Grow room electrical

[everlasting tree]

Alright so I’m having a little trouble with my electrical situation.
First off I have a 100 amp 240 volt service and i need to power a 70 sf room. What I will be using in that room are - (4) 600 watt led lights
-7k btu a/c
-(3) wall mount fans
-(2) inline duct fans
If you could recommend a good dehumidifier that would be helpful.

I’m planning on running a 30 amp circuit with 10 gauge wire to power just the lights and a 20amp circuit with 12 gauge wire for the rest.
Would anyone say this is a good setup with some spare amps to work with for future upgrades?
Any advice would be awesome and appreciated I’ve been doing to much research trying to figure this out and want to make sure this setup will do

 

[Tokin Roll]

I can't recommend anything without know what kind of back ground you have in electricity.

100 Amp's is this for the grow room or the whole house?

Stay safe, and grow well my friend,

Tok..

 

[SmokingWings]

I can't recommend anything without know what kind of back ground you have in electricity.

Bingo. Electricity can be unforgiving for those who do not know how to play with it.

Would anyone say this is a good setup with some spare amps to work with for future upgrades?
Any advice would be awesome and appreciated I’ve been doing to much research trying to figure this out and want to make sure this setup will do

I will look up on-line or in the proper books how to wire a room or a house. But, when I came across the same sort of situation you are in I just rolled up a joint and sat down with a buddy who is a retiring certified electrician for commercial and residential installations. He came over, looked at the room, the tent, the lights, and other accessories and spent some time doing whatever electricians do when looking at circuit boxes.

Then he showed up several weeks later, but still on schedule, and brought over circuit breakers, pre-assembled outlet boxes and lengths of pre-cut wire of proper gauge. I traded my labor, time, etc spent on growing some weed for his experience, time and some misc electrical gizmos.

 

[Roy Growin]

Hi Mate - unless you tell us the wattage of each and every appliance you might plug in and what else is on the circuit, it is impossible to advise accurately, but this might help
I'd guess you are drawing 3-4kw max, so a 30ma rcd protected 20A (or 2 x 10A) circuit will be adequate
However, take time to check the fuses are correct rating for each individual appliance, Ie a trailing socket may have a total load of 2400w and thus a 13a fuse, but each lamp only draws 600w so they should be fitted with 3a fuses
This means that should a fault develop, the fuse will blow at 3a (700w) rather than 13a (3000w)
A plug-in 30ma trip at the wall socket is cheap and adds another layer of electrical safety as it will cut out at the appliance rather than the distribution board
If you are not sure, ask an electrician to take a look

 

[Bill284]

Alright so I’m having a little trouble with my electrical situation.
First off I have a 100 amp 240 volt service and i need to power a 70 sf room. What I will be using in that room are - (4) 600 watt led lights
-7k btu a/c
-(3) wall mount fans
-(2) inline duct fans
If you could recommend a good dehumidifier that would be helpful.

I’m planning on running a 30 amp circuit with 10 gauge wire to power just the lights and a 20amp circuit with 12 gauge wire for the rest.
Would anyone say this is a good setup with some spare amps to work with for future upgrades?
Any advice would be awesome and appreciated I’ve been doing to much research trying to figure this out and want to make sure this setup will do

Hey @everlasting tree hope you are well.
You are better off running 15 amp circuits on #12 wire. BX if possible.
30 amp is too high for lights.
If something goes wrong by the time a 30 amp breaks your house could be on fire.
Don't overload circuits for convenience.
Separate circuits is the way to go.
Stay safe.
Bill.

 

[bluter]

you can run the 30a to the room and do a separate distro board with 2 15a at the board split to your outlets. been there done that. we've run rigs from a 50a and built separate distros with their own breakers at the room. makes for a very safe install. the local blows long before the main will.

you can't just run 30a to the room and split outlets off that. you will have to build a separate distro board with it's own breakers powered off the 30a.

 

[bobrown14]

you can run the 30a to the room and do a separate distro board with 2 15a at the board split to your outlets. been there done that. we've run rigs from a 50a and built separate distros with their own breakers at the room. makes for a very safe install. the local blows long before the main will.

you can't just run 30a to the room and split outlets off that. you will have to build a separate distro board with it's own breakers powered off the 30a.

This ^^^

Also for your lighting you need a timer. This is the weak point, you need to get heavy duty timers that can handle all the inrush current the split second the lamps turn on.

This part of the setup is extremely important and is the point of where most issues with electric start.

Without a good heavy duty timer(s) or a 12v trigger switch you're going to go thru timers.
Again inrush current can be a lot more that what your system is built for but its only for a millisecond - over time those milliseconds beat up the time contacts and the outlets.

You find out the problems when your lamps are off when they are supposed to be on.


Also your outlets take a beating too so you need to isolate your outlets with a professional heavy duty power strip that can save your butt if needed.

So you know FYI - a circuit breaker cuts power when it detects heated (temp) wires which is resistance. So yeah you need heavy duty wiring 10ga is good + proper rated outlets and breakers.

 

[everlasting tree]

I can't recommend anything without know what kind of back ground you have in electricity.

100 Amp's is this for the grow room or the whole house?

Stay safe, and grow well my friend,

Tok..

It’s for the whole house and Id like to upgrade my service to 240 but am unable I have to work with the 100 amp service
Ill of course not be running washer dryer a/c etc during the lights in phase

 

[everlasting tree]

I can't recommend anything without know what kind of back ground you have in electricity.

100 Amp's is this for the grow room or the whole house?

Stay safe, and grow well my friend,

Tok..

And my background is diy all I’ve done is wire in some breakers and wall outlets I feel very comfortable around electricity and know how not to get electrocuted

 

[everlasting tree]

Hey @everlasting tree hope you are well.
You are better off running 15 amp circuits on #12 wire. BX if possible.
30 amp is too high for lights.
If something goes wrong by the time a 30 amp breaks your house could be on fire.
Don't overload circuits for convenience.
Separate circuits is the way to go.
Stay safe.
Bill.

Hey @everlasting tree hope you are well.
You are better off running 15 amp circuits on #12 wire. BX if possible.
30 amp is too high for lights.
If something goes wrong by the time a 30 amp breaks your house could be on fire.
Don't overload circuits for convenience.
Separate circuits is the way to go.
Stay safe.
Bill.

Alright I will do that thankyou fir the reply

 

[bobrown14]

Turn power off when working on a breaker box. Things can go south pretty freaking fast.

So you have a 100amp service and you're keeping that due to your cable coming in to the home is only 100amp rated.

About the only thing you can do is build a sub panel say 50amp and run your 10ga wire inside plastic conduit to the new sub panel location. Do your 15 or 20 amp circuits and outlets sized appropriately, get heavy duty timers - split the light load into 2 or more separate circuits with 2 or more timers.

Your max wattage per 15amp circuit is 1500watts. 15amp = 1800watts. You want a little wiggle room there. So count up your wattage and split the load. I like to run fans and extraction equipment on their own circuit because fans eventually fail and that sometimes trips the circuit breaker. If fans arent on for a day its just gonna get warm. If lights and fans are off for a day thats a problem for me.

 

[everlasting tree]

This ^^^

Also for your lighting you need a timer. This is the weak point, you need to get heavy duty timers that can handle all the inrush current the split second the lamps turn on.

This part of the setup is extremely important and is the point of where most issues with electric start.

Without a good heavy duty timer(s) or a 12v trigger switch you're going to go thru timers.
Again inrush current can be a lot more that what your system is built for but its only for a millisecond - over time those milliseconds beat up the time contacts and the outlets.

You find out the problems when your lamps are off when they are supposed to be on.


Also your outlets take a beating too so you need to isolate your outlets with a professional heavy duty power strip that can save your butt if needed.

So you know FYI - a circuit breaker cuts power when it detects heated (temp) wires which is resistance. So yeah you need heavy duty wiring 10ga is good + proper rated outlets and breakers.

I was looking at timers also any recommendations for around 200 I was looking to power the ac and lighting with it
I used to grow in a tent and used the outlets that came with the house after now researching electricity I’m surprised I didn’t start a fire at my previous house

 

[bobrown14]

I've burned out a few sockets over time. I'm there now. I've gotta replace all my sockets in my grow room. They wear out just like switches and breakers.

 

[bobrown14]

I use Intermatic P1131 (20A) and Intermatic P1121 (15A). The 20A needs a special adapter for normal sockets. I've been using them for several years without fail.

 

[Vegan4life]

you can run the 30a to the room and do a separate distro board with 2 15a at the board split to your outlets. been there done that. we've run rigs from a 50a and built separate distros with their own breakers at the room. makes for a very safe install. the local blows long before the main will.

you can't just run 30a to the room and split outlets off that. you will have to build a separate distro board with it's own breakers powered off the 30a.

I have a 30 amp 240 volt circuit running to my grow shed, it feeds a sub panel that has 10 and 15 amp breakers.

 

[bluter]

I have a 30 amp 240 volt circuit running to my grow shed, it feeds a sub panel that has 10 and 15 amp breakers.

exactly what i'm talking about. that's how to do it.
a distro board is just a sub-panel with centrally located outlets wired locally.

 

[bluter]

It’s for the whole house and Id like to upgrade my service to 240 but am unable I have to work with the 100 amp service
Ill of course not be running washer dryer a/c etc during the lights in phase

have you got any spaces left unused on your main breaker box for the house ?

if you add up the breakers that are used what does it equal ? subtract that from 100
what's left is the sum total of what you have to work with. unless you're bringing in more with a new box.

And my background is diy all I’ve done is wire in some breakers and wall outlets I feel very comfortable around electricity and know how not to get electrocuted

i am comfortable with electricity, have been forced to work with a lot of it professionally, and am scared shitless of getting electrocuted. anyone who isn't frightens me more.

I've burned out a few sockets over time. I'm there now. I've gotta replace all my sockets in my grow room. They wear out just like switches and breakers.

holy. not good. that's too much resistance.

how old is the wiring ? if you have some older aluminum wiring about, this is an even more serious deal. potential fire at any time if you're blowing up sockets.

edit : i have this issue at my veg space. i had to trace all the draws and change a couple things to make it safe. i also use a fused drop box on that circuit to power the veg room. gives out there before it gets exciting.

everything's nice and cool now. just don't run the vacuum on that circuit for any time lol

 

[bluter]

I was looking at timers also any recommendations for around 200

timers are easy unless you run hid. if you run hid you will need hd timers.

if you run led it all goes easy. you can run digital timers with led. simple cheap digital timers from most hardware stores. they're all good for a 15a draw. nothing aside from hid needs higher than 15a.

I used to grow in a tent and used the outlets that came with the house after now researching electricity I’m surprised I didn’t start a fire at my previous house

well. maybe me too. you're good now. just knock wood.
learn and move on.

 

[Buds Buddy]

Run No. 6 Wire, Put in your outlet & plug one of these in to control your lights / Electrical.

 

[bluter]

Run No. 6 Wire, Put in your outlet & plug one of these in to control your lights / Electrical.

that's a fused drop box. loads of different ones about at different price points and ratings. most work the same but do your home work. check the specs. most of this stuff is easier / cheaper if you look past just hydro / growing equipment.

we just built most of that stuff for a fraction.