Do I need an electrician or is this safe?

[jaymo4]

Here is everything that is in my room:

600 watt HPS/MH light w/ ballast
2 oscillating fans
1 small space heater (seperate timer for night)
6" 320 cfm fan

All i have currently is a standard outlet with a powerbar giving me the extra room to plug. Is this too much for one room? note the light and space heater will never be on at the same time.

 

[slomoking13]

you're fine... chances are the space heater uses more power than your light and fans!

 

[Jack in the Bud]

Here is everything that is in my room:

600 watt HPS/MH light w/ ballast
2 oscillating fans
1 small space heater (seperate timer for night)
6" 320 cfm fan

All i have currently is a standard outlet with a powerbar giving me the extra room to plug. Is this too much for one room? note the light and space heater will never be on at the same time.

jay,

Find the breaker switch that controls that outlet and see what size it is (I'm guessing it will be a 20 amp). Then add up all the amperage draws of all your various pieces of equipment you've got plugged into that outlet. (each piece of equipment ought to have a little sticker or plate on it giving it's electrical specifications). As long as the total amperage draw stays under what the breaker is rated for you should be fine.

Word of caution..... There's usually multiple outlets on one breaker switch (and they could be in other rooms) so you have to take into account anything that may be plugged into them.

Once you've isolated the breaker that controls the outlet in your grow space turn it off and then go check every other outlet and light switch in the house. This will help you figure out what all else may be on that circuit that draws electricity thru that particular breaker.

jack

 

[buttery420]

you're fine... chances are the space heater uses more power than your light and fans!

That's very true. Mine uses 2000watts!...

 

[BehindYou]

Use only 80% of the circuit breaker rating not the full rating.

 

[Dirtfree]

Nice advice Jack. +REP

 

[sagensour]

can u run the heater off of another outlet? fan=1amp,light=5.7amps,oc fans 2amps and heater 10-15 amps. most strips can only run 1850watts. all those amps added up in ms law mwans u need another power strip and atleast a 25amp breaker. u dont want the breaker or strip to run hot for long. u can check your amp draw with a decent volt meter with amp clamp.

 

[buttery420]

never mind soz

 

[slomoking13]

can u run the heater off of another outlet? fan=1amp,light=5.7amps,oc fans 2amps and heater 10-15 amps. most strips can only run 1850watts. all those amps added up in ms law mwans u need another power strip and atleast a 25amp breaker. u dont want the breaker or strip to run hot for long. u can check your amp draw with a decent volt meter with amp clamp.

I think he said the heater is only running at night though when the light is off.. so he's probably using around 8 amps during lighted hours and 10-15 amps on the heater during dark hours.. just to be safe, it's probably still a good idea to figure out which breaker it is and make sure there isnt anything else drawing a large amount of power off of it.. I wasn't thinking about that when i first responded and assumed you might have already done that when setting things up.. but afterall, assumption is the mother of all f**k ups!

 

[DecimateForce]

FYI...You cannot simply increase the size of the breaker to get more electricity to the room. You must make sure that the wiring within the walls can handle the load you require. Chances are, if there is a 20amp in there right now, the wire gauge from that amp is only rated to carry a maximum 20 amp load at the distance at which it is wired. If you beef up the breaker without going to a thicker gauge wiring, you will run the risk of over heating the wiring to the outlet. This will cause the casing around the wire to melt away and will easily start a fire. To figure out proper wire gauge and load capacity, you can use this calculator:
http://www.csgnetwork.com/wiresizecalc.html

Also, you only want to run about 80-90% of the breaker's capacity because many of the devices plugged in will demand a large burst of energy to start up. If this isn't making sense, you need an electrician.

 

[buttery420]

^^Should I bother doing this sort of research with a 250watt HPS? (+repp on the info btw, just a lot to take in)

 

[sagensour]

FYI...You cannot simply increase the size of the breaker to get more electricity to the room. You must make sure that the wiring within the walls can handle the load you require. Chances are, if there is a 20amp in there right now, the wire gauge from that amp is only rated to carry a maximum 20 amp load at the distance at which it is wired. If you beef up the breaker without going to a thicker gauge wiring, you will run the risk of over heating the wiring to the outlet. This will cause the casing around the wire to melt away and will easily start a fire. To figure out proper wire gauge and load capacity, you can use this calculator:
http://www.csgnetwork.com/wiresizecalc.html

Also, you only want to run about 80-90% of the breaker's capacity because many of the devices plugged in will demand a large burst of energy to start up. If this isn't making sense, you need an electrician.

once again, amp clamp.

 

[Jack in the Bud]

That's very true. Mine uses 2000watts!...

So that means that heater will draw 16.7 amps (if it's running on 120 volt). That pretty much uses up a 20 amp circuit breaker. So if you've already got a 5 amp light ballast and a couple of 1 amp fans running on that circut and the heater comes on, pop goes the breaker.

Most of those cheap electrical timers we're all using (I've got 3 of them in my set up) are only rated for 15 amps. You wouldn't want to use one of them to regulate a 2000 watt heater. And even the timer it's self uses some amperage. Maybe not very much but when you start getting several of them it all starts adding up.

Another word of caution....Don't just go installing a higher amperage breaker. The size circuit breaker that's there has been used to protect (from over heating) the size wire that's been used to run to the outlets. So if you start tripping breakers do not simply put a larger breaker in. You need to get another 20 amp breaker and run another 20 amp rated piece of Romex wire to the area you need more power.

They way most houses are wired they are not set up for you to be running 30 amps worth of electrical equipment in your bedroom closet from the closest outlet to it.

I ran another dedicated 20 amp line to mine (to supplement what was already close at hand there) just to make sure I didn't burn my house down in the process of growing my own weed to save a little money.

Jack

Wattage divided by your voltage (120) tells you how many amps something draws.

 

[BehindYou]

Jay,
Post the wattage or amps for the devices.
What is the age of the home/ apt where ur at. Wiring has changed overthe years.
Most homes are wired with 14awg but newer are 12awg. Older homes many ti
es have 15amp breakers and new 20amp. Don't overload the breaker or wire. I'll help.

 

[buttery420]

Lol! It takes up 3 amps and heats up my room more effectively. That heater is gone I can't put breakers in...long story.

 

[slomoking13]

damn! the space heater i have for my bedroom runs on 1200 watts low and 1500 watts on high and it's just a dinky average sized space heater! just curious, but how big of a room does yours heat and what kind/model is it? i might be in the market for a new space heater if i can save the difference in my power bill every month.. it's been anywhere from -30- 20 degrees F here for the last 2 months and that thing has been runnin consistently

 

[jaymo4]

Wow that is a lot of information! So technically I am safe as long as don't exceed 18 amps in my 20 amp socket. I can safely run my lights/fans on timer and then at time the space heater to come on at a very low setting throughout the night and maybe turn off an hour before my lights go back on?

The apt is old but I know that its been rewired in the past 15-20 years. Also my tent is in the basement only about 5 feet from my breaker panel and I am drawing power from an outlet located 2 feet away from it. How much do you think it would cost to rewire another dedicated 20 amp just to be safe? In all reality I am growing to smoke for cheap and don't want to risk burning this place down.

PS my sisters friend is an electrician and could prob help me out

 

[jaymo4]

damn! the space heater i have for my bedroom runs on 1200 watts low and 1500 watts on high and it's just a dinky average sized space heater! just curious, but how big of a room does yours heat and what kind/model is it? i might be in the market for a new space heater if i can save the difference in my power bill every month.. it's been anywhere from -30- 20 degrees F here for the last 2 months and that thing has been runnin consistently

It is a 1600 watt no name one from Canadian tire, cost $69 and I have not actually even used it yet to be honest. I will be using it to heat the 4x4 tent because I am growing in an unfinished basement that is not heated and it has been about freezing here for a couple months now..

 

[BehindYou]

I do t think you'll have problems.
I'd wire up a dedicated for a 12pack. It's easy to do if u know what your doing.
What else is on the circuit? Is it a 20 amp breaker? The internAtion electrical code says not to exceed 80% of the breaker rating so 16amp on a 20

 

[buttery420]

damn! the space heater i have for my bedroom runs on 1200 watts low and 1500 watts on high and it's just a dinky average sized space heater! just curious, but how big of a room does yours heat and what kind/model is it? i might be in the market for a new space heater if i can save the difference in my power bill every month.. it's been anywhere from -30- 20 degrees F here for the last 2 months and that thing has been runnin consistently

I was talking about my 250 watt HPS I still can't believe how many amps this heater uses...I think it just negates many of the worries I have about running the HPS on a normal socket.