Lighting/Wiring Question for Closet Grow Room

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MaxYields

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Hey 420magazine.com!

BACKGROUND

So I am finally back in my homeland of Colorado, and I am thinking it is time to get a grow op up and running! This is a very exciting time for me, as I have been smoking Marijuana for almost 6 years now and I have spent the last 2 years researching and learning about Marijuana Horticulture. When I say "researching and learning" I don't use those terms lightly, I have never dedicated myself to learning a hobby like I have this one. I believe that I have the knowledge to start and maintain a very successful grow, and I would love to share my experiences with you all, and also learn from all of the wonderful and tenured growers on this website as I get deeper into the world of Marijuana Horticulture.

Anyways! For my first grow, I will be working on a limited budget. This is because I am a full time college student with a part time job receiving no financial help from any outside sources, and also because I do not believe I have enough REAL experience under my belt to be okay with spending around $400-$600 on a grow op. So I am going to start out buy buying 10-12 23W CFLs and making a DIY hood for all of them (or two hoods with 5-6 in each). The only other equipment I plan on buying right off are the pots, drip trays, soil, mylar, and a timer. The rest of my gear I will buy as I improve and hone my techniques.

THE QUESTION

So here is where my question comes into play. The closet I am growing in is 2.5'x2.5'x6' (lxwxh). This is the perfect size, however the issue is there are no outlets in the closet, only one light bulb socket with a pull chain switch.

Now, I don'y know very much about electricity and wiring so I don't feel comfortable trying to modify or wire a new outlet into the closet (I am also renting the house with some roommates and can't do that). So as far as I see it, I could either buy a Lamp Socket to Outlet Adapter, or run a extension chord from an outlet outside of the grow closet. To be completely honest I much rather use the Adapter, however I am worried that 1.) It isn't grounded and 2.) A 230-276W draw might be too much for the Adapter to handle.

The only other things in the room that would need electricity (at this point) would be a small osculating fan and maybe a small heater for these upcoming cold months.

So I was wondering what any experienced growers/electricians/electricty&wiring enthusiasts had to say about my situation, and what my best course of action would be? I will take any suggestions, as I really don't want a fire or any other disaster to occur on my watch.

Thanks in advance for all of the help, if anyone would like pictures of the light socket/closet or any other information about my situation feel free to ask, I would be happy to oblige!

MaxYields
 
first off, the box that the light is in is probably grounded, you could remove the light socket and buy an adapter for the octogon box in the ceiling that will fit a plugin, and then just put a plugin up there. That's probably the best way to go if your comfortable removing the light and wiring the plug. Remove the light socket, put the white wire to the silver screw on the plugin, and the black to brass, then bond the green screw to ground in the existing ceiling box. then just keep the socket so you can switch back when you leave. then only other problem i see may be amperage draw on that plug. It will be shared with other outlets in the house, if you overload the circuit it will trip the breaker. I have no idea how many amp a CFL bulb will draw, but if you have 10 of them on one outlet and sharing that circuit with other things in the house you may run into problems. I would kill breakers till that light goes out and find out what else is on that circuit.....
 
--UPDATE--

first off, the box that the light is in is probably grounded, you could remove the light socket and buy an adapter for the octogon box in the ceiling that will fit a plugin, and then just put a plugin up there. That's probably the best way to go if your comfortable removing the light and wiring the plug. Remove the light socket, put the white wire to the silver screw on the plugin, and the black to brass, then bond the green screw to ground in the existing ceiling box. then just keep the socket so you can switch back when you leave. then only other problem i see may be amperage draw on that plug. It will be shared with other outlets in the house, if you overload the circuit it will trip the breaker. I have no idea how many amp a CFL bulb will draw, but if you have 10 of them on one outlet and sharing that circuit with other things in the house you may run into problems. I would kill breakers till that light goes out and find out what else is on that circuit.....

Thank you very much for the info! I asked my friends father (who is a professional contractor) what he thought about the power I would be drawing through the light bulb socket and he said he didn't think it would be a problem...

So I found the breaker box and determined what other outlets and lights where on the same circuit as my closet, and luckily enough it just so happened that the only other things that shared a circuit with my closet were the least used light and outlet in my room. So I built my entire light set up from scratch and plugged her in.. and it worked perfectly!!

Here are some pictures of it in action!

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So thanks again for directing me towards professional advice, definitely better safe than sorry, didn't hurt myself once!!
 
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