Electrical - Sub Panel

[Deviant420]

I'll cut right to the chase. I have a 1000w-HPS and am picking up a 400w-MH and a 1000w-MH. I live in a relatively old house which puts (what I think is) all of my grow area on a single breaker. The main box is outside on the wall right next to the meter. I have not been able to locate any other panels inside the house.

How would I go about adding a breaker or two to the outside panel and running it inside to a sub panel in the room?

 

[boolmag]

Your main electrical panel is outside?

- how big is the breaker?

 

[Deviant420]

The outdoor breaker is laid out as such:

12 slots for breakers (in amps)

slot 1 - 40 (bridged)
slot 2 - 12
slot 3 - 40 (bridged to slot 1)
slot 4 - 15
slot 5 - 20
slot 6 - 15?
slot 7 - 15 x 2 independent
slot 8 - 15 x 2 independent
slot 9 - 20 x 2 independent
slot 10 - 20 x 2 independent
slot 11 - 20?
slot 12 - 15 x 2 independent

According to the diagram, it appears 3, 6, 8, bottom half of 9, and top half of 10 are not being used. Hope this is more clear.

 

[boolmag]

Do you know how big your service is? Without knowing what circuit your grow area would be on, or if indeed it's only on a single circuit, here's one option...

Your lights alone are going to be 20+ amps (assuming 120V), you can swap the dual 15A in slot 8 & put a 30A, feed you sub panel with that...minimum 2 x 15A in your sub, group one 1000w & the 400w on 1 circuit & the other 1000w on the other...That leaves the existing circuit "X" available for all you other needs...

 

[Deviant420]

Any advice on how to properly chase the wire into the house through the conduit pipe? I will have to take a closer look, but it appears wires run both out the top of the panel (into the attic area) and down into the ground (into the basement?).

 

[boolmag]

Depends, is your area in the basement?

 

[Guest]

I use whats called a fish tape to chase/run wires. I push the thin metal through the conduit and tie the wire on and bring it back through.

 

[Guest]

Also I've heard in some cases when you run a subpanel you need to drive another ground rod.

 

[gdawg]

hey dev i would put a two pole breaker in slot 8, 40 amp. run a seperate conduit to the house and go from there. if theres some old wire in the existing conduit i dunno about pushin a fishtape through it bring the 220 power to a sub in your basement then break it down on a control board. might seem like more power than you need but thats the point. and you're in a basement...whats your distance between panel and grow spot?

 

[Deviant420]

Thanks for the replies so far guys.

Approximate length from outside wall to grow area is 15' (possibly shorter). It goes through a bedroom, a hallway, then into the "storage room". The "roof" of the grow area (again, in the basement) is roughly level with outdoor ground level (where the bottom conduit presumably goes into the basement "roof").

My biggest Q? is how difficult its going to be to run this power wire through the basement into the grow area. Are we talking knocking out ceiling dry-wall (the bedroom has ceiling tiles) all the way into the room? I'm the kind of person that can do anything given a set of instructions (i.e. wiring a sub panel), however I have not been able to find any information (here, google) about actually running new wire into the house from the outside breaker panel.

Any more information on this matter is greatly appreciated.

Edit:: Reading up on "fishing electrical wire" right now. Looks not so fun since I believe all joists run perpendicular to the direction I would be heading.

 

[TrustNoOne]

http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/elect/panel/sub_panel/01/new.htm

this site may help. good luck

 

[Deviant420]

http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/elect/panel/sub_panel/01/new.htm

this site may help. good luck

Yeah that was one of the first sites I had read on the subject. Unfortunately, as I have already said, I'm kind of stuck at the point of fishing wire from the outside breaker panel into the inside.


EDIT

So here's where I am at:




This is a rough overview of the basement layout





From what I can gather, this is the only power supplied into the grow area. I think I found where it comes into the house. Unfortunately, it takes quite a convoluted route.




Here is my proposed wiring plan. If indeed the spot I found in the ceiling is where the conduit comes into the house, this should be pretty easy. Thoughts?

 

[Skipload]

U need to run new wiring to the grow area and install a sub panel. Upgrading a breaker doesn't upgrade the wire. Even with instructions, not understanding electrical theory and code can kill some one.
If your state has hydro stores, you can get an electrician recommended.

 

[PharmaCan]

How big is the conduit that you think runs into the basement? What's in that conduit now?

PC

 

[VenturaHwy]

Start by finding out which circuits feed the room. Plug in a light and start turning off breakers, see if all of the receptacles are on the same circuit.

Any baseboard heaters? Is the laundry being used?
A 30 or 40 amp sub panel will work if necessary.....

 

[jordas]

I agree with skipload......you cannot just simply install a bigger breaker......
it also takes bigger wire to be able to handle the additional load being placed on the circuit.....different sized wire can handle different loads........

yes....asking at a hydro store is a great idea to find an electrician to help get the job done right....surely they have someone they use......

I know it costs a little money but you can burn your home to the ground over improper wiring........trust me it happens!

 

[Deviant420]

How big is the conduit that you think runs into the basement? What's in that conduit now?

PC

Its 2" wide and runs 3-4 wires (6-3G if my eye is still good)

Any baseboard heaters? Is the laundry being used?
A 30 or 40 amp sub panel will work if necessary....

There are baseboard registers fed by the HVAC heat made in the storage room. The HVAC heater is tucked in the corner closest to the bedrooms.

I agree with skipload......you cannot just simply install a bigger breaker......
it also takes bigger wire to be able to handle the additional load being placed on the circuit.....different sized wire can handle different loads........

yes....asking at a hydro store is a great idea to find an electrician to help get the job done right....surely they have someone they use......

I know it costs a little money but you can burn your home to the ground over improper wiring........trust me it happens!

As far as the wiring stuff goes, no offense but its kind of a duh. I'm not the kind of person that will read a DIY once and then go at it. I taking multiple points of view and read them over many, many times. That being said, I have given serious consideration to having an electrician come in.

My only problem is that I currently have the grow room ~60% setup with more equipment coming Wednesday. I guess I'm just sketch about having someone down there with the room almost at completion. There is nothing MJ related in there yet though, so this could be prime opportunity to have it done.

Approx. cost from anyone on that measure?

 

[PharmaCan]

As far as the wiring stuff goes, no offense but its kind of a duh. I'm not the kind of person that will read a DIY once and then go at it. I taking multiple points of view and read them over many, many times. That being said, I have given serious consideration to having an electrician come in.

My only problem is that I currently have the grow room ~60% setup with more equipment coming Wednesday. I guess I'm just sketch about having someone down there with the room almost at completion. There is nothing MJ related in there yet though, so this could be prime opportunity to have it done.

Approx. cost from anyone on that measure?

The hardest part of what you want to do is removing/replacing the drywall and ceiling tiles to drill the holes to run the wire through your joists. You should consider doing that part of the job yourself.

Pulling more wires through your existing conduit isn't a real great idea, under most circumstances. You might need to put in another conduit or you might need to take the existing wires out and re-pull everything all at the same time. It just kinda depends on what you have there now. You really need to get an electrician to look at the job and give you a bid.

I wouldn't look for an electrician through a grow shop. That would be like telling another person about your grow because the elect'n would know what you are doing just because you found him thru the grow shop. Stack all your gear against a wall, cover it with a tarp and get your work done by a guy that thinks you are setting up a basement workshop.

PC

 

[VenturaHwy]

If you are going with the subpanel here's a suggestion. Buy a sub with a 30 amp 240 volt main breaker, run a no. 10-3 romex wire plus ground, thats 10 AWG 3 conductors and a ground. This will give you about 60 amps at 120 volts or 30 amps at 240 volts. Your lights are only 20 or so amps at 120 volts. Buy a breaker for your main panel by panel makers name, a 30 amp 240 volt breaker......

 

[VenturaHwy]

Or do what PharmaCan said .....................