too much electricity?! help

ok, so i live in a two bedroom appartment, and currenttly have 3x3x6 growbox with a 600wat plus digital ballast, and a smaller one with a 250 watt MH for a veg/mother room. my best bro is finally movin in now and wants to bring in his grow box too... he has a 600 stealth grow very simialar to mine...600+600+250+(extra's like exhaust fans and such) is around 1450watts+... im really worried this would push the limit of safe electricity to use... any advice at all would be greatly appriatated. peace and grow.

I use 3000+ watts just fine but Im not sure what you mean by safely.

If you want to bring down the wattage. Change out "All" the lights in the apartment with fluro bulbs. You will save alot there. If your in a cold place where winter gets cold. Run you day cycle at night to help heat the place also. That's what i did and my heat bill actually came down. Another thing you could do is have a timer installed on the hot water tank. They don't cost much and the water tank will only run when you want it to. That will save alot there also. I hope this helps you some.
Take care

Make sure you don't exceed the maximum load of your circuits. A 15 amp circuit can handle a load of 1440 watts. Remember to add in any non-grow items that are on the circuits as well as the grow boxes.

Your brother's system is going to need to have a few things put on a second circuit unless you have 20 amp circuits.

GDW is right about how to save electric to help disguise the increase. Another tip: don't turn on the TV unless you are actually watching it.

Make sure your grow cabs are locked & secure. Since you're in a rented apartment, the landlord can come in if there is a valid reason (such as an emergency water leak) - you don't want your gardens found!

it all depends on the amperage of ur breaker box...if u can swing it try to swap out ur existing breaker box for a 20A or 30A one and then u won't run into any issues...

1500 watts use about 12.5 Amps (Watts/Voltage=Amps)

Most household breaker circuits are split loads, wall sockets on 15 Amp, lights on 15 Amp, bathroom sockets on 20 Amp, kitchen/microwave on 20 Amp, Electric dryer on 20 Amp, etc. My guess is you are using wall sockets in a bedroom and they are probably on a 15 Amp breaker capable of handling about 1800 watts. For safety never overload a wire circuit (it burns) and most local code is 80% of capacity. (80% of 1800=1440 W)


"it all depends on the amperage of ur breaker box...if u can swing it try to swap out ur existing breaker box for a 20A or 30A one and then u won't run into any issues..."
BREAKERS AND FUSES ARE RATED FOR THE LOAD A LINE CAN CARRY! Don't even think of swapping out any fuses or breakers until/unless you know for sure the wiring will handle it. A 20 Amp breaker normally protects an 8 gauge wire circuit. If you have 12 0r worse yet 14 guage wiring and swap out a small breaker (15) for a larger breaker (20+) the wires will heat and could burn your place down. Old code allowed 12 gauge wires, new (depending on your location) most probably is 10 gauge minimum for a 15 amp circuit.

Also, keep in mind that HPS surge (or spike) when the lights first come and start to warm up, after starting they don't have to draw as big a load. If you have a circuit loaded so the breaker doesn't trip with lights off you may find out that it will trip or blow fuses when the lights come on.

Gas or wood heating is also a good idea if u currently have electric, and other things like energy saving light bulbs are also a good idea. I currently use 6 600w and 6 400w lights plus all the bells and whistles with no issues at all. I did have the house re-wired though.

very good advice 1toke, people really need to take all the neccesary precautions when dealing with electricity. also if they not sure they're better of asking, people who do.............ones safety is the most important

thx everyone, all of your info was very helpful. ... oh by the way, would this be enough electric use to draw unwanted attention to my apartment?

Shnanana said:

thx everyone, all of your info was very helpful. ... oh by the way, would this be enough electric use to draw unwanted attention to my apartment?

Click to expand...

At one time i ran 1 600HPS, 1 400HPS, 3 Shop Lights, 1 150HPS, 1 150watt Fluro, 3 Rio 600 pumps, 1 Vapor Tek, 1 OdorVent 12 w/6" Vortex Blower, 1 Box Fan, 1 Oscillating fan. Now you got to undstand. I switch every light in my apartment over to a energy saving fluro bulb. My bill was running me around 70-80 bucks a month. This wasn't bad at all for the town i was living in. I was in a college town and students in same size apartments were burning up way more electric then me. The key is not to use your normal lights. Open up blinds and let the sunlight in living room. Don't use TV like other member said. Only turn it on when ready to watch show. OH, if you don't have a timer put on the water heat. Just use your hot water in the morning and at Night. If your not going to be at your place during the day. Find out what breaker is for the water heater and just turn it off by flipping the breaker. You would be very surprised how much the water heater runs all day. Will save you some money here. Unplug Microwave,can openers, toaster, etc. They still draw when not in use. I hope this helps you in your quest to lower your bill. I'm in the middle of writing a book about growing cannabis while in college. It will cover over alot of these issue and how to avoid high electric bill. Here's a picture of the cover of the book. This is not the finish cover, but a start of the artwork. Take care and stay safe.

sweet man, thx alot, im going through college too now, getting a degree in horticulture, so i think its rad your writing a book on it now man, and once again thx for being so helpful. peace.

Don't worry Xcel doesn't care aslong as you pay. The neighbors have to complain to police and they have to get a warrant to view the bill if they want to look at it. Just keep the smell and smoke down and you'll be fine.