Power Management Questions

[needmorelight]

Hey everyone,
I went to a hydroponic store to get an idea on how everything works. I got into a discussion with the store worker & basically spoke another language to me when talking about running lights.
This person told me I wouldn't be able to run a setup (16x600w lights) unless I have the power coming directly from the main.
Is this true?
I have an outlet which has 10 power sockets. I have no idea about power or how it works.

I am a first timer, I am starting small (6 lights) and working towards 16 split into 2 rooms.

I haven't started my setup yet, I am covering each angle before I decide to grow.

 

[TorturedSoul]

"Starting small" with six lights, lol.

Are these 120V lights, or 240V? If 120V, a standard residential circuit is 15-amp. That's 1800 watts, maximum. But common advice is to not go above 80% rated capacity, so you're down to 1,440 watts per circuit. They'll handle two 600-watt lights each.

If you're installing six 600-watt lights in one room, you'll require three 15-amp circuits for them. That leaves you a little bit of wiggle room on each circuit, so you could plug other relatively low-wattage devices into the same outlet (or into a separate outlet on the same circuit that is supplying power to a pair of lights).

Under no circumstances would I willingly attempt to run three 600-watt lights from one 15-amp circuit. That's 100% capacity even without taking into account any "overhead" those light fixtures may have. It also assumes zero voltage drop due to long wire runs, brownouts, et cetera.

You'll want to ensure there is nothing in another part of the house getting power from one of those three circuits or, if there is, that it doesn't push you over rated capacity (and, again, shoot for no more than an 80% load).

You should also learn about load balancing your circuit box, and add that to your list of goals.

It might be a good idea to go ahead and make friends with an electrician now, because you probably don't have three separate circuits supplying power to one room... Plus the fourth you'll need when you add the additional pair of 600-watt lights, the four circuits you'll need for your second room, any "extra" circuits you'll need to supply power to any fans/pumps/etc. that won't fit within the electrical budget of the other circuits, and to supply power to the mini-split air conditioning setup you'll most likely need in order to provide cooling to your semi-major cannabis grow.

Good luck, and stay safe. . . .

 

[Weaselcracker]

I have no idea about power or how it works.

I am a first timer, I am starting small large (6 lights) and working towards 16 split into 2 rooms large commercial.

Strictly speaking, you don’t need to learn about power, though it certainly helps. But there are a lot of other things you will definitely have to learn about. I would advise starting with the ‘extra small’ size. - like one light, and seeing how that goes.

 

[TurboBucket]

Hey everyone,
I went to a hydroponic store to get an idea on how everything works. I got into a discussion with the store worker & basically spoke another language to me when talking about running lights.
This person told me I wouldn't be able to run a setup (16x600w lights) unless I have the power coming directly from the main.
Is this true?
I have an outlet which has 10 power sockets. I have no idea about power or how it works.

I am a first timer, I am starting small (6 lights) and working towards 16 split into 2 rooms.

I haven't started my setup yet, I am covering each angle before I decide to grow.

Good luck Chad. Better bust out the check book because your going to be hiring a lot of professionals.