Idiots guide to electricity for grow setup

Dreamscape

Member

• Mar 25, 2006

• #1

Hey everybody hows it goin ??

A friend of mine has been toying around with the idea of doing an apartment grow with 3x 1000w HPS lights , an A/C, enviro controller, water pump and some vent fans , he's already taken into consideration everything that will be needed and is comfortable that it will work - BUT - he's not sure as to how to check to see if his apartment can handle this type of electrical load without tripping the breaker or even worse causing fire.

Does anyone have any links (other than the OG growfaq) that give a fool's guide as to what to look for on the breaker box in the basement in order to find out , how many 1k HPS can hook up to each outlet , ect ... Something real basic - straight foward and reliable.

Any help is appreciated

~Dream

 

NiteTiger

Tiger, Tiger, burning bright...

Veteran

• Mar 25, 2006

• #2

An electrician. Straightforward and reliable as can be.

Generally, it's 1 kw light per 15amp breaker @ 110V. However, 1 15 amp breaker usually powers more than one outlet and socket.

Your buddy is going to need to a seperate subpanel run to handle everything he's talking about in one room, period. Most quotes I've heard for that are in the $1500 range.

DO NOT TRY TO DO YOUR OWN SUBPANEL, unless you're an electrician or as knowledgeable as one.

 

R

redrose

Member

• Mar 25, 2006

• #3

hey

hey

an Electrician is the best way to go.

 

DJ Twist

Member

• Mar 25, 2006

• #4

Ditto.

That's a LOT of power even for a house. Apartment panels are usually very small and can only take limited breaker additions. Most places won't let you add subpanels.

I would recommend he go a little smaller in a apartment.

I used to be an electrician, and $1500 seems a little high to me. I would do it for much less. Depends on what has to be done. If you know a pothead electrician, you might be able to get it for cheaper or free in exchange for some product.

 

bostrom155

Active member

• Mar 25, 2006

• #5

If the only power is for lights and ac and shit its good right? Is anyone living thier?

 

tokinsmokin

Active member

• Mar 25, 2006

• #6

I think you could do it, I've had one bedrooms that could handle that much wattage. The only thing is you will have to run your power cables to each room in your house. If you have a 2 bedroom it will be easier, and most likely in a 1 bedroom you would be able to do it. Go look at the circuit breaker panel and tell us how many seperate circuit breakers are on there.

If you can figure out how many watts total you are going to use, or tell us exactly the equipment you are using like 12000 btu A/C? Inline fans and how big?

This is because you have the 1000's and you can't put more than 1 1000 on either a 15 amp or 20 amp circuit breaker, Same with the A/C. If your in a 1 bedroom you will probably have 4 circuit breakers, which should be exactly enough, but there will be cords running all over your house.

 

Last edited: Mar 25, 2006

Dreamscape

Member

• Mar 26, 2006

• #7

Thanks for all the replies guys,

Ok... According to him -

- In a worst case scenario he'll end up in a 2 bedroom , which has 5 x 15amp breakers that are being used.

- In a best case scenario he'll end up in a 3 bedroom that has 5 x 15amp breakers and 4 x 20amp breakers that are being used (ampage is according to what it says on the breakers themselves)

- The A/C he was thinking of using would be around 5-8k btu (he's yet to figure out what size will be required for the size of the room)

- As far as fans go , he's thinking around 600-1k CFM's should be enough considering the general rule is 200 cfm's per 1k watt , correct ??

- And again he wants to use 3 x 1k HPS for lights and plans on running a bio setup so a water pump and possible chiller as well.

So at this point i'm assuming that he should just run cables for the lights , one into each room since its a 15 amp breaker per room (in the 2 bedroom)... And ballasts use basic three prong plugs so he could just get an extension cord of some sort to stretch into the alternate rooms ?? Anything else to take into consideration ??

Thanks from both of us guys , the info is greatly appreciated

~Dream

 

Last edited: Mar 26, 2006

G

Guest

• Mar 27, 2006

• #8

I wouldn't advise running cords from here to there and everywhere. The amount of power you are talking about will require it's OWN BREAKER BOX. 3000 watts for lights and probably another 2000 watts for an a/c fans pumps and all is alot to try and distribute over multiple breakers. That would also be a major load for almost any type of extension cord you can get. Take the advise given or you'll risk alot worse than being caught growing death.

 

Dreamscape

Member

• Mar 27, 2006

• #9

Than why is tokin so adament that it's fine as long as I run cords ??

Is it a case of - those breakers can handle it as long as you distribute the lights to different breakers , although ideally you'd want a seperate breaker ...

Or is it a case of - Dude you're fucked if you dont get a seperate breaker box, that thing is gonna blow even by setting it up so that only one 1kw occupies anyone 15amp breaker.

??

 

tokinsmokin

Active member

• Mar 27, 2006

• #10

No those breakers are able to handle exactly what they say they can, the breakers will be able to hold 80% of the load of a 15 amp or 20 amp breaker, this is when the breaker will trip for your safety. Your fan will use around .5 amps or a bit more. As for your A/C I would suggest going with a 12000 btu A/C which will run at around 9 amps. And obviously each 1000 will take up around 9 amps also. So a 15 amp would be able to handle 12 amps which is the 80% load. And the 20 amp would be able to handle 16 amps which is the 80% load.

You should definitely check out my Bio Bucket thread in my signature, it will help you out with you temps and what not. I ran a 12000 btu A/C and a 520 cfm fan with an air cooled hood 1000, which was just enough to keep temps in check. So I would advise to get a 12000 btu A/C. Also a chiller would be a good idea, but you should check out the pc fan that creates evaporative cooling and can bring the temps of your res down a considerable amount, and would save you a couple hundred bucks.

Make sure the extension cords can handle the load of the amperage, this is on the tag when you buy it. As for connecting the extension cords, personally whenever I use extension cords I like to keep the connection off the ground just in case of any leaking of water or anything that could happen. I don't know if that is necessary but I like to use that as an extra precaution.

 

NiteTiger

Tiger, Tiger, burning bright...

Veteran

• Mar 27, 2006

• #11

What green is saying is that the breakers may be able to handle it with cords running everywhere, but the cords themselves can't.

Your buddy is obviously looking at a commercial enterprise here, so he needs to buck up and act like it. Spend the money and get an electrician.

If he can't afford it, then he needs to go with a smaller grow and then upgrade once his venture has the profits to support the growth.

For reference, if an electrical cord were to overheat and catch fire in an apartment complex, and someone were killed in the fire, you're looking at a death that occured during the commision of/as a result of a felony - that's homocide, and if you're in an ugly state, special circumstances, which opens the door for the prosecutor to seek the death penalty.

Your boy really want to have to consider that because he wouldn't buck up the cash for an electrician?

 

tokinsmokin

Active member

• Mar 27, 2006

• #12

Ok well I have an extension cord and it says that it has a 15 amp threshold! I understand what these people are saying and it isn't bad information, but what you are talking about is definitely possible given the right method in which I have told you.

I would also say, plug a light in to each outlet and turn your breaker off and on to find out which outlets run to each breaker.

 

Last edited: Mar 27, 2006

Dreamscape

Member

• Mar 27, 2006

• #13

As far as the electrician idea - He's worried that the adding of the additional panel may attract attention ...

Also - I'm assuming that the subpanel would be specifically for one room - having a breaker for each outlet, is this correct tiger ?

Thanks again to the both of you, you guys rock !!

PS. Tokin - I had checked out your grow , sorry it had to get scrapped but I did notice that you were using the PC fans and that it had dropped your rez temp like 7 degree's or something if i'm not mistaken , how much were those fans ??

 

Last edited: Mar 27, 2006

tokinsmokin

Active member

• Mar 27, 2006

• #14

Yeah we live and we learn, oh well. I think I found them for around 6 bucks a piece, I have 3 that are 120mm. I bought them off ebay. I always planned on getting a chiller until I found this method. And actually turned a buddy of mine on to the pc fan method and now he doesn't even use his chiller.

 

Last edited: Mar 27, 2006

G

Guest

• Mar 27, 2006

• #15

Make sure that your cords are atleast 12/2 then. Any smaller than that and they WILL NOT BE ABLE TO HANDLE THE AMPERAGE AND WATTAGE. I've worked as an apprentice electrician/plumber and I know some stuff but not all. Make sure that each 1kw light is on seperate breakers so that you don't overload them. Ckeck out this cord that I made from regular 12/2 wiring. I use these for my grows so I know that I have heavy enough wire to handle what I throw at it. Just be safe I'd hate to see a fire happen and good luck to you.

 

Last edited: Mar 27, 2006

Dreamscape

Member

• Mar 27, 2006

• #16

How would one go about checking them Green?? Would one unscrew the outlet and pull it out to see the cord ? I'd hate for someone to get fried haha...

 

G

Guest

• Mar 27, 2006

• #17

Yeah you would need to be able to read the sheathing on the wire and it should say either 12/2 or 14/2. I would go to your main breaker box and try and find any wires coming out of it and look for the gauge of them rather then pulling outlets. The lower the first number the thicker the wire and thicker is better. The last number is how many conductors(wires per line) minus the ground. So a 12/2 would have 2 conductors (a neutral and a hot) plus the ground.

 

Dreamscape

Member

• Mar 27, 2006

• #18

Thanks a bunch man ... Goodluck to you and everyone else willing to share info freely in order to help others. Thanks again.

~Dream

 

V

vonforne

• Mar 28, 2006

• #19

An apt in itselfg is a bad idea...smell mostly.anelectrictian in Fl. is 95.00 an hour plus materials. so 1500.00 isn't much. especally if your house does not burn down

 

ickster

Member

• Mar 28, 2006

• #20

Don't Run cords.

Don't Run cords.

Dude,
Listen to the people that tell you don't run cords. I am an Electrician. The only safe way to do what you want to do is, as was said , to use the very shortest 12/2 ext. cord possible and use either the washer plug or one of the kit counter circuits (should be two different counter circuits). Of course, you cannot (read don't) run the washer or anything else on that circuit.

Two things to keep in mind, the voltage drop caused by a long cord and or to small of acord (causes much heat and/or flame!!!) and the fact that there will be lots of other things plugged into the different plugs on that circuit.

I would most defintely recommend against such a hig load on existing circuits under most circumstances.

I have been in the trade for a long time, and I am AFRAID of electricity, and so should you be!!

Can't you scale down yer plans a bit?

 

Last edited: Mar 28, 2006