4k sealed room apartment grow

[Guest]

They are 30A and 40A 240V circuits.The 30A 2 pole breaker should have #10 AWG size wire,it can handle a continuos load of 24A.The 40A breaker should have #8 AWG and can hold a continuous load of 32A.Note that the wire is the actual size it should be or larger for breaker size before planning any circuitry,there are some real electrical geniuses out there..

 

[smily]

im just asking dont want to start a shit slinging fest but.............

how will you justify/explain the power comsumption? in a apartment.

dont they do random roach spraying?? or other intrusive albeit with notice even i dont care isnt that a turn off??

just wonderin GOOD LUCK.

 

[Guest]

im just asking dont want to start a shit slinging fest but.............

how will you justify/explain the power comsumption? in a apartment.

dont they do random roach spraying?? or other intrusive albeit with notice even i dont care isnt that a turn off??

just wonderin GOOD LUCK.

To help answer the power consumption question - an electric dryer uses 5kw. An average family (even an apartment dwelling family) uses the dryer for at least 3-4 hours a day. Add a couple window ac units and noone is going to sneeze at 4kw. With fans, pumps, veg lights, etc you should be about 5-6kw and shouldn't have any issues with electrical.

Keeping down smell, noise, vibration, water spills, nosy neighbors, etc - that is a different story.

Charcoal filters, inline ozone generators and negative pressure are key to smell.

Good luck!

 

[Guest]

welcome in guys

thanks for the translation the american

can another knowledgeable person confirm :theamerican's: translation of the board?


I was also wondering if there was a way to tell how much total power i can use at once. Not that i plan to come close to hitting this number most likely, but is there a way to tell the max power that could flow through my apartment at one time?

 

[Guest]

smiley: can you pleease make your font a little bigger? i'm havin to squint just to see it

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Your breaker diagram indicates 200amp total service which is standard residential service, assuming the wiring is correct like was pointed out. If you didnt mind a huge bill and no dryer or stove you could run a lot more than 4k lol.

 

[RamCTD1027]

I am not an electrician but how do you assume its a 200 amp service? Each leg of a 100 amp panel provides 100amps if i am not mistaken, so to me, I would assume its a 100 amp service coming to the apartment. I could be wrong here but i do think it is a 100 amp service coming into the house.

With that being said, I am running a 50 amp sub panel dedicated to my grow off a 100 amp total service to my house without any problems. You can definitely run 4k in lights in your place if you wanted to.

 

[ItsGrowTime]

My assumption is based on the total amount of amperage of the breakers so theoretically if you are running just the dryer and the heater at full load and a couple ACs you would already be approaching the 80% barrier of 100amp service without running anything else in the house. I would hope the service is set according to maximum possible load at any given time. Of course I could be wrong, but its a common sense guess.

 

[Guest]

Thats an 8 space 16 pole 125A loadcenter,you cant just add up the values of the individual breakers you must go by panel size.

 

[Guest]

The oven (range) plug is very accessable so that's a plus. I could definitely live without an oven, just will eat out a lil more and use the microwave.
with it being 40A @ 240V, It seems like it would easily run 4k of lights (4.6A each-18.4A total for 4-1k's)
i have other ideas, but im a lil too lazy now to write them down

 

[Dreamscape]

Dreamscape:

do you have any idea how i could check to see if that was a 50 amp outlet without asking my landlord? (where are the markings, etc)

as far as the rule of thumb....yea, I know it, but if i'm gonna do something like this i think i really need at least 2k to get it to pay off for me.

Well ... GENERALLY speaking , as far as my knowledge goes #1. Ovens are always 50 or so amps , never 30. #2. 50amps are never 3 pronged (I think), they're always 4 so thats a start - also if you look super closely at the outlet itself it should say 30 or 50amp on it .... and if those don't work - look at the number on the plastic outlet itself if its a 30 it'll say something like "10-30R" or "10-30P" ...

2k is reasonable since you have your bedroom and your living room , id say 3k would even be alright ... and think of it this way , if you still wanna do tree's you could get 5 600watters , hang one in the middle and hang the other four on the outside corners ... I just think 4 is way too overkill ... 3 is a bit overkill but not TOO much , ya know ...

you're in an apartment - precaution is everything because at the end of the day if something goes down , be it fire - popo - ect ..., your crop aint worth shit ... so I suggest either grabbing a 2 bedroom or scaling down to 3k ... put it this way as well ... less lights - less risk - less stress - less plants to deal with - more attention to the ones that are there =

put it this way - my plan is to do 4 600w in a 2 bedroom - call it pussy , call it what you want but with 2400w you could pull a solid 3-4 elbows if its done correctly ... thats not using a million different additives either - thats focusing MAINLY on environment control - the foundation ...

This is my basic model for 95% of what i'm going to do - feeding wise , setup wise , just about everything :
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=50346&page=1&pp=15

work smarter - not harder (or riskier)

lol my sermon is over

 

[Guest]

i'm actually thinking 2k is the most i want to do now. It seems like taking care of 4k worth of plants while working a full time job would be a little too much until I'm used to the larger scale stuff. I'm actually considering grow tents at this point, but idk. I'm thinking it would still be cheper just to staple up some poly.
Grow bags on the floor seem to be the easiest option as far as moving them in and out of the apartment. Same with coco.
I need to start reading a lot more on the coco forums though to learn how to do it better. I'll probably do a small run in a 150 or 250 cab at the beginning of this fall using coco and the new strain im trying just so i can learn the strain and the system so i don't just waste a lot of watts.
I'm thinking i can actually run a 4 plant/sqf Perpetual SOG under my 150w in my dresser grow just to get it down. Under the 1000watters, once i have those up and running i can just use bigger, maybe 3 gallon grow bags and do 1 plant per quare foot SOG.

I think one of the key things here is i think its really important to learn my system before ramping up. That way i don't invest a lot of money then have it fail. I can always use the extra time to grow out a nice mother, put toether my system, etc.

 

[Guest]

Is the range plug close to your grow location?I'd take out that range receptacle and mount an intermatic WH40 right over the hole in the wall,come out of it to your box holding the receptacles for your lights.Wire your lights for 240V

 

[Guest]

the range plug is across the apartment, but thats only going to be 30-40 feet of wire at the most. Is that too long? Do i need to run a bigger wire for a longer length to keep voltage at 240?

so you think i should just mount the wh40 timer right at the main plug and then run the wire through my apartment from there?

I definitely plan on wiring the lights for 240, I can't see any reason not to.

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

i think you guys may have forgot the mot important thing.
exectric range.
this increases electric useage for you unwhitting neighbors.
also, never use it. for cooking
let me throw a small story in here.
i dont think all that useage will do a thing. last year my job was rocky and money was tight and i had rocked a 900$ power bill in a single 65 day billing cycle. i had it shutoff and paid up most to have it reconnected. had guys out to my place a few times, on off etc. never off for more then 20 hours, although not good didnt hurt a thing. had people calling and coming by to leave notes etc. anyways crop came in and i gave edison 1100 on my 1050 total bill (300 from last 4 months being draged on.) never had a single problem with power co.
same 1 bd apt. few months later
had someone B&E (braking and entering) while i was at work. came home at lunch and found the mess. apperently one of the neighbors called the cops (i didnt know) but i decided to clean-up and tear-down the room (had alot of electronics stolen, needed the insurance co and a cop report) i had it down in about 45 minutes, sick huh. threw the plants in black bags and tossed-em in my trunk of car. (that sucked)
co-incidently i had a few leuttices in a small garden (indoors under floro's) so i just moved a 1k over them(mh) and the cops didnt say a word.
ok...
so my morral of my story is just becareful. security smell and make sure ur ready to move. you have to be one step ahead. i dont think the power co. is an issue just dont get over 1000$/mo bill or steal but for pete sake pay the bill.

i think the hydrohuts would be faster to tear-down but a fullroom screams hardcore.

go with the 4k. use aircooled hoods to decrease heat and it should reduce a/c dependancy use digital balists to save electricity.

one trick i use to save electricity is to run my plants day at night so i can use the cool outside air to cool the lights. i find my a/c compressors have to run way less.
good luck!

 

[Guest]

thanks for the words and stoppin in digitalhappy.

I am considering hydrohuts due to the solid construction and i think it would cost me 2/3 the price to build one and it wouldn't be as clean.
I kinda like the idea of the deluxe one (the 4x8 tent) and putting two 1k's in their, aircooled.
It would also make for a fairly cleanup free, closed off environment.

i'm making sure i have cash to pay the electic bill 3 months ahead while running an extra 3k or so (fans and pumps included) ahead of time.

I'm going to stay away from digital ballasts most likely because i've been reading all over how ifthey're not shielded correctly they can basically give away your grow.

How loud is the hum of a magnetic 1000w ballast? anything more than a normal fan?

 

[timmyocool]

The hum is noticeable off the 1k ballasts. Id put it on par with my 265cfm inline. I ran one in an apartment right next to the neighbors wall and had no problems. Although next time I'll beef up security and line the entire room with insulation. It did make me paranoid. I wondered if they could hear it with their ear pressed up against the wall...omgomg. I didnt go for the digital ballasts for the same reason as you. I dont need neighbors complaining and random inspections.

Here are a few tips on saving power. Switch off the hot water heater on the breaker and only turn it on 30 min before you need a shower. There was more than enough hot water and it stayed warm for most the day.

Buy a mini fridge. A big fridge can use around 700w! Or better yet, do without. You could go to a costco and buy a couple months supply of non perishable food.

As for cooking meals, try a propane burner instead of wasting huge amounts of electric cooking things on the range, oven, microwave.

Another neat thing is if youre growing in the winter, you score free heat by exhausting the scrubbed air back into the apartment. Two birds, one stone. 2kw puts off a lot of heat. Should help supplement your natural gas bill.

I know this sounds like a pain, but im not a big fan of 12/12 spikes. I plan on running 1k 24/7 and manually moving the light back and forth between photo periods. I also get the added benefit of only having to purchase a single 1k. The light will be attatched to rails with a poly wall that folds down to allow simple repositioning of the hood. Flexible ducting is used between the stationary filter/fan to make it even easier to move. This is nice, but isnt possible if you have a complex schedule and cant guarantee youll be home. You could really mess things up if you miss a few swaps! Be careful.

Added security. My worst nightmare is to come home to a power failure and stinky apartment! To help combat this, Im going to use a uvonair ozone generator attached to a battery backup. In the event of an outage, the low power draw of the ozone gen should allow it to run for several hours and hopefully long enough for them to restore power and get your carbon scrubber running. I dont think it would be practical to run a inline fan on a battery backup, they use quite a bit of juice. But im open to ideas.

How effective is ozone? Anyone grown with only using ozone for odors? i hope the smell still doesnt permeate w/ 24 plants on 2kw. Id get the biggest, baddest model. Ive had the juice go out before and it about gave me and ulcer. I'll sacrifice anything for security.

 

[Guest]

thanks for the advice timmyocool.
Im not gonna use propane burners in my place. I don't want to burn the building down.
Thats nice you have a schdule that allows you repostition the lights every 12 hours. Not gonna work for me as I work 2 jobs and i like to be able to go out and have fun too.

anybody know any magnetic ballasts that don't hum as much?

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Digital magnetic ballasts? hehe

 

[Guest]

IGT: u smartass.......

but seriously, any ballasts that hum less? are the more expensive ballasts quieter?