts, you're close to industrial scale!

15 * 240 = 3,600 watts capacity!

 

[tomtom1409]

So much the better! (Except for the shock hazard...)

To make it as simple as possible, just read the labels on all the devices to see how many watts they use, then divide by 240. That will give you the amps.

And if you really do have a 15 amp line at 240 volts, you're close to industrial scale!

15 * 240 = 3,600 watts capacity!

Man thank you so much again , I can not express how much better I feel now abut ny grow tent , all thanks to you !

 

[Scientific]

Man thank you so much again , I can not express how much better I feel now abut ny grow tent , all thanks to you !

Cool! Like I said, the electrical stuff is really pretty simple. You don't need to know a lot to do your planning.

Happy growing!

 

[KingJoe83]

120 volts times 20 amps equals 2400 watts, so at 2000 watts you are using 83% of the power available.

If you want to check temperatures, I'd recommend checking your cords. High power lights should be fed with heavy duty cords (fat wires = low resistance). You want 10 gauge wire, not 16 gauge.

Ya my cords are heavy duty

 

[Weaselcracker]

A handy device to have around is something called a Kill-a-watt. I'm sure there are similar instruments out there with different names- but that's what mine is called. Plug it in your outlet and you can plug your appliances into it, then it will tell you everything there is to know about how much power your appliance is drawing. It has a few other functions such as extrapolating the cost of running the appliance, etc.
It brings me some peace of mind actually knowing 100% for sure how much everything in my grow and in my house draws, and how much total power is being used on each circuit.

 

[Merkle420]

Unless you're wiring a freestanding circuit you shouldn't ever have to worry about OHMS. Even still if you just ask you local sparky what lines rated for what it's super simple, 4.5mm is generally 25-30 amp (don't quote me) and 2.5mm is 15 amp, but our voltage is 240 not whatever yours is. If the breaker is properly rated for the lines it's running you won't have a problem. The breaker is only there to protect the wiring, nothing else.

 

[Scientific]

The breaker is only there to protect the wiring, nothing else.

And your house and your life, too, no?

 

[Scientific]

A handy device to have around is something called a Kill-a-watt. I'm sure there are similar instruments out there with different names- but that's what mine is called. Plug it in your outlet and you can plug your appliances into it, then it will tell you everything there is to know about how much power your appliance is drawing. It has a few other functions such as extrapolating the cost of running the appliance, etc.
It brings me some peace of mind actually knowing 100% for sure how much everything in my grow and in my house draws, and how much total power is being used on each circuit.

The Kill A Watt is a slick device, and like so many other electronic devices these days, they're cheap (less than $20US). I have always measured usage by putting a current meter in line in the circuit, but that's a big pain, a little dangerous, and it doesn't tell you as much. a Kill A Watt seems like a good tool to have on hand for those of us with a high electrical usage lifestyle. (Speaking of which, the little potted pot plant on my deck is soaking up 100,000 lux of free radiant flux right now.)