Fire Safety?

I'm new to indoor growing and was just wondering why I keep seeing on the news that people with grow ops keep burning their houses down. Is there some common issue here? I know we're running some serious juice, but shouldn't the breakers blow before a fire starts? I would really appreciate some Fire Safety tips! I don't want the wrong kind of smoke blowing out of my grow room!!

i have a fire extinguisher on the ceiling of my grow area that is triggered by smoke works like a sprinkler, i keep electrical safe and cool and make sure not to leave flammable stuff near hot stuff, the extingusher is certainly piece of mind though this kind of thing if my description was a bit useless

TJChasmatic said:

I'm new to indoor growing and was just wondering why I keep seeing on the news that people with grow ops keep burning their houses down. Is there some common issue here? I know we're running some serious juice, but shouldn't the breakers blow before a fire starts? I would really appreciate some Fire Safety tips! I don't want the wrong kind of smoke blowing out of my grow room!!

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Most, if not all, of these fires happen exactly because people bypass the breakers or their current meters to steal electricity, which is an easy way to get caught. Or burn your house down. It can also be sloppy wire work with unshielded wires that come in contact with something or cross each other by accident.

The risk of a sub-1000w grow burning your house down is VERY low. My desktop PC draws more wattage than my 400

that being said, sativasam is right - no sense in not being prepared. get a cheap extinguisher if you're worried

Don't just trust the breaker to be a fire protection device. It is the wiring that comes off the breaker and extension cords being used. Some people are stupid enough to think that if they keep tripping a 20 Amp breaker that switching it with a 30 Amp one will solve their problem. Sure, it will probably not trip as they were overloading the 20 amp breaker but are under 30 amps. The problem is the circuit wiring using a gauge for 20 amps or less. Now those wires will start to heat up, WILL melt the wire insulation, and will short,spark, and cause a fire. In this case probably in your walls. (think of the heater wires inside a toaster)
Have a professional electrician run new circuits and wiring for you if your not qualified to do so on your own.
Also cheap power strips, timers, and extension cords as another danger. You can have a up to spec properly rated circuit and breaker for lets say 30 amps. If you use a power strip, timer, extension cord rated less that the breaker, or even outlets rated less that the circuit then they can AND WILL heat up, melt and you got a fire.
Also, bad or missing ground can cause fires but most likely will give you a good shock or could kill you on the right conditions.
I do not have any of those automatic fire extinguishers, but I like them and will be investing in one or two.

NEVER EVER take shortcuts with electricity. If in doubt, have an electrician do the work for you. Indoor grows mean your risking your property and life if something goes wrong.
IMHO, the perfect indoor room will have three separate circuits and breakers. One for the lights, one for the fans, and one for the normal room if it was not being used for a grow...all coming out of its own sub breaker panel off the main breaker. That way if there is a problem, you can kill everything by hitting the main sub panel breaker.
Also, especially if doing hydro. All electricity above your waist and all water below your waist. Keep them as separated as possible.
I also suggest outlets being ground fault protected types that will turn off the power if it detects an unsafe electric leak. They can be sensitive as hell if your setup is not 100% correct electric wise, but they will safe your life.

DO NOT take electricity lightly. Not knowing what your doing or trying to cheat the electric meter or bypassing anything is like a game of Russian roulette. You may get away with it for months and even years, but the odds WILL catch up with you.

Agree w/dirty harry completely. I've seen plenty of shady wiring in my line of work and have also seen how wires burn up (I've actually seen wires burn up in person), you def. don't want to skimp and cut corners on wiring and electricity.

Thanks everyone so much! This is really helpful. So I'll be double checking the rating on all timers, extension cords, etc. I'm growing in a well built steel framed shed seperate from the house. It has it's own 20 amp breaker and the wires running to the shed are 12 guage, which is rated for 20 amps up to 50 feet away, I believe. This is what I'm most worried about because as that distance grows you get less amperage with the wire. At least that's how I understand it. The problem is I don't know how much wire is running through the walls before it goes out the shed. For all I know there's 50 feet of wire before it goes the 50 feet to the shed. I'm running 1000 watt hps and 8 t5's plus pumps, fans, etc..