Electrical Question! Please Help.

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Blaze23

Well-Known Member
Ok so i just got into a new home and obviously im going to start growing lol . . . . I plan on running a 36k btu ductless mini split, 6k watts of light (maybe 8 later on) 4x t5 2ft x 4ft 8 bulb units, a 14k btu portable a/c and 2 250 pint dehumidifiers, 6x 8in inline fans, 8 16" wall mount fans. (just incase you guys needed that info to answer the questions)

My question is, do i need to add a sub panel to control my grow room or can i simply upgrade my box from a 20 circuit panel to a 30 circuit panel and upgrade my service from 100 amps to 150 amps? I want to have more than enough power to support everything.

My other question is, can anybody give me a rough estimate of how many amps the above equipment will take up?

Thanks.
 
ItsSaturday

ItsSaturday

Well-Known Member
Hire an electrician and have them put in a sub panel... Unless I read your post wrong it looks like you'll be running close to 60k watts per hour thats a lot of power and your begging for a fire if you try to run that with your home wireing... I'm not even going to do the math on the AMP's for you just because it's purely a waste of my time... Hire a pro and expect your power bill to go through the roof...
 
smoke and coke

smoke and coke

Well-Known Member
imo i would upgrade that outdated 100amp sevice to a 200 amp service with a 40 circuit panel. not many people are doing 150's.

how far away is the grow room from the panel? you may want to do a sub panel at the grow room.
 
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Blaze23

Well-Known Member
ItsSaturday said:
Hire an electrician and have them put in a sub panel... Unless I read your post wrong it looks like you'll be running close to 60k watts per hour thats a lot of power and your begging for a fire if you try to run that with your home wireing... I'm not even going to do the math on the AMP's for you just because it's purely a waste of my time... Hire a pro and expect your power bill to go through the roof...
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I know what to expect bill wise, im running something similar now, just 4k watts instead of 6. . . . I am going to hire a pro but I want to make sure I get what I need done the first time.
 
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Blaze23

Well-Known Member
smoke and coke said:
imo i would upgrade that outdated 100amp sevice to a 200 amp service with a 40 circuit panel. not many people are doing 150's.

how far away is the grow room from the panel? you may want to do a sub panel at the grow room.
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The panel is probably about 12 feet away from the grow room, i'll have to ask and see if 200 amp service is available without inspection or the city knowing "permit". . . im young so bare with me, I don't really know how everything works when it comes to electric/building etc. . . I'm definitely going to do my research before i follow through with anything though. I just want to figure out how many amps the grow room will be using up and go from there.
 
ItsSaturday

ItsSaturday

Well-Known Member
Blaze23 said:
I know what to expect bill wise, im running something similar now, just 4k watts instead of 6. . . . I am going to hire a pro but I want to make sure I get what I need done the first time.
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I wasn't sure if you were a noob or not from your initial question. If your running something similar and your only bumping up your wattage an extra 4kwph I would still upgrade the service anyway... 100 Amp panels are out dated and upgrading wouldn't really bring that much attention to you as a lot of people are upgrading every day. I see your dilemma about having to pull a permit for the upgrade but I wouldn't worry about it to much when I was an electrician I was replacing panels 6-7 times a month so it's very common... Personally I wouldn't take the chance with power... Even knowing what I knew back then I still just pulled an extra circuit from my panel and almost burnt down the house... So I would still recommend the upgrade anyway just for safety sake... If your 12 feet or so away then you don't really need a sub-panel but it would be convenient if you blow a breaker or something and don't want to run out side lol...

The best advice I can give is talk to your local electrician and get his advice... Don't tell him what your planning... you will get better advice if you have someone look at your service and make the suggestions... Electrical issues and questions I always tell people to have a pro look at it so I'm glad your planning on having a pro do the install... Don't want a fellow user to lose everything because of a simple mistake...

I hope you get the answers to your questions and good luck... :-)

Good site for quick conversions. http://www.supercircuits.com/resources/tools/Volts-Watts-Amps-Converter
 
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Blaze23

Well-Known Member
ItsSaturday said:
I wasn't sure if you were a noob or not from your initial question. If your running something similar and your only bumping up your wattage an extra 4kwph I would still upgrade the service anyway... 100 Amp panels are out dated and upgrading wouldn't really bring that much attention to you as a lot of people are upgrading every day. I see your dilemma about having to pull a permit for the upgrade but I wouldn't worry about it to much when I was an electrician I was replacing panels 6-7 times a month so it's very common... Personally I wouldn't take the chance with power... Even knowing what I knew back then I still just pulled an extra circuit from my panel and almost burnt down the house... So I would still recommend the upgrade anyway just for safety sake... If your 12 feet or so away then you don't really need a sub-panel but it would be convenient if you blow a breaker or something and don't want to run out side lol...

The best advice I can give is talk to your local electrician and get his advice... Don't tell him what your planning... you will get better advice if you have someone look at your service and make the suggestions... Electrical issues and questions I always tell people to have a pro look at it so I'm glad your planning on having a pro do the install... Don't want a fellow user to lose everything because of a simple mistake...

I hope you get the answers to your questions and good luck... :-)

Good site for quick conversions. http://www.supercircuits.com/resources/tools/Volts-Watts-Amps-Converter
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Im a noob when it comes to electrical work thats for sure lol . . . . but i've been growing for a little over a year now so i've made my share of mistakes but seem to have things dialed in for the most part. (average .7 gpw) give or take depending on the strain and thats with no C02, i'll be introducing c02 into this grow, it will be my first time using it . . . . . . yeah i think im going to go ahead with the upgrade its gonna cost $900 but its worth it in my eyes, not having to worry about blowing circuits and what not (the quote was for service upgrade to either 150 or 200 amps i'll figure it out once i talk to the electrician, hes also going to install a new 30 or 40 circuit panel) . . . . I'd rather pay the money and get things done right than try and be cheap, I can afford it. . . . . Any ways thanks for your help man, I don't think i'll need to calculate electrical usage if im upgrading, i know its going to be somewhere close to 50-60 amps from what i've been able to figure out.
 
ItsSaturday

ItsSaturday

Well-Known Member
I would still put in the 200 service even if you need to pull a permit no one's going to notice... it's the standard upgrade most places now anyway... Good luck glad I could help. :-)
 
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Blaze23

Well-Known Member
So I found out that I would need an permit which would include an inspection by the city if I do the 200 amp so i just went ahead with the 150 lol . . . It gets upgraded and installed monday so that means i'll start building my room next week . . . . Im excited as hell!
 
smoke and coke

smoke and coke

Well-Known Member
why do you need an inspection for a 200 amp but not a 150. its still an upgrade?

now if your going to just change out the panel, you could get away with it. how are you getting around an inspection by only going to a 150?
 
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Blaze23

Well-Known Member
I have no clue, I thought the same thing but didn't really bring it up because I don't really care as long as I have over 100 amps i'm happy and thats what I got from my roomate so thats what im going with, Like I said I don't know anything about permits or electrical. Either way its done and installed so I cant change anything now. Thanks for your guys' help.
 
Medical Mike

Medical Mike

Member
I would go with the sub-panel.. Use a 30-40a running to the sub-panel with a double pull breaker. im running 5000w, 2 vortex 8" fans and 2 air conditioning units and my bill is roughly 700-800$ a month running at max power including the house utilities. (220v) Use 10/2 romex wiring when u go from the box to the sub-panel. It will hold as much power as your about to use
 
Sparky602

Sparky602

Member
Blaze23 said:
I have no clue, I thought the same thing but didn't really bring it up because I don't really care as long as I have over 100 amps i'm happy and thats what I got from my roomate so thats what im going with, Like I said I don't know anything about permits or electrical. Either way its done and installed so I cant change anything now. Thanks for your guys' help.
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I am an electrical contractor out here in AZ I've been in the trade coming to the 20 year mark and have worked in many many states. There is not a state out there or a city that I am aware of that you don't have to pull a permit for a main service upgrade. Also the only way you can upgrade a main by going into the power companys side of the meter box and disconnecting there hot wires. I would be very careful if you had someone come in and do this and they did not pull a permit...main reason being they would have to access the power companies wires and they do not like anyone touching there stuff..and if the meter reader (and almost all are required to do so) notices a new panel and marks it down and the shutoff was not performed by the power company you can be held liable if there is any damage not to mention the city can shut off your power fine you make you get a permit and then redo it..
 
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MOTD

Member
I wonder if the just swapped a 150A main into the existing panel? As long as the panel and meter base are rated for it that's fine. Around where I live you don't need any permit for electrical and the only inspection is the poco making sure feeders are landed on a breaker.
 
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