Light's per breaker question

A

ace705

New Member
Hey all,

I have a 60-amp subpanel with two 20-amp breaker's in it for now and
each breaker supplie's power to it's own 20-amp plug.

I have the yellow simpull romex 12-3 with ground as the feed.
Both breaker's are sharing the line(120v).

Basically i have a 1000-watt light on each breaker and was wondering if
a 20-amp breaker can handle 2 1000-watt light's without tripping.
 
No IMO. A 1k light pulls about 9.5 amps continuous. I don't know surge amps at start. You have 20 amp breakers. You want to run 19 amps. You should never meet the rating of a breaker for long periods of time. For a surge or a few minutes it's okay but long periods it's not. The most a 20 amp breaker should see on it for a long term is 17 amps and even that's a little more than the electricians advise. Install a 30 amp breaker for 2 k. Just my opinion because I'm sure I'm going to hear a few..."I do it and have no problem" answers soon. When in reality it could only be a matter of time till they do.lol
 
Thank's for your replie's,your probably right about surging when the light's come on and a 12 hour load would heat em up.The subpanel has 4 slot's and i only have 2 filled because the other half of the panel aint even hooked up.

Can the 20-amp breaker's be changed to 30's or would it be to much on
one side of the panel?

If i can would i have to go with a 10-3 with ground or just have each breaker and plug on there own wire?
 
Forget what I said about 30 amp breakers. 30 amps needs 10-3-g not 12-3-g wiring. Can you add two more breakers and dedicated outlets to the subpanle and room? If your not exceeding 15 amps per 4 breakers you should not exceed the 60 amp rating on the sub panel. It's your only option if you want to run more 1k lights.
 
As long as he never exceeds 15 amps per outlet it doesn't matter which size breaker really. The 20's would handle a bigger surge and more amperage before kicking in. If he's only using 12 amps for 3 breakers he could in reality plug in a fan on the 4th and run that outlet a little higher than 15 and a 20 amp breaker will allow that. A 15 amp one won't. And once again we are at the fact that you shouldn't run a breaker at max rating. With 15amp breakers he could get very near max rating just by plugging in a 8" elicent with a 1k light on. Plus fans also surge.lol I'd say 4 20 amp breakers myself.lol (<---hey look back a couple words...I wrote 4 20.lol) It's toke time.:cheesygrinsmiley:
 
The problem right now is i'm stuck with only 2 slot's because i'm not able to
hook up the other side of the panel.

My goal is to power 4 1000w light's if possible and put everything else
on another 20-amp circuit i have in the main panel.

Right now on the 2 20amp breaker's i'm powering:

2-1000w light's
1-600w digital light
a dehumidifier around 6-amps
1-wall fan
1-265cfm dayton fan i wish could be bigger
2-little fans you get from home depot i'm using to cool the 1000w ballast's
the square kind that boosts heat out your heating duct's.
The breaker's don't pop but the wire get's a slightly warm.
 
I might as well confess as to why i only have one side of the subpanel
wired but i'm strapped for cash.Some people might not agree with what i'm doing but here it goe's.
 
Sorry man, I cannot endorse, condone or aid in anyway to this escapade. I am the coolest of the cool, but you learn that burning down your house, or the neighborhood for 50 bucks a month just doesn't add up. Besides, these fucked up energy corporations are gonna make thier share dollars one way or the other, by raising regular rates to compensate. Not even counting the fact that it's one of the easiest ways to get thrown in jail for growing a plant, and giving the rest of us a bad name in the meantime.
 
You need to split this up man, feel your wires, they will be warm and very flexible :)

ace705 said:
The problem right now is i'm stuck with only 2 slot's because i'm not able to
hook up the other side of the panel.

My goal is to power 4 1000w light's if possible and put everything else
on another 20-amp circuit i have in the main panel.

Right now on the 2 20amp breaker's i'm powering:

2-1000w light's
1-600w digital light
a dehumidifier around 6-amps
1-wall fan
1-265cfm dayton fan i wish could be bigger
2-little fans you get from home depot i'm using to cool the 1000w ballast's
the square kind that boosts heat out your heating duct's.
The breaker's don't pop but the wire get's a slightly warm.
Click to expand...
 
Boss said:
Call up the power company, tell them you are installing a lathe, a heavy duty table saw and a router table and you need more juice. See what it costs to get the sevice upped, and you will never have to worry about them again.
Click to expand...

a ceramic hobbyist's kiln or an arc welder are also great reasons to need additional electrical service (50-60 amps of 240V)
 
I dont see my last post,i guess it was to long or something so i'm not typimg
all that again.

Your right,i'm sure there are alot of people using more power than i am.
The cost of electricity and gas has doubled here and with the total power
i'm using would increase my bill 200 percent according to a cost calculator.
With the new remote digital meters they will be able to monitor power consumption 24hrs a day.When that happen's i will be leary of growing.
Do you think i can use the light's at night considering alot of people have
flood light's on at night?The new meter will sense the 12 and 18 hr grow cycle
easily i think since there will be a spike at the same time everyday.
 
ace705 said:
Hey all,

I have a 60-amp subpanel with two 20-amp breaker's in it for now and
each breaker supplie's power to it's own 20-amp plug.

I have the yellow simpull romex 12-3 with ground as the feed.
Both breaker's are sharing the line(120v).

Basically i have a 1000-watt light on each breaker and was wondering if
a 20-amp breaker can handle 2 1000-watt light's without tripping.
Click to expand...
Amps x volts = total Watts capacity..
Never draw more than 80%..
Also what is your receptacle rates.? 15 amp?
Now consider what gauge wire you're running from receptacle to breaker is it minimum 14 gauge? Ask your local electrical contractor ..they'll be happy to explain it and help you prevent a wall/ electrical fire.good luck
 
Mastergrower72 said:
Amps x volts = total Watts capacity..
Never draw more than 80%..
Also what is your receptacle rates.? 15 amp?
Now consider what gauge wire you're running from receptacle to breaker is it minimum 14 gauge? Ask your local electrical contractor ..they'll be happy to explain it and help you prevent a wall/ electrical fire.good luck
Click to expand...
Old post, happens to most of us, but still good info!
 
Mastergrower72 said:
Amps x volts = total Watts capacity..
Never draw more than 80%..
Also what is your receptacle rates.? 15 amp?
Now consider what gauge wire you're running from receptacle to breaker is it minimum 14 gauge? Ask your local electrical contractor ..they'll be happy to explain it and help you prevent a wall/ electrical fire.good luck
Click to expand...
A little late to the party my friend lol but great advice none the less
 

Similar threads

S
Wiring help?
2
Replies
33
Views
4K
Baja Big Dog
Baja Big Dog
Buds Buddy
Electrical Wiring Help Needed Please
2 3 4
Replies
78
Views
6K
Buds Buddy
Buds Buddy
N
please help time constraints!
Replies
4
Views
789
no199
N
simondetroit
Light Grow Controller for under $80
Replies
3
Views
3K
budlydoright
B
G
Electrical question regarding Breakers PLEASE HELP
Replies
16
Views
2K
Weed420
W
Back
Top Bottom