Lighting: Could I? Should I?

[Froglips]

I was thinking of running a 2nd 1KW HID in another room for vegging for a couple of growing cycles in case I ever ran really low on my medicine for some reason.

Will I have to do anything to my electrical system so I can run two 1KW HID's safely?

Does anyone else run 2-1KW, or more HID's? What did you have to do?

Thanks!

 

[YardDog35]

It depends if the other rooms plugs are on the same circuit as your grow room. Then it depends on your circuit breaker size.

To figure amps-add up the total wattage being used then divide that by the voltage you are using. For example: 2 1000w lights = 2000 watts. Divide that 2000 by 120 (most likely the voltage you are using). That comes out to 16.66 amp being drawn by the two lights. Most likely your breakers are 15 amps. If it is the same circuit (breaker) in the other room you would be exceeding the amps available. Keep in mind all the other stuff that is plugged in also, fans, pumps, etc... Those all draw a little bit of power too.

This is why people like to upgrade to 220 volts for larger grows. Same amount of watts being used but less amperage draw.

Hope this helps. Good you are asking this question, safety is #1 when setting up a grow. If you overload a breaker, most likely (hopefully) it will trip and shut everything down. If not the wire will overheat and could cause a fire.