Will I Burn An Apartment Down?

I did have a fuse catch on fire once that sucked. Fire conducts electricity so the lights flickered like the flames of the fire that was conducting it. The next week I had the landlord put in a circuit breaker panel. But that was a freak occurrence.
 
the breaker for the room I wanted to set the systems up in says 15 but the family area has a 20...so I would be able to run the systems on different breakers?
 
captain insaneo said:
sorry guys but we are all over thinking it
if you are just using your HIDs for flowering split them on opposite 12/12 cycles or better 11.75/12.25 cycles (so as not to have both on at once) and run your moms on flouros that way you wont be pulling any more than 1200watts from lights at any given time. and you wont have any tell tell 12 hr energy peaks!

sometimes the simplest answer alludes for far to long. all you need to do is buy another timer
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I'm using HIDs for both stages...I already have the 1000w system up and running
 
are you using them for flower or veg or both, if you are only flowering with them you can simply have them on opposite cycles and there fore one kicks off then the other one kicks on. you could also look up the term flip flop. on how to build a device that will do the switching automatically and use only one ballast.
edit
http://www.onlinepot.org/grow/wiringlights.htm
 
captain792000 said:
electrician here, the answer to your question is...no, you wont burn the place down but you will blow a fuse or trip the breaker.
If the 2 ourlets your talking about are in the same room, then more than likely they are on the same circuit (20 amp fuse or breaker).
A 20 amp circuit is rated fo around 2300 watts max(I think). So if those 2 outlets are the only outlets on the whole circuit (which I highly doubt) then you would be maxed out right off the bat with just your lighting.
Is your breaker box in your apartment, if so, Id suggest adding a 20 amp breaker to the box, that way you could have a designated circuit just for your lighting for your grow.....good luck....
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yes the box is inside the apartment...I wouldn't even know where to begin by adding a breaker
 
you can flip the main breaker coming into it then you unscrew the old one one and screw in the new one. Or call an electrician. The guys at home depot could explain it to you. but if you read what he said was pretty much it wouldn't help any ways. if you veg with the HID's too you could run them on the 12/12 and supplement with floro's 2 hrs before and after the 12/12 cycle in the veg area to keep the from producing the flowering hormones.
 
captain insaneo said:
are you using them for flower or veg or both, if you are only flowering with them you can simply have them on opposite cycles and there fore one kicks off then the other one kicks on. you could also look up the term flip flop. on how to build a device that will do the switching automatically and use only one ballast.
edit
http://www.onlinepot.org/grow/wiringlights.htm
Click to expand...

I'm using HIDs for both stages and need them simultaneously
 
captain insaneo said:
I did have a fuse catch on fire once that sucked. Fire conducts electricity so the lights flickered like the flames of the fire that was conducting it. The next week I had the landlord put in a circuit breaker panel. But that was a freak occurrence.
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You sound like Rosie O'donnel. :-P
 
i dont think you'll have a problem i had a Gwatt in an apartment, and they use power like no other, like 4 computers, an a bunch of other stuff, never had a problem, but does sound like your apartment's power is suckie, why not add some T5's or leds, for veging?
 
violator kush said:
i dont think you'll have a problem i had a Gwatt in an apartment, and they use power like no other, like 4 computers, an a bunch of other stuff, never had a problem, but does sound like your apartment's power is suckie, why not add some T5's or leds, for veging?
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From what I understand...the lighting you mentioned will work but is not comparable to HID lighting as far as growth/growth rate is concerned...i do plan on using t5s for cloning though
 
I think you will be fine as long as your breakers will hold most are 15amp. If you look on your lights it might tell you how many amps each light pulls,add them up if your @15 or above you will trip breakers, but if your 14 and lower you'll be fine. what I did was have an electrician friend wire up a direct line from your breaker box to your lights and put a 20 amp breaker on it and only use for your lights and maybe fans too.something I learned along the way is the more wattage of lights you have, the more airflow you need to move through your area
 
you should use leds for veg they are righteous for vegetative growth, complete shit for flowering, but they only use 90watts each so you could use about 4 of them be under 360 watts. That would be about 1200 *equivalent*.
@patllp
um yes I am insane
didnt get a hint from my net handle?

and if your electricity is include dont you think you land lord will wonder where 2 kilowatt hours per hour are going? your lights are using 28kwh per day! that is too much "heat" and will put your grow in jeopardy weather or not you are legal!
 
I am doing 1000w and 600w with no changes to breaker and noticed with both on at same time I am fine but plugin vacuum cleaner and blammo breaker needs reset, my bill was way higher than I liked and I was starting to use more than 2000 kwh for two bedroom and have always read to keep it under 1000 per room and yes pay your bills on time. What I ended up doing to keep it down a bit is got another timer so I am still doing 12/12 but both lights are only on for 2 hours at the same time. So I start the day with the 1000w at 6 am then allow the 600w to kick in at 10 am and then shut off the 1000w at 12 so just the 600w rides out the rest of the day. I figured this is close to natural as well as the sun would be weaker at the end of the day as the sun sets. I have yet to see how this affects my power bill but just want to keep it on safe side. I am also using 400w in another room so you can probably get away with the lights but just consider a similar alternating schedule so all lights are not always on at the same time yet keep the 12/12 going
 
vaporsmoke said:
dude i would say that is a bit ambitious, unless your are an electrician. my advise is to use either the 1000w system or the 600w system but not both at the same time. even if u did get both the systems wired up SAFELY the electric to run that would be through the roof, and if u cant pay your electric bill on time that is when company's get suspicious and they start investigations......is your grow for personal consumption? how many plants do u need to grow?
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A lot of people can't pay their electric bill on time...sheesh. They don't start investigations for that. Investigations happen when someone is stealing electricity.
 
do u have a dryer hook up 220v u could always buy a prewired timer/subpanel/breaker box/outlets with dryer cord and plug into ur dryer outlet... idk if ur apartment has washer/dryer hookups
 
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