Dr Strangegrow
Member
Safety is a big issue with me, even more so, since a friend recently burnt his house down leaving him not only homeless but penniless, damage occurring through growing anything illegal can void your home insurance, a great get out clause, and one his company has used refusing to pay the claim, he has been charged with endangering lives, growing with intent to supply, etc, etc, plus it looks like an imminent divorce is also on the cards, why, because he overlooked safety aspect of his grow room which led to the fire.
Some common sense issues concerning safety seem to elude some growers electricity and water do not mix so all electrical equipment should be kept above the ground wherever possible in case of a flood. Wiring should be as short as possible and extension cables especially those on a drum should never be used and if they have to be then the cable under no circumstances should be left wound round the drum as this can lead to the cable overheating. Cheap plugs and sockets should never be used only use quality products from established manufacturers the additional cost is worth it in the long term.
The initial outlay of setting up a grow room is expensive and one thing that is often overlooked is the safety issue especially the wiring and layout of electrical equipment and whilst most household circuits can cope with small grow rooms the extra load of a grow room may cause overheating leading to a fire. With this in mind I have invested in an IP65 metal enclosure measuring 40cms w x 60cms h x 30cms d, cost £55, the feed to this comes from the cooker terminal of the consumer unit which was not in use, any spare terminal or one drawing a low load can be used be sure to use an appropriate rated MCB, the wiring from the consumer unit to the grow room is 4mm which has been professionally installed, cost £150 with labour, this is fed into a secondary consumer unit a small Wylex [FONT=&]Consumer Unit, cost £21, Fitted With 80 Amp 30mA RCD and 2 x MCBs one 16 amp for the lighting connected to a Black Box 4 switch and main fan which draws air through the filter and cools the lights and one 6 amp for the auxiliary equipment any cheap extension lead sockets have been replaced by heavy duty sockets as have any cheap plugs the two Maxibright Ballasts are mounted on the side walls of the cabinet externally to allow sufficient cooling. [/FONT]
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This is mounted on a brick wall well away from anything flammable should any equipment contained inside overheat the power will be cut, in the worst case scenario if there is a fire from the equipment mounted in or on the enclosure this will be contained within the metal cabinet. The total cost of this £226 a small price to pay for peace of mind, I would rather lose a crop than my house. [/FONT]
[FONT=&]Hope that you find this helpful.[/FONT]
Some common sense issues concerning safety seem to elude some growers electricity and water do not mix so all electrical equipment should be kept above the ground wherever possible in case of a flood. Wiring should be as short as possible and extension cables especially those on a drum should never be used and if they have to be then the cable under no circumstances should be left wound round the drum as this can lead to the cable overheating. Cheap plugs and sockets should never be used only use quality products from established manufacturers the additional cost is worth it in the long term.
The initial outlay of setting up a grow room is expensive and one thing that is often overlooked is the safety issue especially the wiring and layout of electrical equipment and whilst most household circuits can cope with small grow rooms the extra load of a grow room may cause overheating leading to a fire. With this in mind I have invested in an IP65 metal enclosure measuring 40cms w x 60cms h x 30cms d, cost £55, the feed to this comes from the cooker terminal of the consumer unit which was not in use, any spare terminal or one drawing a low load can be used be sure to use an appropriate rated MCB, the wiring from the consumer unit to the grow room is 4mm which has been professionally installed, cost £150 with labour, this is fed into a secondary consumer unit a small Wylex [FONT=&]Consumer Unit, cost £21, Fitted With 80 Amp 30mA RCD and 2 x MCBs one 16 amp for the lighting connected to a Black Box 4 switch and main fan which draws air through the filter and cools the lights and one 6 amp for the auxiliary equipment any cheap extension lead sockets have been replaced by heavy duty sockets as have any cheap plugs the two Maxibright Ballasts are mounted on the side walls of the cabinet externally to allow sufficient cooling. [/FONT]
[FONT=&]
This is mounted on a brick wall well away from anything flammable should any equipment contained inside overheat the power will be cut, in the worst case scenario if there is a fire from the equipment mounted in or on the enclosure this will be contained within the metal cabinet. The total cost of this £226 a small price to pay for peace of mind, I would rather lose a crop than my house. [/FONT]
[FONT=&]Hope that you find this helpful.[/FONT]