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From milking cows to milking the system, Watch me turn my barn into a 7kw-8kw machine

K

kenned

If I might come with a suggestion.... If you have the space (and money) you could maybe buy a windmill....?
They're a bit expensive but in the long run they will be worth it.. Especially when growing like us.. ;)
 
B

Barn Growin'

Member
Ok guys I have one question. I wired a bunch of 110 outlets for the ballast but I want to add a few more lights now and I am worried about the amperage. What I am wondering is we wired the outlets using the orange wires used for 220 is it possible to use this and change the breakers and outlets to 240 volt but use the same wire? I want to cut the amperage in half so I am not using 80 amps just for the lights. I am not worried about the wattage and realize that will be the same. I am just worried about a amperage overload and don't want to run all new wires.
 
Y

yamaha_1fan

Last time I gave electrical advise I was off by a little but I think I can answer this. I would wait for someone to confirm this though.

Yes you can use the same wire that you ran for your 120 for your 240 needs. The only difference in Romex wiring I believe (or at least the stuff commonly available in Home Depot) is its size and amp loading. They will all handle 120/240. And if the wire was the right size to run 120, then it should be fine to run 240. If you have the same ballasts on 120 versus 240, the load with 240 is going to be less as you know.

So in theory, if the wire was properly sized for the 120 application, you could double the ballasts using 240 with the same wire.

So IMO you can use the wire. Just make sure its rated for the amps you will be running.

How about you post the wire gauge and # of watts you plan on?

You dont need to change the outlets in theory. 120 outlets will support a 240 load from everything I have read. Alot of people dont like that because they can accidentally plug a 120 device into it. Depending on your ballasts you may need to change cords etc so it may be easier to change outlets. But I would thing you could use your 120 cord to run 240. Both wires are going to be hot. Unless the plug on the ballast has a different configuration for 240. This I am not sure about
 
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B

Barn Growin'

Member
Ok so we basically wired two outlets each on there own 20 amp 110v breaker using ONE 10/3 wire split. Basically I would have to switch the breaker to a 240v breaker and use the whole 10/3 wire for just the ONE 240 volt 20amp outlet and it would work? I could then theoretically run 2 ballasts off one 20 amp 240v breaker? If i can do that I won't need to run any new wires!!
 
Uncle FREEDOM

Uncle FREEDOM

Member
if you mean rewire the ballast to run 240 then yes... it is a matter of switching a wire in the ballast from the one marked 120, to the 240 one.


a 1000w ballast will use 5 amps at 240 (10 amps at 120) double the voltage half the amperage.

so ya 2 would work good, can run up to 4, but maybe you might have problems if they all start at one time.

I want to clarify i am NOT a electrician.
 
V

VenturaHwy

Active member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Barn Growin' said:
Ok so we basically wired two outlets each on there own 20 amp 110v breaker using ONE 10/3 wire split. Basically I would have to switch the breaker to a 240v breaker and use the whole 10/3 wire for just the ONE 240 volt 20amp outlet and it would work? I could then theoretically run 2 ballasts off one 20 amp 240v breaker? If i can do that I won't need to run any new wires!!
Click to expand...
# 10 wire is rated for 30 amps - so use a double 30 amp breaker at 240 volts. That will give you 7,200 watts to work with, subtract 20% for an 80% load and you have 5,760 watts to work with... so if your loads are 5,700 watts or less you are just fine.

You really don't need to change anything but the breaker if you have a (10-3 plus ground) wiring because - you'll have two 30 amp circuits at 120 volts or two circuits at 2,880 watts each = 5,760 watts total.... the same as the above circuit...

So do what ever is the easiest... I'd just switch the breaker and run the ballasts at 120 volts...
 
B

Barn Growin'

Member
Thanks everyone!

Ventura I need to cut the amp usage down so I can run more lights. Switching to 240v looks like it will be what I need to do. This way I can still leave 4 120v outlets and run 3 20amp 240v outlets with the existing wire already in. I will then wire up a 3 20amp intermatic 240v timers so I can run 3 lights per timer/outlet! This also lets me stagger my start up times so its not just some huge spike all of a sudden.

On a side note I wanted to clean up my small room last night and take pics of the the project while I was out there but got a little lazy. I picked up my clones from where they were being kept and I HAVE to go out there tonight so expect a lot of pics tonight!!
 
B

Barn Growin'

Member
Does anyone know why there is 20amp 240v breakers that are single pole? I have only heard about the double pole breakers reading here and other places but have found both for sale.
 
V

VenturaHwy

Active member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Sounds good! "20amp intermatic 240v timers" I would use the metal timers rated at 40 amps...
 
P

PharmaCan

Active member
Veteran
Barn Growin' said:
Does anyone know why there is 20amp 240v breakers that are single pole? I have only heard about the double pole breakers reading here and other places but have found both for sale.
Click to expand...

In the USA, 240 volts is achieved by combining two 120v lines. Accordingly, you need a double pole breaker to get 240 volts. It doesn't matter what voltage the breaker is rated for, in a standard residential application the most you are going to get from any single hot wire is 120 volts; so you need two breakers (double pole) to get 240 volts.

PC
 
Reg Dunlop

Reg Dunlop

Member
Did you come up with a heating solution yet? I'm in the same boat as you. I'm in the midst of setting up a sealed room,so I'm kinda hand cuffed in terms of bringing warm air in from outside. So what I ended up doing is buying a construction heater,I believe it's 4800 watts and runs 240v on a 30 amp breaker. I'm just trying to figure out exactly how to hook it up to my chhc-1 so that way it'll be shut on and off that way.I know those little hearters heat up whole houses in the winter,that are under construction,so for a space my size 24ft long x 8.4ft wide x 9 ft high, I'm figuring on that heater won't be on all that long to heat it up to desired levels. That's how it plays out in my head anyways, lol! When it comes to the actual application, it always seems more complicated then that!!!!! lol Anyways, hope that gives you an idea or something to work with!
 
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