Electrical - Sub Panel

[PharmaCan]

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......

Everything you said here is solid, but in a situation like this, where the major cost of the job is getting the wire from point A to point B, he'd be better off to go with like a 60 amp circuit and have room to expand. The initial installation will be slightly more expensive using larger wire and such, but it will be considerably less than doing it a second time when he discovers he needs more power.

PC

 

[LL84]

this is the thread that i needed to run into. Deviant im in the same shoes as you.

 

[Deviant420]

this is the thread that i needed to run into. Deviant im in the same shoes as you.

Definitely not the shoes you would want to walk the proverbial mile in After doing quite a bit of reading, it seems the real problem is the fact that my ceiling joists are perpendicular to my projected cable path.

I'm trying to find a nice path for the new cable since it's pretty ridiculous right now. I don't know! Too much work to do IMO. That's why I'm just gonna stick with (1) 1000w HPS and (1) 400w MH and a can fan. If I need to, I will run and extension cord from upstairs to power the canfan.

 

[PharmaCan]

Definitely not the shoes you would want to walk the proverbial mile in After doing quite a bit of reading, it seems the real problem is the fact that my ceiling joists are perpendicular to my projected cable path.

I'm trying to find a nice path for the new cable since it's pretty ridiculous right now. I don't know! Too much work to do IMO. That's why I'm just gonna stick with (1) 1000w HPS and (1) 400w MH and a can fan. If I need to, I will run and extension cord from upstairs to power the canfan.

A lot of times, in a situation like this with perpendicular joists, it's easier to run a conduit along the ceiling or wall and box it in. Actually, you don't need a sub-panel for what you want to do, just a couple more circuits. You should go to Lowe's or Home dePot and check out "wire mold(ing)" and see if that won't work for you. You could easily run two 12AWG/20amp circuits inside of wire mold and you'd be sitting-pretty power wise. A wire mold installation requires a minimum of patching and there are various styles of wire mold to match your decor. LOL

PC

 

[Deviant420]

Hahaha. Thanks for the heads up on that measure! That may actually work since there is already a huge HVAC manifold coming out of the room (Heater's in there) that over time as left a sizable gap between it and the wall. I might be heading over there today so I will let you know what I find.

If that is workable, then the next hurdle is whether or not to put a new conduit in or to run the wires through the existing conduit. I'm imagining putting new conduit in isn't fun, although I do have a good friend who runs his own contracting biz. Maybe I should give him a call?

 

[PharmaCan]

If you have a big HVAC unit in that room you probably already have conduit running from the panel to the room - I would imagine that is what the 2" conduit you mentioned is for. However, if the 2" conduit has more wires than you need for the HVAC, then there is a junction box somewhere.

Pulling more wire thru a conduit with existing wires can be problematic, particularly if there are a number of turns and the existing wire is taut inside the conduit. Trying to fish new wires thru can scrape the insulation off the old wires and then you have a real problem. If I were you, I'd get an electrician who is familiar with remodels and conduit to look at your installation and tell you if the existing conduit can be used and, if so, what it would cost to get 3 - #12AWG wires pulled from the panel to the junction box closest to your furnace.

Dropping a new piece of conduit down should be easy too. You'd have a small patch to make in the ceiling just below the panel, but that's no biggie. All you have to do is drill up through the floor & sill right below the panel then go thru some mumbo-jumbo to fish a piece of conduit up to the panel.

PC

 

[jordas]

deviant....if you have a friend in the biz by all means call him.....ask him to recommend someone.......that is what I did......and I mentioned that I wanted to add a wood working shop or whatever you want .......was also suggested a pottery shop as a kiln uses big 220 amps......most electrical guys are only concerned about getting paid at the end of the job....

Tell them that your wanting to save some money and your willing to help out. My guy reduced his bid down and I drilled holes and pulled cable and cut sheetrock....... the peace of mind was worth the cost..........it was only a couple of hundred dollars for the whole upgrade.......to be honest the description of your existing panel coupled with the lack of space all points to the need of a professional to truly evaluate your current setup and your grow equip can all be stuffed into a closet or covered with a tarp somewhere out of the way as someone has already mentioned.....

 

[Deviant420]

Jordas: Thanks for the advice. It looks like I might wait another week to start the show and have this evaluated by a professional, saying I'm looking at bringing a small woodshop into my basement during the winter.

Hopefully my room inside a room won't arouse suspicion Need to filter out all that sawdust, right?

 

[jordas]

Deviant.......a small area yes could be to filter out sawdust and also to help cutdown on the noise....table saws, routers, sanders and wood planers all make alot of dust & noise.....I highly doubt any pro is going to be concerned about anything other than making sure the wiring is proper and that he gets paid......that has been my experiance anyway when dealing with electricians........you will do fine with your buddies recommendation.....