200a panel inside flowering room?

[highfidelity]

Is this a no no or a common occurrence? I'm planning a build out of a room in a new house and the panel is inside the best room for the situation. I would guess the main concern is moisture buildup inside the panel from high humidity but that should be able to be managed with proper environmental control I would think. Is there anything I may not be considering?

Thanks in advance!

 

[f-e]

Access. For most of the time, we forget where the panel is. When you need it though, you need it. Often in the dark.

 

[exploziv]

There may be an option to install a panel with a good environmental protection like resistance to humidity. I never heard of them but also never needed them. They probably have them for industrial and comercial applications, tho (the price might be scary tho, no ideea). I would look into that. And for better planning and avoiding situations like f-e expressed, I would avoid putting it into the growroom alltogher, if i could.

 

[highfidelity]

Yea I guess it wouldn't be fun running in during lights off risking herms and all. Might have to be back to the drawing board from that alone...

 

[highfidelity]

Might just be able to make a small lung/res room attached to the flowering room that accesses the panel to keep it from being in the flowering area.

 

[exploziv]

Might just be able to make a small lung/res room attached to the flowering room that accesses the panel to keep it from being in the flowering area.

Great ideea! Storage space as well!

 

[Three Berries]

I use to be an electrician in the food industry. A lot of the refrigerated buildings always had water buildup inside the panels. It came from the outside air entering the conduits and bringing in the moisture.

But for the typical grow area I wouldn't worry about it unless you use a water hose to spray down things. As said access is the code and the key.

 

[highfidelity]

I use to be an electrician in the food industry. A lot of the refrigerated buildings always had water buildup inside the panels. It came from the outside air entering the conduits and bringing in the moisture.

But for the typical grow area I wouldn't worry about it unless you use a water hose to spray down things. As said access is the code and the key.

Yea no plans to be spraying anything and I don't like to let it get above 60% through flower though I do see spikes up into the 70s for short periods which had me concerned about condensation. Thanks for the input.

 

[Three Berries]

If you do worry about moisture be sure to use water rated cords and such. The stranded single conductors in conduit or cords will have a W in them such as THHW instead of the normal THHN or for cords SJOEW or SJOOW.

 

[exploziv]

What you really need is this: https://safeelectricity.org/ground-fault-circuit-interrupters-gfcis/ They really save lives!

 

[Three Berries]

What you really need is this: https://safeelectricity.org/ground-fault-circuit-interrupters-gfcis/ They really save lives!

And they can give protection to 2 slot ungrounded outlets when used to replace or if the ungrounded outlets are downstream.

 

[highfidelity]

And they can give protection to 2 slot ungrounded outlets when used to replace or if the ungrounded outlets are downstream.

Is there any negatives to a gfci or should I do it wherever possible in the grow for safety? How would these factor into a 240v system? I did plan to have at least a 20a 240v circuit for the leds. If I put every watt of led on that circuit I'd be close to 17a. Probably keep the smaller lights on 120 to get under 16a since it's a continuous load.

What you really need is this: https://safeelectricity.org/ground-fault-circuit-interrupters-gfcis/ They really save lives!

Upon further reading in this link it says not to use gfci for "Fluorescent or other types of electric-discharge lighting fixtures"

So do the leds just not get gfci and the rest of the outlets in the room do?

 

[Three Berries]

I use a GFCI on both tents. One had 150w HPS and LEDs. The other all LEDs.

240V has their own setups. You can also add it to the panel as a breaker.

 

[f-e]

Earth leakage is part of the design for some items. Particularly larger switching power supplies. Such as lighting drivers. The manufacturer can tell you the leakage to allow for.

Ideally a pump in a tank want's leakage protection, and the tank want's a ground to leak to, within a short distance of the pump. Many pumps do this themselves, but a pump with just two wires doesn't. I have had such a pump make a tank live.

You may want to keep your main timers on an unprotected circuit. Along with extraction. Some things offer more hassle turning off, than it's worth.

I like to protect my lighting, and split it over separate circuits. One will have the pump. The timers are separate. Very little goes on the timer circuit, except the timers an control wiring for the contactors.

If my pump circuit goes off, so does some lighting as a clue. If a light blows up, you still have other lights, but might loose that pump. The control circuit is robust. Very few items on it, and non that need more than short circuit protection.

Moving on from here, a UPS for your fans can save your ass in a full blackout situation.

 

[highfidelity]

Earth leakage is part of the design for some items. Particularly larger switching power supplies. Such as lighting drivers. The manufacturer can tell you the leakage to allow for.

Ideally a pump in a tank want's leakage protection, and the tank want's a ground to leak to, within a short distance of the pump. Many pumps do this themselves, but a pump with just two wires doesn't. I have had such a pump make a tank live.

You may want to keep your main timers on an unprotected circuit. Along with extraction. Some things offer more hassle turning off, than it's worth.

I like to protect my lighting, and split it over separate circuits. One will have the pump. The timers are separate. Very little goes on the timer circuit, except the timers an control wiring for the contactors.

If my pump circuit goes off, so does some lighting as a clue. If a light blows up, you still have other lights, but might loose that pump. The control circuit is robust. Very few items on it, and non that need more than short circuit protection.

Moving on from here, a UPS for your fans can save your ass in a full blackout situation.

Hmm giving me lots to think on. Is this the case with the 3 phase pumps we were talking about on that thread? Definitely can see a benefit to splitting to different breakers so theres still some light if the breaker had tripped so good call there. Ups is also another thing I hadn't considered but great call

 

[exploziv]

In EU whole house GFCI are standard at 100 mA or less, installed with electric service usually.
I usually go and install a 30mA one in any house I live or grow on. Never had a problem with them tripping. They would trip from a faulty device most times. But they are vital in avoiding electric shocks on all outlets they protect. For avoiding electric shocks in damp bathrooms they even do 10mA ones, but those might trip on false positives so I would not recommend. 30mA should do it for a grow or regular home.

 

[highfidelity]

In EU whole house GFCI are standard at 100 mA or less, installed with electric service usually.
I usually go and install a 30mA one in any house I live or grow on. Never had a problem with them tripping. They would trip from a faulty device most times. But they are vital in avoiding electric shocks on all outlets they protect. For avoiding electric shocks in damp bathrooms they even do 10mA ones, but those might trip on false positives so I would not recommend. 30mA should do it for a grow or regular home.

Awesome thanks for the info

 

[f-e]

Hmm giving me lots to think on. Is this the case with the 3 phase pumps we were talking about on that thread? Definitely can see a benefit to splitting to different breakers so theres still some light if the breaker had tripped so good call there. Ups is also another thing I hadn't considered but great call

Tough call. The PSU is unlikely to offer electrical isolation from the mains, of the kind we would call a separate extra low voltage supply. However the chain of events to get you in trouble is highly unlikely. We don't view a loose phone charger wire as a danger, but then we don't have them in wet areas.

Personally, I don't expect to get a shock from the failure of the PSU to offer adequate isolation, while the pump wires were somehow exposed to my tank. Which would rot them in a week anyway. I also have no earth points around my tank to touch. This is a point that passes people by quite often. Like the birds on the wires, we can touch a live wire, and become live, without knowing. The problem is when we become a path for electric to pass along, to somewhere. Generally earth or neutral. Otherwise, we are birds on wires. Blissfully unaware of our potential difference to ground. Until we touch it...

 

[flylowgethigh]

Are you ever going to need an electrician to come in and fix anything? They better be OK with growing.

 

[highfidelity]

Tough call. The PSU is unlikely to offer electrical isolation from the mains, of the kind we would call a separate extra low voltage supply. However the chain of events to get you in trouble is highly unlikely. We don't view a loose phone charger wire as a danger, but then we don't have them in wet areas.

Personally, I don't expect to get a shock from the failure of the PSU to offer adequate isolation, while the pump wires were somehow exposed to my tank. Which would rot them in a week anyway. I also have no earth points around my tank to touch. This is a point that passes people by quite often. Like the birds on the wires, we can touch a live wire, and become live, without knowing. The problem is when we become a path for electric to pass along, to somewhere. Generally earth or neutral. Otherwise, we are birds on wires. Blissfully unaware of our potential difference to ground. Until we touch it...

Got it. Thanks so much for your detailed responses. I've learned quite a bit from your posts in my short time here and it is greatly appreciated. Sounds like this risk can be mitigated easily enough and my situation currently appears to be just fine but damn that made me think twice about how I've been reaching into the res here and there.

Are you ever going to need an electrician to come in and fix anything? They better be OK with growing.

I've since managed to redesign the room so the panel has full access without visible plants. Definitely better safe than sorry here!