16-20kw in a house. Do electric companies care?

[Zarezhu]

Hey guys,
So I run a 4kw indoor in sac county. It's a house on an acre and ahalf, with a shed out back. My electric bill (smud) is roughly 400 for the grow room, 550 for the house.

Im hoping to upgrade my main panel, build a 20x28 shop out back, and throw a 16kw bloom room in there. I'd use my 4kw shed as a veg room.

My elctric bill would be ~2500 a month, im assuming.

Will electric companies give a shit? Assuming I ALWAYS pay the bill on time. Is this an insane idea?

I'd like to run it for at least 2~ years, before big business REALLY takes over.

 

[GrowingFurthur]

The electric company doesnt care as long as you pay (dont steel electricity) and dont damage any of their electrical equipment by doing your own modifications to the grid access. I wouldn't be afraid of talking with PG&E (i did) and seeing what they say.

 

[James Howlett]

Prices are crazy up there.. 400 for 4 lights? Wow. I pay ~3k a month for 45 lights.

But they don't care as long as you pay on time. Its money in their pockets.

Just make sure all equipment can handle what you plan to do and try to oversize where you can. Make sure its never going to be a problem.

Run a 100amp sub panel to the shed and you'll be good to go.

 

[Top_shelf_farms]

I wouldn't be the least bit concerned with that set up.... Just pay on time....

 

[Zarezhu]

Awesome, this is good news. Not worried about paying the bill, just dont want to get my friend introuble (its his house/rental). talking to the landlord today to get approval for the panel upgrade and building.

100 amps doesnt seem nearly enough? I was thinking I'd need a 200 amp sub panel?

16 lights alone is 72 amps, which needs roughly 90 amps of space running continuously. Plus dehu/ AC's/ bunch of 120v stuff.

Maybe 150 amps would be enough? Hmm.

 

[Mountain Sprout]

Sorry.

 

[rootfingers]

Make sure you know the surge ratings of your equipment, especially AC's. When everything is going full bore and you have an ac kick on with a high startup surge you could be popping breakers pretty easily.

 

[Zarezhu]

Mountain, wtf are you going on about?

A 1kw ballast draws roughly 4.5 amps. I'm not an idiot, its obviously going to be 240v. Continuous loads can only run at 80% of the breaker capacity, so 2 50a breakers would be able to run 80 amps continuously. Roughly 18kw.

Rootfingers- I'm planning on using inverter style AC's, which shouldn't have huge surge ratings. They run constantly, at the lowest amount of power that will maintain a constant set temp.

When it comes to electrical, I don't cut corners. I've been planning to have 200 amp service to the building. I think 3 ton AC's require a 30A breaker to help compensate for any surges. Either way, ALL electrical loads will be accounted for.

All I was worried about was possibly appearing suspicious to SMUD (sac power/utilities). The home and the smud bill aren't in my name, and I would HATE for anything bad to happen to my good friend.

 

[whatthe215]

Yeah you'll want a 200A panel. Unpermited should cost about $2k to do unless conduit is too small AND within the walls.

As long as you're not on a low income discount program they won't care at all.

You should be able to fit about 30kw in lighting + ACs on 200A.

 

[Zarezhu]

2k would be absolutely wonderful, but unlikely. Electrician is $65 an hour. Currently have 100 or 125 amp service, would need to upgrade to 300/400 amp service. For the landlord to allow it, it would need to be permited. I've got 1.5" or 2" underground conduit running to the current shed in the backyard, I was going to use the same conduit to run the new wire/panel. The new building will be within a few feet of my current one. It's roughly a 120' run from the panel, so the wiring cost will be a bit higher too.

I'm currently running 4kw with the low income discount. Should I call and cancel the discount program when I start blasting 20kw out back?

30kw would be a nicee upgrade. Maybe I should consider building a larger shed, and upgrading to 30kw after a cycle or so.

Thanks for the advice man

 

[Wendull C.]

You need to check if the line side of your meter wire will even handle a panel upgrade. You may need to start from the transformer and rewire it all from there. Not cheap.

 

[Yodaweed]

Make sure you don't blow the transformer, a dispensary around here did that and had to pay for a new transformer, i think it was like over 30 grand.

 

[Zarezhu]

I have 5-7k to spend on the panel upgrade/new sub panel. Not sure yet if the county would need to run a new line to the house or not. I know some counties pay for the new overhead wire themselves. I'll have my electrician look into it. When I talked to him around a year ago, he said it would likely be 5k+

I'd love to be able to grow elsewhere, but this seems like the safest/most secure spot for me to run a large room.

 

[James Howlett]

Is doing two rooms on a flip an option? You'll cut your power requirements in half.

 

[arizona45631]

PER LINE

PER LINE

Mountain, wtf are you going on about?

A 1kw ballast draws roughly 4.5 amps. I'm not an idiot, its obviously going to be 240v. Continuous loads can only run at 80% of the breaker capacity, so 2 50a breakers would be able to run 80 amps continuously. Roughly 18kw.

Rootfingers- I'm planning on using inverter style AC's, which shouldn't have huge surge ratings. They run constantly, at the lowest amount of power that will maintain a constant set temp.

When it comes to electrical, I don't cut corners. I've been planning to have 200 amp service to the building. I think 3 ton AC's require a 30A breaker to help compensate for any surges. Either way, ALL electrical loads will be accounted for.

All I was worried about was possibly appearing suspicious to SMUD (sac power/utilities). The home and the smud bill aren't in my name, and I would HATE for anything bad to happen to my good friend.

That 4.5 amps is per line,,,, your running two hot line on 220 or 240 volts that 4.5 amps== 9 amps each-------a 1000 watt light used around 9 amps. -----------THANK YOU----------

 

[George]

That 4.5 amps is per line,,,, your running two hot line on 220 or 240 volts that 4.5 amps== 9 amps each-------a 1000 watt light used around 9 amps. -----------THANK YOU----------

LOL no.

Edit: my bad. Brought this back from the dead. Keep it moving.