Help electricians: School me

[Tinted Tahoe]

Hello guys and girls, looking for some advice on my house electrical.

My house is a 1000sq ft (excluding garage) dump near the inner city where if it's not nailed down it's gone the next morning. The construction of the house is less then mediocre. Along with all the houses around here.


So here's my concern..aside from the dryer, the ac unit, furnace, and stove having there own circuits as usual in any home basically more then half of all the wall outlets in my house are on 1 breaker and it's a split breaker at that with everything being on one side of that split breaker and I can't seem to find anything on the other side of it.

So basically half of this one split breaker is powering my bathroom my bedroom(grow room also) my 2nd bedroom and half-off my living room.

So on this circuit is 3 led flat-screen 2 PlayStation a surround sound a DVD player my entire grow (some cfls and 2 led panels and some fans I'm guessing around 600 watts pull from grow) and the bathroom lights and outlets that my wife uses her hair dryer and straightener in...

Now I haven't ever tripped this breaker however it does still worry me a bit. My whole concern started when I was installing motion lights outside I tries to identify the outside circuit off the map on panel and it was labeled all wrong so I began cutting circuits one by one with stuff plugged in everywhere to see what is on what circuits. This is when I realized half of my house plus my grow is running on one half of a split breaker.

My garage has been wired for 220 (atleast I was told that) how do I confirm this forsure? The breaker for garage is the larger size like the size of the 220 breakers for stove ac and dryer..so should I run an extension cord to garage and run my grow off the 220 garage circuit I could drill a hole and use a grommet or something the garage is only about 30 or 40 feet from house.

I hope this all makes sense electrical is one department I'm lacking a little in so I'm looking to learn... Thanks

 

[Tinted Tahoe]

@fanleaf I think you had gave some good advice to me on my other account not long ago you actually talked me into going led. I saw you wired up your new grow room yourself to if I remember right. My old account was greenthumb414 but I did not like that username. Maybe you can help?

 

[fanleaf]

Hello guys and girls, looking for some advice on my house electrical.

My house is a 1000sq ft (excluding garage) dump near the inner city where if it's not nailed down it's gone the next morning. The construction of the house is less then mediocre. Along with all the houses around here.


So here's my concern..aside from the dryer, the ac unit, furnace, and stove having there own circuits as usual in any home basically more then half of all the wall outlets in my house are on 1 breaker and it's a split breaker at that with everything being on one side of that split breaker and I can't seem to find anything on the other side of it.

So basically half of this one split breaker is powering my bathroom my bedroom(grow room also) my 2nd bedroom and half-off my living room.

So on this circuit is 3 led flat-screen 2 PlayStation a surround sound a DVD player my entire grow (some cfls and 2 led panels and some fans I'm guessing around 600 watts pull from grow) and the bathroom lights and outlets that my wife uses her hair dryer and straightener in...

Now I haven't ever tripped this breaker however it does still worry me a bit. My whole concern started when I was installing motion lights outside I tries to identify the outside circuit off the map on panel and it was labeled all wrong so I began cutting circuits one by one with stuff plugged in everywhere to see what is on what circuits. This is when I realized half of my house plus my grow is running on one half of a split breaker.

My garage has been wired for 220 (atleast I was told that) how do I confirm this forsure? The breaker for garage is the larger size like the size of the 220 breakers for stove ac and dryer..so should I run an extension cord to garage and run my grow off the 220 garage circuit I could drill a hole and use a grommet or something the garage is only about 30 or 40 feet from house.

I hope this all makes sense electrical is one department I'm lacking a little in so I'm looking to learn... Thanks

You're garage probably has 1, 240v breaker in the house that runs to the garage breaker box and then that box splits it up to 2, 120v circuits. This is pretty common. It's easier to get enough power to a garage with 1, 4 wire Romex from the house. That cable that will split in the garage to give you 2, 120v breakers. Do you see any 240v outlets in the garage?

 

[fanleaf]

Also, do you use many heavy power tools in the garage? If not, it may be beneficial to change the garage breaker in the house to a single 120v then run garage lights and light tools on the single 120v breaker. That would allow you to add an empty single 120v breaker just for your grow room so it lightens the load on everything in the house.

 

[Tinted Tahoe]

I do run some heavy saws and other power tools in garage sometimes. I also have an air compressor that sees some use. I like your idea about splitting the garage breaker. I don't see anything special about garage outlets I will have to look better again soon I got a lot of crap piled in garage it was a hard winter up here. I see that someone wired this garage themselves and there's about 5 outlets all on one wall and I think that's it. This is the breaker in garage

 

[Tinted Tahoe]

Is this my proof of 220 then?

 

[fanleaf]

Is this my proof of 220 then?

Yes. Do you use or have a need for the 220 in the garage? If not, right there is plenty of power for the grow. You could either run the grow on 220 or right there at that plug, split it into 2, 120v lines.

 

[fanleaf]

I take it that the house breaker bix is full? And do you prefer to grow in the garage?

 

[Tinted Tahoe]

Also, do you use many heavy power tools in the garage? If not, it may be beneficial to change the garage breaker in the house to a single 120v then run garage lights and light tools on the single 120v breaker. That would allow you to add an empty single 120v breaker just for your grow room so it lightens the load on everything in the house.

And this is my box inside I'm pointing to the breaker for garage when I flip it everything is cut in garage outlets and lights

 

[Tinted Tahoe]

My grow is in the house I may move to garage in future but I would need to insulate and blah blah so right now I'm working on keeping indoors and getting more lights. So would I have to run an extension cord from garage to house then?

 

[fanleaf]

My grow is in the house I may move to garage in future but I would need to insulate and blah blah so right now I'm working on keeping indoors and getting more lights. So would I have to run an extension cord from garage to house then?

Nope, I cant see the Main breaker or 2 that shuts the whole house off. Trying to see if it's a 100 amp service or 200 amp service. Looks to me like the simplest thing to do would be to knock one of the blocks out of the house breaker box, add a 120v 20 amp breaker and add 1 run of 12-2 romex from that new breaker to a few new outlets in your grow area. Your breaker box has plenty of spots open for a new breaker. Your garage is wired like mine was.

 

[Tinted Tahoe]

Nope, I cant see the Main breaker or 2 that shuts the whole house off. Trying to see if it's a 100 amp service or 200 amp service. Looks to me like the simplest thing to do would be to knock one of the blocks out of the house breaker box, add a 120v 20 amp breaker and add 1 run of 12-2 romex from that new breaker to a few new outlets in your grow area. Your breaker box has plenty of spots open for a new breaker. Your garage is wired like mine was.

Looks like 100amp

 

[fanleaf]

Yep, I would add a single 120v breaker and 12-2 romex to 2-3 outlets in the grow area. That will relieve some stress from everything that's tied together in the house. That's a crazy that they have set up so much on 1 circuit already.

 

[Tinted Tahoe]

So if I do add a circuit and wire say 2 of those outlets onto that new circuit how many watts can I pull threw each outlet or both combined? Is it by watts, volts, amps, or something else?

 

[Tinted Tahoe]

Yep, I would add a single 120v breaker and 12-2 romex to 2-3 outlets in the grow area. That will relieve some stress from everything that's tied together in the house. That's a crazy that they have set up so much on 1 circuit already.

Also since I have 100amp feed does that mean I can only have a certain amount of breakers or that means I can pull no more then 100 amps I suppose...how do you put watts to amps or volts ugh... I suppose I can find these answers on Google as well I don't mean to be a pest. It's late anyways I will check up tomorrow and do some reading online. I assume I may need some advice on routing this new wire to my bedroom which luckily is a short distance.

 

[fanleaf]

Also since I have 100amp feed does that mean I can only have a certain amount of breakers or that means I can pull no more then 100 amps I suppose...how do you put watts to amps or volts ugh... I suppose I can find these answers on Google as well I don't mean to be a pest. It's late anyways I will check up tomorrow and do some reading online. I assume I may need some advice on routing this new wire to my bedroom which luckily is a short distance.

You can have 300 or more amps in total breakers in your box...that dont really matter. What it means is that your power line that comes into the breakerbox from the meter outside is rated for a safe 100 amp draw and so is your breaker box. Even though you have a bunch of 20 amp breakers in your box most are probably only pulling (on the average) of say 5 amps. If, everything and every light in your house and garage power tools are turned on let's say it's still under 20 Amps per breaker so none of the 20 amp breakers would trip but in total its drawing 110 amps then your main 100 amp breaker trips. You can certainly add a breaker or 2 in that box with no issues.

 

[Tinted Tahoe]

So how come there is breakers in the garage and in the house for furnace air and laundry

 

[fanleaf]

So how come there is breakers in the garage and in the house for furnace air and laundry

That makes zero sense unless yo have a furnace, air and laundry in your garage lol. Unless your garage is also sharing those breakers in the house too. Either way, that's nonsense.

 

[mathewscott]

My grow is in the house I may move to garage in future but I would need to insulate and blah blah so right now I'm working on keeping indoors and getting more lights. So would I have to run an extension cord from garage to house then?

How long of a extension cord? They are not always a safe or smart option.

 

[Tinted Tahoe]

How long of a extension cord? They are not always a safe or smart option.

Yeah I've heard that... I ended up deciding to install a new 20 amp breaker with 2 outlets on it for the grow. I haven't done it yet but will be. I will probably be back here for help eventually