12,500 Watts total, can my home handle it?

303

303

Well-Known Member
Say I were inclined to run 10,000 watts plus fans, pumps, dehumidifier, etc.. Using a 10 light controller, all 240 on a dedicated breaker.. Plus appliances such as washer, oven, microwave things to that nature...? Any concerns I should have? Should I upgrade anything? 8000 on 2 4 light controllers have been working well, but was thinking adding two more, is this possible?
 
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Irie Genetics

Active Member
Check your load capacity. Most homes have 200 amp service. How many amps will each light pull? Do you plan on running every light simultaneously or will there be a flip box or seperate light schedules? You will benefit from adding a dedicated breaker box and run the grow from new breakers and wires. That much juice can cause a major fire from a tiny mistake. Most homes can run one 1000 watt light and its fans/blowers/accessories per room without electrical upgrades. With that much light you will require a LARGE amount of air conditioning and fans and blowers so plan for more amperage than you expect to pull. Your electricity bill is gonna be amazing. In most locations it will cost approximately $100 per light each month to keep the lights running.
Be safe. You only live once.
 
ScoobyDoobyDoo

ScoobyDoobyDoo

Well-Known Member
i think 12,5000w for a 10,000w grow might be a little bit of an underestimate. I would think more along the lines of 14,000-16,000w depending on your growing method. you are gonna need a lot of fans and a/c. maybe even dehumidifiers.

you need to check the load capacity of your meter. will either bee 200 or 250amps most likely if it's a residential house. if so, and you are running the lights on 240v then i don't see it being an issue. 10,000w at 240v is about 50amps. normally a residential home with a 200amp service can handle that. you just need to take into account any parge electrical draws that the house has like a/c, oven, pool/jacuzzi, heat, etc... between your lights and other equipment you'll probably need around 70-80amps depending on how the a/c is wired.
 
303

303

Well-Known Member
Irie Genetics said:
Check your load capacity. Most homes have 200 amp service. How many amps will each light pull? Do you plan on running every light simultaneously or will there be a flip box or seperate light schedules? You will benefit from adding a dedicated breaker box and run the grow from new breakers and wires. That much juice can cause a major fire from a tiny mistake. Most homes can run one 1000 watt light and its fans/blowers/accessories per room without electrical upgrades. With that much light you will require a LARGE amount of air conditioning and fans and blowers so plan for more amperage than you expect to pull. Your electricity bill is gonna be amazing. In most locations it will cost approximately $100 per light each month to keep the lights running.
Be safe. You only live once.
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They will all run together at night, we have a dedicated box for this, and two 4 light controllers each on different breakers, Im trying to add 2 more 1k lights, as well as running a ez cloner 120, 3 8" inlines, 1 booster fan, 2 oscillating fans, 500 watt dehumidifier, co2 generator plus living. i mean lights on at 7, everything starts running as my wife is cooking and doing laundry. Few breakers go out once in a while now, but i'm afraid after 2k upgrade it could kill more than a breaker if pumps or something like that go out. Can you upgrade your electric panel or make something like what i describe doable at a home? Thanks!
 
ScoobyDoobyDoo

ScoobyDoobyDoo

Well-Known Member
you need an electrician bro. you need to figure out the max load of you house and what your grow can handle. need to figure out if your grow is throwing breakers or if it's the actual house load that is being affected. you need a professional in there. even know. throwing breakers every now and then is not a good thing. could lead to fire.
 
ScoobyDoobyDoo

ScoobyDoobyDoo

Well-Known Member
ky|e said:
Need to wire in a controller box that can handle it, either goes to your 240 dryer hookup, or you ruff it and tuff it and read the directions and hook it up to your fuse box. I hooked mine to the fuse box and it worked great. 8 1000's on the 200$ controller box I bought
http://htgsupply.com/Product-Sentinel-HPH-8-High-Power-HID-Controller.asp Here is a link to what I am talking about.
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i think he's gonna do 10 lights though. the only controller i think that can do that is the PowerBox. unless he got a CAP 16 light controller
 
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Irie Genetics

Active Member
The next step after flipping breakers is starting fires. Get an electrician in there. You are slowly cooking your electrical system and weakening the wire coatings. Once the coating melts away they will spark and cause a fire. Don't be the guy who burns down his home "Making Drugs". The news coverage won't care if its herb or meth.
 
303

303

Well-Known Member
Irie Genetics said:
The next step after flipping breakers is starting fires. Get an electrician in there. You are slowly cooking your electrical system and weakening the wire coatings. Once the coating melts away they will spark and cause a fire. Don't be the guy who burns down his home "Making Drugs". The news coverage won't care if its herb or meth.
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Done and done. Electrician is coming next week. My friends friend, so hopefully "cool" about everything. Supposedly has done this before for others.. From what he said up to 20,000 is possible in a home like mine so I feel better about it.
 
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nastynate420

Active Member
As long as you use the right guage wire and breaker etc .... its no problem. if you dont know what your doing with electricity then your better off letting a "pro" handle it..... but DONT always trust a "pro"!
 
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budleydoright

Well-Known Member
303 said:
Done and done. Electrician is coming next week. My friends friend, so hopefully "cool" about everything. Supposedly has done this before for others.. From what he said up to 20,000 is possible in a home like mine so I feel better about it.
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Smart move. Personally I'm of the opinion that if you should have a pretty solid understanding of electricity and how it's distributed if your going to be playing with it. Which as growers we are doing everyday. Go and buy a basic household wiring book at Casa dePot, spend an hour reading it. It's really worth the effort.
 
ECHydroceuticals

ECHydroceuticals

Member
Not enough info...and no one can give you a (safe) answer without an inspection. Hopefully your friend's friend can figure this one out...12,500 watts is no joke
 
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