When using multiple cfl's, breaker keeps flipping off..

I think I understand now why I hear stories of only growing 2 to 4 plants to a time. When I'm starting the seedling phase, I go over board and end up with 10 to 15 babies! I'm growing from bag seed so i always plant extra because of that. I'm using cfl's. I found out yesterday the wattage I need per plant! 6 bulbs per plant? My breaker keeps tripping on that side of the house. At this point is it better to have a 400 watt metal halide and hps set up? Is there anything I can do for this problem other than reducing?

umm as soon as you surpass 10 amps on that circut, which as your breaker is saying has happened. also you might try to move high drain stuff to another circut in the house go get the biggest gauge extention cords you can find ( the bigger the gauge the smaller the number 8>12)

lighthouse said:

I think I understand now why I hear stories of only growing 2 to 4 plants to a time. When I'm starting the seedling phase, I go over board and end up with 10 to 15 babies! I'm growing from bag seed so i always plant extra because of that. I'm using cfl's. I found out yesterday the wattage I need per plant! 6 bulbs per plant? My breaker keeps tripping on that side of the house. At this point is it better to have a 400 watt metal halide and hps set up? Is there anything I can do for this problem other than reducing?

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What else is plugged in that uses that circuit breaker plug things out , when the lights are switching on its overloading the breaker ,its to do with the amount of amps going to the breaker or something like that i not an electrician but i know if there is too many things plugged in on the same circuit it will trip the switch ,so try plug things out or use less bulbs ,some might be males and you will be pulling them

if i learned one thing and one thing only its this. CFL are not a main source of adequate lighting. They work wonders for supplemental side lighting, but if anything at least get a 250w hps.

Cfls are plenty adequate if used properly. Did you wire them yourslef, something might be wrong, unless you have over 1000watts of cfls or a lot of other stuff plugged in and who said you need 6 cfls per plant, i can grow 6 plants with 4 cfls.

well if your tripping your breakers its overloaded of course but this shouldn't be happening as cfls barely use any amps when compared to an oven running at high temps..
if its an older home its very likely corners have been cut and things where cascaded like your washer and fridge are supposed to be on different breakers but humans are lazy..so try to time lights when any big things are running i.e stove,washer,microwave..and see if it stops tripping..and if it doesn't find the nearest plug on a different breaker and split the load and say hello to the extension cord jungle ha ha but it may work..im no electrician but my pops is, we recently re wired my whole home and included a 100amp panel in my garage ha ha...found lots Fukt wires from laziness..it was scary!

How many true watts are your CFL's...not equivalent watts

Johnboh said:

if i learned one thing and one thing only its this. CFL are not a main source of adequate lighting. They work wonders for supplemental side lighting, but if anything at least get a 250w hps.

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I grow with CFL's only. I don't need any other lighting.

Ok. I have a small heater in that room plugged up to same extension cord. I'm bettin thats the problem. Would that be it? I've only got 9 to 10 26 watt bulbs going. They are 100 equiv to 26 watts.

lighthouse said:

Ok. I have a small heater in that room plugged up to same extension cord. I'm bettin thats the problem. Would that be it? I've only got 9 to 10 26 watt bulbs going. They are 100 equiv to 26 watts.

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Yes, the heater is the problem, they draw a lot of current.

lighthouse said:

Ok. I have a small heater in that room plugged up to same extension cord.

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jesus christ man UNPLUG THE SPACE HEATER NOW!

NEVER PLUG A HEATER ON A DAMN EXTENSION CORD!!!!!!!!!

NEVER!

that is why your breaker is tripping, your extremely lucky you ahve enough stuff on the circuit to even make the breaker trip.
so unplug the heater, put it back in the box, and return it before you burn your house down

the lamps should get you more than enough heat......

I was told I need about 200 watts per plant. How do you grow 6 plants with 4 cfl's? What is their wattage?

OK!!! Temps have gone down to 55 in there. They are 4 to 5 weeks old. I did'nt think about the lights putting off some heat for them. I'll go pull it. Thanks for your direction! About to burn the house down...

lol... seriously.
wasnt trying to come off as being a dick, but plugging heaters into extension cords is a major no no

lighthouse said:

OK!!! Temps have gone down to 55 in there. They are 4 to 5 weeks old. I did'nt think about the lights putting off some heat for them. I'll go pull it. Thanks for your direction! About to burn the house down...

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55 degrees?...where do you have your plants? What is the temp of your growspace?

It sounds like he has them in an un-insulated shed, maybe a 400 hid is a good idea. Like wise that much heat in a small space is going to produce a heat sig to any infrared camera. So I think a trip to a hardware store to buy some insulation is in your future.

lighthouse said:

I was told I need about 200 watts per plant. How do you grow 6 plants with 4 cfl's? What is their wattage?

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where did you hear that, just control your plants(lst,scrog,sog) and build a tight box so you get plenty of reflection.
Heres an older example, less than 200, 6 plants

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=51381&page=1&pp=15&highlight=lifeless

make sure you look in our CFL section
https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-growing/

a nice micro grow section
http://www.icmag.com/ic/forumdisplay.php?f=65545