Noobie needs electrical help!

A

Apprentice420

New Member
Hi guys!
I have been a lurker at this awesome forum for a while but I decided to reach out to the community here to help me out with some problems I am having regarding electricity. I am planning out my grow and I realize I am drawing too many amps. How do I deal with this?

Should I get a subpanel?

Can I change an existing outlet into a dedicated outlet with its own circuit? -Can they be rewired like that?

How should I go about this?


Heres a little more information about how I will setup...I am going to be growing in a spare bathroom in a 4x4 grow tent with a Advanced LED XML 650 and in a RDWC system with a Chiller as well as an Inline fan/Carbon Scrubber/Circulation Fans/Dehumidifier/Air purifier. Also going to get a portable greenhouse which I plan on lining with polymer, going to use this as my propagation/seedling/clone tray.. This portable greenhouse will be using 6500K CFL lighting and seedling heat mats. Any input from your experiences is gratefully accepted...Thanks for the help & Happy growing!
 
Hi Apprentice!

Not sure how complex your looking to get but my solution to that same problems was to run different (heavy duty) extension cords from a couple different outlets through out the house. I think I'm drawing 20-30 amps from 3 different breakers.

This is by no means a great solution. But it worked for me. I had super hot extension cords. So, I went out and bought the heavy duties and now I have no problems.

Hope this isn't to redneck for a guy :p

All the best!
 
You might be able to increase to a larger breaker. A 15 amp can safely goto a 20. Anything larger is unsafe.

Installing a ups can help regulate surges in the circuit. A up SD is an uninterruptable power supply.
 
Heya,, i can't offer any qualified advice, unfortunately, there are/were others here that could,, however, I can advise you to be sure to consider all the consequences of growing indoors at all, I could spell it out, oh, what the heck,, i will spell it out,, ha,, :Namaste:,,insurance, fire, your life and perhaps others as well,,etc, etc. So dislike being such a downer, but electrical safety HAS to be your number one priority, please,, cheers
 
BillMcneal420 said:
You might be able to increase to a larger breaker. A 15 amp can safely goto a 20. Anything larger is unsafe.

Installing a ups can help regulate surges in the circuit. A up SD is an uninterruptable power supply.
Click to expand...
Please do not follow this advice, it could lead to a disastrous outcome down the road. I am a licensed inside wireman in the state of Oregon and have also held license for Washington and Montana in the past, so I know what I am talking about. 1st let me say that each state has it's own specific codes which can supersede NEC (National Electrical Code) and since I do not know which state you live in I can not go by your states specific code, though I do know that unless the states code is more stringent then the national code, NEC trumps. Basically it is which ever is the safest is the law. It states in the NEC that a 15 amp circuit requires #14 gauge wire to be pulled between devices to be adequate for the breaker size. It also states that no circuit should be allowed to exceed 80% of what it is rated for for continuous duty. Meaning if you are running lights on it, that is considered continuous duty since it is not randomly turned on and off. If you switch to a 20 amp breaker and your load exceeds the 80% continuous load you run the risk of a fire since your breaker will not trip until it is to late. Now if by some miracle they wired your home with #12 gauge wire in that room which I HIGHLY doubt, then and only then would it be safe to switch to a 20 amp breaker. With that sneer you would also need to go through and replace all of your receptacles to 20 amp rate receptacles since all devices must be rated for the system they are on per NEC.
Best case, you have a blank spot in your panel and you pull a dedicated circuit , two would be better, with #12 wire landed on 20 amp breakers and follow code.
While we all want to grow killer sized colas and have the biggest baddest grow op, sometimes we just have to face the facts and live within our means.
Growing is great, but waking up in the middle of the night (if your lucky enough to actually wake up) with your house on fire is not worth any amount of bud.
Remember if your growing and especially if your growing with HID's, PLEASE for GODS sake make sure you have working smoke detectors in your home and grow area. Also keep at least 1 preferably more, fire exstingishers in your home and have them tested yearly to make sure they are holding there charge. The time to find out that your fire alarm or fire extinguisher does not work is not when you wake up at 3 am and there are flames between your room and your children's rooms.
Grow well but most importantly grow safe.

I am always willing to answer any questions you may have relating to electrical. You may not like what I have to say since it will never be the down and dirty quick fix that puts cost over safety, but I will be honest and will only be thinking of your safety.
Peace
 
When I moved up to having up to 3 HID lights in my grow area, I ran into this problem too. I solved mine by running a dedicated 220 line to the grow room and now power my 3 Lumatek ballasts on the 220 circuit, leaving the 110 circuit for fans and timers. I use slightly less power this way too, as the 220 is slightly more efficient in getting back to that room without heating up the wires.
 
Emilya said:
When I moved up to having up to 3 HID lights in my grow area, I ran into this problem too. I solved mine by running a dedicated 220 line to the grow room and now power my 3 Lumatek ballasts on the 220 circuit, leaving the 110 circuit for fans and timers. I use slightly less power this way too, as the 220 is slightly more efficient in getting back to that room without heating up the wires.
Click to expand...
:bravo::cheer::goodjob:
Dedicated circuits for grow rooms are always a smart choice.
I had a feeling I was going to find you likable.
 
oldergrower said:
Please do not follow this advice, it could lead to a disastrous outcome down the road. I am a licensed inside wireman in the state of Oregon and have also held license for Washington and Montana in the past, so I know what I am talking about. 1st let me say that each state has it's own specific codes which can supersede NEC (National Electrical Code) and since I do not know which state you live in I can not go by your states specific code, though I do know that unless the states code is more stringent then the national code, NEC trumps. Basically it is which ever is the safest is the law. It states in the NEC that a 15 amp circuit requires #14 gauge wire to be pulled between devices to be adequate for the breaker size. It also states that no circuit should be allowed to exceed 80% of what it is rated for for continuous duty. Meaning if you are running lights on it, that is considered continuous duty since it is not randomly turned on and off. If you switch to a 20 amp breaker and your load exceeds the 80% continuous load you run the risk of a fire since your breaker will not trip until it is to late. Now if by some miracle they wired your home with #12 gauge wire in that room which I HIGHLY doubt, then and only then would it be safe to switch to a 20 amp breaker. With that sneer you would also need to go through and replace all of your receptacles to 20 amp rate receptacles since all devices must be rated for the system they are on per NEC.
Best case, you have a blank spot in your panel and you pull a dedicated circuit , two would be better, with #12 wire landed on 20 amp breakers and follow code.
While we all want to grow killer sized colas and have the biggest baddest grow op, sometimes we just have to face the facts and live within our means.
Growing is great, but waking up in the middle of the night (if your lucky enough to actually wake up) with your house on fire is not worth any amount of bud.
Remember if your growing and especially if your growing with HID's, PLEASE for GODS sake make sure you have working smoke detectors in your home and grow area. Also keep at least 1 preferably more, fire exstingishers in your home and have them tested yearly to make sure they are holding there charge. The time to find out that your fire alarm or fire extinguisher does not work is not when you wake up at 3 am and there are flames between your room and your children's rooms.
Grow well but most importantly grow safe.

I am always willing to answer any questions you may have relating to electrical. You may not like what I have to say since it will never be the down and dirty quick fix that puts cost over safety, but I will be honest and will only be thinking of your safety.
Peace
Click to expand...



Good advice!
 
Do it right and never look back. Do it half-assed and look over your shoulder for the rest of your life.
Like my signature says, "Good enough", seldom is.
 
Having dedicated circuits is an excellent idea. The only thing about this Emilya is that if your breaker for your fans kicks what will happen? Three HID bulbs burning with no cooling running.

Each light and cooling fan pair really should be on the same circuit so that your breaker kicks the light shuts off too.

In the above situation the best case senerio is all the plants are fried and useless, worst case.... I don't like to even discuss

Emilya said:
When I moved up to having up to 3 HID lights in my grow area, I ran into this problem too. I solved mine by running a dedicated 220 line to the grow room and now power my 3 Lumatek ballasts on the 220 circuit, leaving the 110 circuit for fans and timers. I use slightly less power this way too, as the 220 is slightly more efficient in getting back to that room without heating up the wires.
Click to expand...
 
Ricky Bobby said:
Having dedicated circuits is an excellent idea. The only thing about this Emilya is that if your breaker for your fans kicks what will happen? Three HID bulbs burning with no cooling running.

Each light and cooling fan pair really should be on the same circuit so that your breaker kicks the light shuts off too.

In the above situation the best case senerio is all the plants are fried and useless, worst case.... I don't like to even discuss
Click to expand...

Good warning and you are right. I will power the AC hood fans from the 110 available as half of the switchable 220. Already have this wired up, just didnt think to use it. Thanks! Rep+ Ricky!
 
pontiacman said:
I ran all 10 gauge wire in my grow room on 20 amp breakers. All wires are cool to the touch with everything running. I highly recommend doing the math. Build over code always! I believe 1800 Watts is the maximum limit on a 20 amp breaker. I do not run any more than 1200 at all. Stay safe and good luck!
Click to expand...
This is good solid advice.
#10 gauge wire is rated for 30 amps which can easily handle 24 amps continuously. Since his system is wired to a 20 amp breaker it is safe to say, (unless he is wired to a really crappy old Federal Pacific panel or old Zimco Push-o-matic panel) his wires will not ever heat up even if he overloads, and trips the breaker.

Also have to commend Pigeon on his solution. Glad to see he upgraded to #12 extension cords. Longer wires means more resistance to the voltage. More resistance means higher amperage. Higher amperage means Higher watts. And last but not least, higher watts means more HEAT. Just keep in mind that when doing this approach you are loading up the wires from those rooms with more wattage and some rooms may be inter-tied to other rooms. (in other words, on the same circuit breaker even though the receptacle is in a different room) One way to get a dedicated circuit installed for you if you are not qualified to do so is check your friends? Maybe one of them smokes who is an electrician (Yes even electricians smoke weed) and see if they would be willing to do a trade, some bud for their labor. I believe it is called the barter system. I know I have done free work for less then Bud. Many a times I have fixed friends issues for nothing more then a beer and a smile.
 
Ricky Bobby said:
Having dedicated circuits is an excellent idea. The only thing about this Emilya is that if your breaker for your fans kicks what will happen? Three HID bulbs burning with no cooling running.

Each light and cooling fan pair really should be on the same circuit so that your breaker kicks the light shuts off too.

In the above situation the best case senerio is all the plants are fried and useless, worst case.... I don't like to even discuss
Click to expand...

While this does have good logic there are other ways to prevent your lights from overheating your plants and burning them to death if your fans should trip out your breaker. What you can do is is put a high temp over-ride is series with your lights which even if the fan never trips is still a very good idea to have. If the pre-set temp is reached, say 100 degrees your lights shut off until the temperature drops back down to a pre-set operating temperature. The main advantage to this set up would be purely safety. Say your fans trip the breaker but they are on a different breaker then your lights. The room heats up to 100 degrees and lights turn off. Will you screw up or even loose your crop? maybe, but which would you prefer to come home to? A house with a grow room that has a wasted crop that is crap now and you will have to start over, or... come driving up to the house and find it has burnt to the ground while you were off camping and the fire department was not able to save the house. The choice is pretty easy for me. But everyone has their own risk levels they are willing to live with.

I have had safety crammed down my throat for the last 20+ years and it finally sunk in.
Oh and for the record I am not saying people grows are going to start burning to the ground if they do not do this or that, I am only offering options which can make your grow safer for not only you but your family. What is safe enough? that is always a personal choice!
I only offer options because I want you all to not only be successful with your grows but completely safe while doing it.

Peace
 
Emilya said:
Good warning and you are right. I will power the AC hood fans from the 110 available as half of the switchable 220. Already have this wired up, just didnt think to use it. Thanks! Rep+ Ricky!
Click to expand...

I called and asked my Dad to fix this for me today and he informed me that I had already been taken care of and that this was exactly what they had done when they helped me get all this wired in. Sometimes the help is smarter than the boss. :) My dad and brother help me on this little garden of mine... sort of a family affair. I deal with the plants, they do the lifting and crawling around under the house. Its a good system. At least we checked on it :)
I think after this discussion I am going to go and buy a fire extinguisher for the grow room too. Better safe than sorry.
 

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