Is your power load SAFE?

[dirtyolsouth]

Hi,

After posting some info for fellow forum users on power usage and safety I thought it would be useful to post a thread so that people can figure out know how many contraptions that they can plug into a given circuit before they get into the danger zone with overloading circuits and creating fire hazards...

Do you know what size breaker you are using to power up your garden? If not, you need to go look in your electrical breaker box to determine which circuit the setup is on and the corresponding breaker's amperage rating. If you're lucky, someone has labelled the breakers for you and will probably be labelled as "Bedroom Plugs" etc. Average bedroom circuits are often on 15 or 20 amp breakers. The size of breaker is dependent on the size of the electrical wiring:

a 15 amp breaker, uses 14 gauge wire or larger.
a 20 amp breaker, uses 12 gauge wire or larger.
a 30 amp breaker, uses 10 gauge wire or larger.

A 15 amp circuit can *safely* (and effortlessly!) carry a total of 1440 watts, which is 80% of the 1800 watts found by multiplying the volts times amps: 15 x 120 = 1800 total available watts and then multiplying that by .8 to arrive at an 80% safe wattage draw of 1440 watts.

A 20 amp circuit can be loaded 1920 watts. (120 x 20 x .8 = 1920 watts)

A 30 amp circuit can be safely loaded 2880 watts. (120 x 30 x .8 = 2880 watts.)

Keep your circuit loads under control. If you tax the circuit and wiring with too much load you'll have breakers blowing at the very least and the situation could result in a fatal fire. If you're lucky enough to survive that you'll be around to see your fire insurance denied because the fire originated in an illegal grow room now filled with melted extension cords, adaptors, timers and lights and some very crispy weed...

Be SAFE!

 

[FruityBud]

Great information Dirtyolsouth.

Thank you.

 

[dirtyolsouth]

Great information Dirtyolsouth.

Thank you.

Glad to help out... Many people who grow don't even consider how much they're using until a breaker goes... I used to be one of them. Just out of curiousity... what is the local voltage and breaker amperage in your home where you live and grow in Europe? (or anyone else wherever you are!)

Peace!

 

[HippyInEngland]

This was very interesting to consume, thanks for posting it DOS

eace:

 

[ross]

a 600W bulb uses 680W of power and a 400W uses 460W

 

[midibullets]

Is it possible to grow with a 30 amp feed to the house with no grounded outlets? I am looking to rent a house, but its old and the landlord says he looked in the breaker box and sees "30 amp" breaker. The outlets in each room are 2 prong, not the grounded 3 prong. I know I could not run a 1000 watt light on that, but can i run flourescent and 400 watt light on non grounded 30 amp circuit? Can I install GFCI outlets with no ground in the grow room, and would that even help? This house is PERFECT for a grow location, so i'd hope this is sufficient!

 

[Time4Plan-B]

good thread dos

t4

 

[AcesUp]

Is it possible to grow with a 30 amp feed to the house with no grounded outlets? I am looking to rent a house, but its old and the landlord says he looked in the breaker box and sees "30 amp" breaker. The outlets in each room are 2 prong, not the grounded 3 prong. I know I could not run a 1000 watt light on that, but can i run flourescent and 400 watt light on non grounded 30 amp circuit? Can I install GFCI outlets with no ground in the grow room, and would that even help? This house is PERFECT for a grow location, so i'd hope this is sufficient!

You can't install a GFCI outlet without a ground. I would be very careful about using circuits that are not grouded. Remember there is water involved in growing.

 

[Growdude]

Is it possible to grow with a 30 amp feed to the house with no grounded outlets? I am looking to rent a house, but its old and the landlord says he looked in the breaker box and sees "30 amp" breaker. The outlets in each room are 2 prong, not the grounded 3 prong. I know I could not run a 1000 watt light on that, but can i run flourescent and 400 watt light on non grounded 30 amp circuit? Can I install GFCI outlets with no ground in the grow room, and would that even help? This house is PERFECT for a grow location, so i'd hope this is sufficient!

I would check for myself, its very doubtful you have a 30 amp circuit in a older house.
The outlets themselves are rated for a certain amperage and you cant go over that no matter what size the circuit is, Im sure the older 2 prong were 15 amp.

 

[midibullets]

Thanks for the info guys. Yeah, the landlord stated the breaker switch said '30 amps'. Is it possible someone put a 30 amp switch, but only running 15 amps in the house, maybe just labeled wrong? And if that was even the case, could I safely run 1 400-600 watt HPS light, an inline fan 200-300CFM and a circulating fan & water pumps on a 15 amp circuit? I know the 400-600 watt lights take about 5-7 amps, a fan maybe 1-2 amps, and the rest maybe an amp? I figure i'll be running about 12 amps or so, would that be safe on a 15-30 amp circuit with 2 prong outlet power? I'm not worried about frying my gear, i'm worried that would heat the wires internally in the house to cause a fire. I know that would happen if I exceed 15 amps on the circuit, but it looks like i'll only be running 12 or so. Thanks for any guidance!!

 

[the chef]

ty dos gonna check mine first in the morn.

 

[dr pyro]

can you access the panel yourself? you must have your own box for the apartment right?

 

[midibullets]

You can't install a GFCI outlet without a ground. I would be very careful about using circuits that are not grouded. Remember there is water involved in growing.

I'm thinking GFCI because it will allow me a "3 prong" outlet, so I can plug in my 3 prong gear. I know this wont protect me any more, other than the GFCI is a "mini breaker switch" in itself right, so if it notices any weirdness with the power, the GFCI outlet itself shuts off right? If no GFCI, then should I use a 3 prong to 2 prong adaptor? That would seem more dangerous than just replacing my 2 prong outlets with GFCI's and label them "no ground"

 

[midibullets]

can you access the panel yourself? you must have your own box for the apartment right?

I can access the panel, but it's not my house yet. I am trying to rent this house becuase location and neighborhood wise, its an ideal grow spot, but its old power has me worried. I dont want to beat the landlord over the head about power as to make him suspicious. He understands I have some heavy computer equipment, and just want to make sure the power is sufficient. I have a prop 215 recommendation, and am legally allowed to grow for personal use, so i'm not worried about those kinda legalities, just the power I have an appointment tomarrow to walk through the house again and look at it, any pointers as to what I should be looking for in the breaker box and outlets, like guage of wire, etc?

 

[dr pyro]

your recepticles have no ground there for no ground exsists. unless the wall has ground the gfci are useless.not being a smart guy here but do you know what gfci stands for?

 

[dr pyro]

just make sure that you have your own box. see what size the main lug is. its gonna be a 2 pole breaker at top just glance to see the numbers on them. wire should be good i doubt the electrician changed the breaker to larger without checking wire to see if it will work safely. i would like to think the owner didnt change anything but there are some dumb people out there

 

[midibullets]

your recepticles have no ground there for no ground exsists. unless the wall has ground the gfci are useless.not being a smart guy here but do you know what gfci stands for?

Thanks so much for your fast responses!! yeah, i'm not too keen on electrical terms, i know GFCI has no ground if you dont provide it one, which I cant provide because this house does not have grouned power. i figured GFCI outlets had some mechanism in side of it that worked like a breaker before the main panel breaker, regardless of ground. My thinking is that if i replace the current "2 prong" outlets with the "GFCI 3 prong" outlets, instead of "plain 3 prong" outlets, i'm somehow making the outlets a "tiny" bit safer. At the end of the day, i'm just trying to see if I can turn theses 2 prong ungrounded outlets to 3 prong ungrounded outlets, so i can plug my lights and gear with three prongs into the power and then "safely" run 12 or so amps over that circuit without starting an electrical fire. If the place truly has 30 amps, i'd assume i'm golden, but 15 amps, maybe too little for this setup without ground? Does ground have anything to do with causing fire, like am i at more risk of fire without ground?

 

[dr pyro]

the only way or the correct way is to rewire plugs to the box if you really want the ground. you can still have lights it doesnt matter if you have your tv or hid plugged in. you just gotta be careful with water around.you can simply get those no ground adapters.if it wasnt safe the owner would not be able to be insured. you should see some old wiring in some of the houses i worked in. pretty scary stuff way back when. you'll bee safe just use caution with water. if you decide to rent this place give use the info about the box whats there and we can guide you threw. there are couple of people on here either electricians or just know there stuff. keep us posted

 

[midibullets]

just make sure that you have your own box. see what size the main lug is. its gonna be a 2 pole breaker at top just glance to see the numbers on them. wire should be good i doubt the electrician changed the breaker to larger without checking wire to see if it will work safely. i would like to think the owner didnt change anything but there are some dumb people out there

Ok, so the main lug will be a 2 switch looking breaker towards the top, and just see what numbers are there? If he said its a 30 amp, that main lug should say 30? I looked at the breaker box at the house i'm in now and its got great power, a bunch of 15/20 and even a 100 amp breaker. But if the house i'm trying to rent has its own breaker box (not shared) and has 1 30 amp breaker for the house, that probably means its all on 1 circuit right? Would that be a problem I wonder?

 

[dr pyro]

yes the 100 amp is your main. thats whats throwing me off when you say 30 amp you cant have a 30 main to small.either the owner has no clue or your wiring is messed up. is elect included with this place. the only reason i say this is he could say elect is included and you have 1 breaker to your appt. if thats the case pass it up 30 is not gonna be enough to do what you want.