Electrical Ques. If I can help someone I will...

I've been a member here for almost a month now and I see alot of people asking electrical questions...

I've been an Electrician for about 10yrs now so if someone has a question pertaining to electrical or wiring, I'll be happy to help if I can

I hope FloJo knows the voltage of his ballast before he runs any new lines.

i heard the electrical bill goes up quite a bit once you start growing.
with one or two 1000 watt lights on at 12 hours a day, how much of a change/increase would it make in the electric bill?

never mind, i found it. thanks

BC Hydro - Power Smart for Business - Online Lighting Calculator

I have heard that using 220v ballasts is more efficient than the 110v that American households typically support but I never got a good reason why. Do you think there is any truth to that?

Ok, heres a question for you I recently set up a 3 light bulb vanity for my closet, clipped the wires of an extension cord, tied those to the vanity, and have it plugged into the timer. My question is, can I take a computer fan, and put the fan wires inbetween the vanity and the extension cord wires? Will it blow, not work, etc?

A friend told me about a box you hookup to a 240V out that has a 30AMP fuse and puts out 120V (not sure, think he said that) that's suppose to save electricity usage. Does that sound correct at all?

Also, what's the most energy efficient way of running 3 1000 watt lights? 240V? 120V?

lylastarr said:

I have heard that using 220v ballasts is more efficient than the 110v that American households typically support but I never got a good reason why. Do you think there is any truth to that?

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Higher voltage line can handle more voltage drop and still perform without burning anything down. [(120 -> 110) vs. (240 -> 220)]

Ebil said:

Ok, heres a question for you I recently set up a 3 light bulb vanity for my closet, clipped the wires of an extension cord, tied those to the vanity, and have it plugged into the timer. My question is, can I take a computer fan, and put the fan wires inbetween the vanity and the extension cord wires? Will it blow, not work, etc?

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Computer fans run on DC. It will not work.

Ebil said:

Ok, heres a question for you I recently set up a 3 light bulb vanity for my closet, clipped the wires of an extension cord, tied those to the vanity, and have it plugged into the timer. My question is, can I take a computer fan, and put the fan wires inbetween the vanity and the extension cord wires? Will it blow, not work, etc?

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Sorry guys been pretty busy, OK to answer your question about the computer fan If were on the same page Im assuming your refering to the little blower fans that are inside the towers, those are low voltage here is a thread I found to wire the fan to a cell phone charger, hope it helps

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/48068-diy-wiring-fans.html

after that just use a power strip...

ghengiskhan said:

A friend told me about a box you hookup to a 240V out that has a 30AMP fuse and puts out 120V (not sure, think he said that) that's suppose to save electricity usage. Does that sound correct at all?

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NO!

ghengiskhan said:

Also, what's the most energy efficient way of running 3 1000 watt lights? 240V? 120V?

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240

Higher voltage is always the way to go, not that it will save you money.

lylastarr said:

I have heard that using 220v ballasts is more efficient than the 110v that American households typically support but I never got a good reason why. Do you think there is any truth to that?

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its all about amps, 120v will use more amps to pull power, were 240v pulls less amps because of the higher power that is available.

UserFriendly said:

I hope FloJo knows the voltage of his ballast before he runs any new lines.

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well if its any kind of ballast I've wired up they are multi tap.

kushmonster said:

well if its any kind of ballast I've wired up they are multi tap.

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It's a 600w Lumatek digital he's talking about, not just any kind, you dig?

UserFriendly said:

It's a 600w Lumatek digital he's talking about, not just any kind, you dig?

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Dude when I said multi tap, that means it can be wired either way, all H.I.D lighting that has a seperate ballast, igniter, and compaciter can be wired 120/240 or 120/240/277/480 you dig??

Thanks for your help electricity Man...ha...setting up my 1st grow room and all I got in the room is one 110v outlet on a light at the ceiling. I want to plug in a 1000 watts hps system/maybe 1-2 fans and 6-8 42 watt cfl's....what do you think? Fire hazard or not?

well chances are that the receptical and the light are on the same circuit, If that is the case that is a lot of juice off of one breaker, dont know how many amps a 100hps draws

Digital ballasts are not multi-tap in the traditional sense.. You can use either the 240v cord or the 120v cord. The higher the voltage,the lower the amperage. Yes, running 240v is cheaper than 120v. Whether you'll be able to see any savings with one light is questionable. The more lights you are using the more you'll save.

SmokenGirl....... If that was a dedicated circuit (only thing on the circuit) you would be ok, but the chances of that are practically nil. More than likely all or at least half your lights are on that circuit.

kushmonster said:

Dude when I said multi tap, that means it can be wired either way

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Why would you be trying to have someone rewire a 120v ballast to run on 240v? Anyway, I'm just making you aware of the specifics; don't get your panties in a bunch.

UserFriendly said:

Why would you be trying to have someone rewire a 120v ballast to run on 240v? Anyway, I'm just making you aware of the specifics; don't get your panties in a bunch.

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Who said anything about about wiring a 120v ballast 240v?? and no big deal I dont wear panties, like to free ball