need help to figure out what guage electrical wire to use for my grow lights

[baddagger]

hey my 1st question is .. my digital ballast can be used as 120 or 240 volt. Now I was told that if I run my ballast on 240 It would burn less watts wich would help decrease my power bill ..is that true??

next im going to be running two 400w ballast(1.87amps at 240 volt each ballast) in my veg room . and two 1000w ballast(4.375amps at 240 volt each ballast) in my flower room.

so im just trying to figure out what would be the best way to run them. any imput would be great

 

[GreenThumb14]

240vac is more efficient, so yes this is true. You would need to setup a 240vac line.

you'll want to use at least 12/3 romex wire... It's 30 amps at up to 600vac.

 

[mowood3479]

it will cost the same 120 or 240... but 240 will pull less amps... so u can have more lights on one breaker than running 120..

 

[budelight]

Great advice here so far!! im tagging so i can track this info in my back pocket.

Cheers,
Budelight

 

[GreenThumb14]

it will cost the same 120 or 240... but 240 will pull less amps... so u can have more lights on one breaker than running 120..

240 is slightly more efficient than 120....

What is the amp draw for your ballasts on 120vac? volts x amps = watts... So compare 120vac to 240vac.

 

[baddagger]

240 is slightly more efficient than 120....

What is the amp draw for your ballasts on 120vac? volts x amps = watts... So compare 120vac to 240vac.

the amp draw is double the 240. soo 400w ballast is at 3.74 at 120volt and the 1000w ballast is at 8.75amp at 120 volt

 

[Azeotrope]

Watts are Watts are watts..... 240v or 120v... The fact of the matter is that some devices are essentially a step-up transformer and capacitor(s) working together. So with mag/core&coil ballasts you may be "ever so slightly" more efficient on 240v. Will you notice this on your utility bill???? Probably not. There really is so little difference.

Electronics can be a different deal. Generally, not enough to matter.

I like 240v when possible for the reduction in amperage which allows for smaller guage wire and other related components. Industrially, I push my customers towards 460/480v for large 3ph loads because when we need to replace a contactor, starter and or overload, disconnect, wire and so on....., the materials/components can be smaller due to reduced amperage. That brings down the cost as there is less copper and so forth.

Allright, done rambling.... If you can run 240v, I say do it! If not, WTF? 120v will do it and it will cost you about the same in KWH usage for what we are doing here.

Regards,

Azeo

 

[GreenThumb14]

With 240 you could use 14/3 (15amp) rather than 12/3.

 

[Wendull C.]

All 240 does is give power on two legs instead of one. Hence the half amperage. It will not lower your electrical bill.