Just for the record Rives is really cool to alway try his hardest to help people understand their electrical panels. After a glance at your panel with the cover off i see no available circuits on the main and then just a space for 2 poles on the subpanel. Since youre the homeowner upgrading your service is mando. 200A with 50a subpanel
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Help me design my electrical system
- Thread starter bud dwyer
- Start date
In my 800 sq. ft. room, I spent approx. $1100 for a professional job done by the guy who sets up the electrical for the local grow rooms. Done right and room for growth and flexibility.
You won't regret doing it right. Don't forget one of those automatic fire extinguishers.
stay safe. bg
You won't regret doing it right. Don't forget one of those automatic fire extinguishers.
stay safe. bg
Lammy
Member
Rives
You sound like you know what you're talking about and I didn't really study the pictures but are you sure the service disconnect label is for the main breaker? I could've sworn I seen those labels used for the shut off switches for air conditioners water heaters and such. But im no pro.
bud dwyer
Prices will vary. I had a guy out from a big company give me a estimate for replacing the box the meter is in. Which is like a 30 dollar part. Anyway this guy gives me a quote for 1400 dollars and it doesn't even include pulling permits for anything. My point is that some people are scum bags and will try and take people for everything that they have
You sound like you know what you're talking about and I didn't really study the pictures but are you sure the service disconnect label is for the main breaker? I could've sworn I seen those labels used for the shut off switches for air conditioners water heaters and such. But im no pro.
bud dwyer
Prices will vary. I had a guy out from a big company give me a estimate for replacing the box the meter is in. Which is like a 30 dollar part. Anyway this guy gives me a quote for 1400 dollars and it doesn't even include pulling permits for anything. My point is that some people are scum bags and will try and take people for everything that they have
Yes, I'm sure. That's why I wanted him to take pictures. If you look at post #13 you can see it.
Ok I have decided to do this all in one go. A couple of more questions.
Can/should I tie in the current sub panel into the new upgraded main?
If so, Should I save the sub and make it specifically for my grow room?
Specific for the grow- Should I do a like a dryer plug feeding the new sub?
How many plugs should I install 220 and 120?
Again I want to do a easy/safe timer for the lights and fans. You had mentioned a digital system. Can you point me in the right direction for this?
Sorry for all the time consuming questions. Im trying to do all the research I can on my own. I just dont want to burden my generous friend who is going to do the work for me with too many details. Thanks again.
Can/should I tie in the current sub panel into the new upgraded main?
If so, Should I save the sub and make it specifically for my grow room?
Specific for the grow- Should I do a like a dryer plug feeding the new sub?
How many plugs should I install 220 and 120?
Again I want to do a easy/safe timer for the lights and fans. You had mentioned a digital system. Can you point me in the right direction for this?
Sorry for all the time consuming questions. Im trying to do all the research I can on my own. I just dont want to burden my generous friend who is going to do the work for me with too many details. Thanks again.
junior_grower
Active member
Buy a nice large panel and put it all in one. The big box stores sell all in on kits, that come with most of the breakers you will need. These kits are the cheapest route to go.
Put the grow breakers together, with with load split equally between the two phases or legs.
For a nice little room
1- 30A 220v
3-5 -15A 120v
This gives enough power for dehumidifiers, Ac's, Fans, Pumps, veg lights ect.
Put the grow breakers together, with with load split equally between the two phases or legs.
For a nice little room
1- 30A 220v
3-5 -15A 120v
This gives enough power for dehumidifiers, Ac's, Fans, Pumps, veg lights ect.
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Yes, I would swing all of the load from the sub over into the new load center. The sub would make a very good start on things for your grow room. The only thing that I don't like about it is that it doesn't have a main breaker, but that is a convenience rather than a necessity.
The dryer/range plug option is probably the most versatile and easy-to-upgrade way for you to go. Until you have the growroom running for a quite a while, you are going to want to experiment around, change styles, equipment, etc and it will be far easier if you just build up a panel similar to what you can see on DXHydro's web site.
You will want a 240v receptacle for each ballast that you are running, tied back to either a power relay or a heavy-duty timer. I would set an extra one, or possibly two, beyond what you see as your foreseeable needs. If you are like the rest of us, you will want more! As far as 120v receptacles go, you are going to want both timed and untimed versions. I would probably go with a minimum of 3 receptacles that are hot all of the time, and a couple that can be driven by timers or have timer plugged into them. Be sure to use commercial or specification grade receptacles and not the cheap crap that uses spring-loaded push-in connections.
For digital timers, I like the GE #15079 timers from Home Depot, but it doesn't really matter because you will want to switch the load with a power relay/contactor. The timer will just be used to drive the relay, and the biggest concerns are that they are easy to program and have a non-volatile memory. The power relay would be similar to the ones in the following links - double-pole for controlling 240v, with 120v coils, and rated for 30-40 amps. Ebay is frequently a good source for the Dayton relays.
http://www.automationdirect.com/adc/Shopping/Catalog/Relays_-z-_Timers/Electro-Mechanical_Relays/Power_Relays,_Open-Style,_40A_(AD-PR40_Series)/AD-PR40-2C-120A
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/DAYTON-Power-Relay-5X847
Im definitely getting a DXhydro panel. I didnt know that someone made a solution like this. Would the option below be a good fit?
http://www.dxsoundco.com/product/basic.v100.htm
It looks like I can just run the dryer plug to my grow room and plug that bad boy in and im set. I want to do this once and not have to dig back into the electric part again. This room is only like 8x12 so I dont forsee myself growing out of that feed. Im going for a 4x4 or 5x5 tent grow in soil to start then maybe the rest of the room if I see necessary.
http://www.dxsoundco.com/product/basic.v100.htm
It looks like I can just run the dryer plug to my grow room and plug that bad boy in and im set. I want to do this once and not have to dig back into the electric part again. This room is only like 8x12 so I dont forsee myself growing out of that feed. Im going for a 4x4 or 5x5 tent grow in soil to start then maybe the rest of the room if I see necessary.
That is his bottom-of-the-line controller, I think, and there are quite a few problems with it (in my view, at least). Hammerhead bought one and re-wired it completely because it was nowhere near code-compliant. I don't remember all of the issues, but I think that he was running 15a rated receptacles off of a 30 amp breaker, the wire size was too small for the breaker size, etc. Anyone that runs 240v on a 120v receptacle should be horsewhipped! However, he is doing the same thing that his competitors do because he can't be competitive and build it to a higher standard.
He can build them completely code-compliant, and seems to do pretty nice work. You need to let him know that you want it to be fully compliant with NEC standards, and expect to pay a little more. The difference in cost isn't substantial, but could make a huge difference if you had to make an insurance claim.
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=234581&highlight=code+lighting
He can build them completely code-compliant, and seems to do pretty nice work. You need to let him know that you want it to be fully compliant with NEC standards, and expect to pay a little more. The difference in cost isn't substantial, but could make a huge difference if you had to make an insurance claim.
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=234581&highlight=code+lighting
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I found the link that I was looking for. This thread goes into quite a bit of detail about what I consider the shortcomings of some of DX's offerings, input from some happy customers of his, and some information from the owner of DX Hydro. As you will clearly see, we don't agree on a number of things, but I think that overall he offers a good product at a very competitive price. Just be sure and stipulate what you want. https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=234581&highlight=code+lighting
The 120v cable is a "trigger cable", which plugs into a timer and drives a relay similar to what I was describing above.
Yes, the breaker is "back fed" with the hot wires from the meter going to what would normally be the load side of the breaker, and the busses are energized by the clips on the breaker. It works fine, but according to code the breaker is supposed to be retained with a screw clip of some type so that you don't accidentally bump it loose when you remove the cover and wind up juggling a hot breaker.
That's because the lower wire is aluminum and the top is copper.
I'd recommend #4 instead of #6 due to possible local regs. Local code can go above and beyond the NEC and that is a very common one, if not the most common.
Indeed it is - I see it in the one picture now that you mention it. Aluminum is used so rarely in industrial work that it never even crosses my mind.
Thanks. My background is virtually all industrial, so I stick with the NEC on residential work. I hadn't run across this before, but a quick search shows it to be very common.
