How do I run 2000watts in One room Without Using an Electrician???

[pufferfish]

hi all... i have 2 in my garage 1 for the light at the top of the garage with 2 outlets with red popout... the other circuit has garage door opener..a big tv..vcr..frige...bass guitar amp..pc..ect.what i want to do is plug my gro box to the one with the red popout. box will have 12 42 watt bulbs ..12 27 watt blubs ..265 dayton blower..two fans.box is aboute 12 feet away from the outlet. i got the extra thick yellow extension cord at home depot also i have a [surge protector its 15a 125v ac 60hz 1875w]it says supperssed voltage rating;330v..... plz tell me ill be ok thanx

 

[Bulldog11]

That is beautiful. If you haven't even moved in yet then you should hire somebody. Most times an electrician will ask what the power is for, because it matters as far as code. However, if you just say that you are going to be setting up a work shop with built in table saws and compressors then that is all they need to know. Just show them where you want the circuits ran. I would run two 20 amp circuits, which can be run with one wire, 12/3. The hard part is getting the circuits to the garage, after they are in the garage jumping off those would be an easy task if you were to read up a little. That way you can have plugs exactly where you want them without danger of overloading them. Good Luck.

 

[mtn121]

Bullddog sorry man but its in the BASEMENT not sure where you got garage. If I am gonna pay an electrician why not just have him out in outlets? I just need to buy my equipment soon so it will get here in time. Don't wanna visit local hydro shops or order from online to my place. Bulldog so you have been a lot help thanks your great for sticking with me talking this out.

 

[robbiedublu]

I guess it depends on exactly what you want to put in, but a couple of 20 amp circuits? It doesn't matter what it's for. Anything that requires electricity. Off the top of my head, computers, servers, ceramics, woodworking or metal working tools all require a lot of electricity.
I also think it's highly unlikely that any licensed electrician would come back to your house and break in because you installed a couple of 20 amp circuits and he thinks you might be growing dope. Of course there's a million other things you could be doing also. Electricians do stuff like this all day long.

 

[madpenguin]

MWBC

MWBC

Bulldog's idea of a Multi Wire Branch Circuit is a good one if both your 1000w lights run at 120v.

The basement (if it's unfinished) is about the only place an electrician could install a MWBC anyway without it being AFCI (Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter) protected.

If your growing in the basement and your panel is in the basement, especially if you have exposed joist space, then this is something you can do your self really easy. Of course, if your not comfortable learning/working with electricity, then hire an electrician, but this is about as easy as it gets.

There is a thread floating around here called "Growroom Electricty and wiring". I've been meaning to add a section on MWBC's, so maybe I'll do that later today.

 

[PharmaCan]

Get the electrician to install a 40 amp or 60 amp sub-panel in the basement. You can have this done right now, before you ever move. Have two receptacles, each on it's own circuit, installed from the new sub panel. You've now got the power you need plus room to expand. Installing a sub-panel is about the same amount of work as running a couple receptacles/circuits, so cost isn't a relevant factor. A sub-panel is just a whole lot better for what you want to do.

I suppose you could tell the electrician that it's none of his business what you want to do with the power, but, wow, that's really rude, and why would you want the price of your work to go up? Because that's exactly what's going to happen as soon as you start treating Sparky like your "employee" and telling him that stuff is none of his business. Regardless, it would be less than professional not to ask what your intended use is, just to make sure that you've spec'd the job right. It cost just as much to pay me to install the materials that will work for your application as it does to install the wrong ones. It's considerably more expensive to pay me to do it twice than it is to do it right the first time. My point is, unless this is a professionally spec'd job with signed & approved plans, Sparky is going to ask you a few questions and it is almost always for your own benefit. Coming up with something like, "Yeah man, I want a music and game room here in my basement. But first I need a couple outlets for my power tools so I can fix up the basement.", is a lot better than raising suspicion by telling him it's none of his fucking business. As macho as that sounds, it's poor interpersonal relations.

Bottom line, anyway, IMHO - 40 ~ 60 amp 240v subpanel w/ 2 circuits/receptacles installed. Reason for power as stated above - or any adaptation thereof that fits your style.

Edit: After reading madpenguin's post, the OP never said where his main panel is. I'm assuming the panel is somewhere other than in the basement. If there's already a panel in the basement, a subpanel would be redundant when you could just wire up to the main.

Good luck!


Happy Halloween!

PC

 

[PharmaCan]

Another thing you might want to consider, since you haven't bought your lights yet, is to make sure your ballasts are multi-tap (can be set for different voltages) and have them set for 240 volt. This will make your wiring requirements less bulky - In simple terms, your electricity will be going through two wires instead of one, so you'll be drawing fewer amps per wire, so everything doesn't have to be rated quite as big as it would be with 120v.

240v isn't going to use less power, it's just going to run the power through two wires instead of one.

PC

 

[moses224]

edit

 

[mtn121]

I was planning on getting ballast for 240. So when I talk to the electrician I am gonna tell him I want a:

40 amp 240v subpanel w/ 2 circuits/receptacles installed

This will give me 2 240 outlets right?

Thanks pharma you have been really helpful. Game room idea is genus.

 

[Strainhunter]

Since it's a rental...aren't you afraid there is going to be some sort of inspection at one point?
Could be the owner re-financing the house at some point needing an Appraiser to come in or maybe a repair to be done or how about your electricity bill being far higher than the ones caused by previous renters and/or in the neighborhood.

2kw lights plus fans, AC, pumps etc. will build up to 3kw+/hr with the lights on.
In 18 hours during vegging this will accumulate to ~$6/day @ $.11 per kw/hr

$6/day (I neglected everything continuing to run while the lights are off) doesn't sound a lot? Might be enough to flag your account accumulating to @ least $180 on top of normal usage!

Be careful!

 

[PharmaCan]

I was planning on getting ballast for 240. So when I talk to the electrician I am gonna tell him I want a:

40 amp 240v subpanel w/ 2 circuits/receptacles installed

This will give me 2 240 outlets right?

No - What I described will give you two 120v outlets. Regardless, you only need one 240v circuit for the two lamps. If you want that circuit to have specific 240v receptacles that will fit 240v power cords for the ballasts, then get the specs on the 240v cord ends and give them to the electrician telling him, "These are the cords on some of my power tools." and then you can have a nice little plug n play set-up. However, If you're going to just wire 120v receptacles for 240v and use the 120v power cords for your ballasts, that's a job best done by someone other than the electrician - In which case you'd just run a 20 amp 240v circuit to a single 20 amp 240v receptacle and worry about the modifications after the electrician is gone. It's easy enough to do yourself.

Actually, now I think about it, if you hook it up the way I originally described and then take one of the 120v circuits and switch it to a 240v breaker in the sub-panel - a really, really easy thing to do - then you would have the 120v sockets with 240v inside and you could plug both ballasts in with the 120v power cords. BUT YOU HAVE TO MAKE SURE that your ballasts and power cords are wired that way. Then you'd have a 20 amp, 240v circuit for your lights and a 20 amp 120v for everything else. So, you'd be sitting pretty.

But it really doesn't matter what is in the 240v box because you are going to have to take it out and hardwire a timer to run your lights and then you'd run your receptacles off the timer - or just hardwire the whole damn thing and be done with it.

Tell the electrician you don't want anything smaller than 12ga wire used. That way you have a nice buffer between your use and your capacity.

PC

 

[BlindDate]

Divide the room using black/white poly with 1000 watts/room and alternate 12/12.

 

[mrwags]

How many lights on the cord? Is it safe or a fire risk? How did you run the cord? I was thinking drill a hole in the floor through to the basement. HAS ANYONE EVER RAN A 1000 WATT LIGHT ON A RATED EXTENSION CORD? Speak from experience only please? Thanks

The big orange one's (construction type) is what I have used in the past. Had no trouble in over 5 years. They are expensive but then again so is building a new house.


Mr.Wags

 

[ItsAllOver]

FLIP-FLOP

 

[mtn121]

Pharma will the 2 120 outlets be capable of running a 1000 watt each?

Blinddate- good idea

 

[Surfr]

IF you do call an electrician and they ask why you need the new outlets, tell them you do pottery and need to put a kiln in there..

 

[corkushy]

ive actually been wondering this to thx for posting this although my room should only be about 1400-1600w im using 2 X 600 watt hps/mh and the extra wattage comes from the Can fan , circulation fan, and the pumps.will this be alright on two 15 amp breakers or should i switch em out for 20amp heir

 

[PharmaCan]

Pharma will the 2 120 outlets be capable of running a 1000 watt each?

Blinddate- good idea

Yes, but then you'd need two timers.

Look, what are you going to do when you're four weeks into bloom and something goes wrong with the electricity? You're going to have to fix it yourself. You might as well learn the basics of how your system works now, so that you can deal with any problems later.

Going the 240v route would be better for you. If you have to do a little bit of the work yourself, it will be a good learning experience and prepare you for problems down the road when you can't call an electrician.

ive actually been wondering this to thx for posting this although my room should only be about 1400-1600w im using 2 X 600 watt hps/mh and the extra wattage comes from the Can fan , circulation fan, and the pumps.will this be alright on two 15 amp breakers or should i switch em out for 20amp heir

Jeez, dude, use some friggin' punctuation!!! LOL

No, you can't just switch breakers. The wires have to be the right size for the breaker or you could cause a fire.

PC

 

[corkushy]

Yes, but then you'd need two timers.

Look, what are you going to do when you're four weeks into bloom and something goes wrong with the electricity? You're going to have to fix it yourself. You might as well learn the basics of how your system works now, so that you can deal with any problems later.

Going the 240v route would be better for you. If you have to do a little bit of the work yourself, it will be a good learning experience and prepare you for problems down the road when you can't call an electrician.



Jeez, dude, use some friggin' punctuation!!! LOL

No, you can't just switch breakers. The wires have to be the right size for the breaker or you could cause a fire.

PC

LMAO... My bad, Im lazy. Atleast when it comes to typeing. But thx im just gonna have my brother take a look hes an electrician. Now lets just hope he isnt drunk

 

[BlindDate]

I think the best idea is the one that ItsAllOver and I proposed. Use a flip flop.



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