Experienced Electrician! Here to Answer Any and All Growroom Electrical Questions

What is an immersion tank?

A hot water tank. there is an element in the bottom i to heat it. But most people just use there boiler and never switch the "immersion" bit on. my boiler is knackerd and wont heat water, so i have to use the immersion. Im in the uk so it maybe the lingo is different.

Draws alot of power cos i guess its like a big kettle, and is in theory on a dedicated circuit BUT other things are put on that circuit by pro electricians. for example i have a security box spured off the hot water tank.

We just call it a water heater here. When you say "most people just use there boiler and never switch the "immersion" bit on", are you saying you have a gas burner AND a electric heater in the same tank? I think everything is 220v there? We have 110v for most stuff, only have 220v for heavy user equipment like stoves, water heaters, or dryers. The plugs are different for different appliances, too. I delivered and installed appliances for a time. Customers got pissed when they found out they had to buy a cord to match their socket.

No not in the same tank, im no expert but usualy water is heated by a boiler (i guess flowing in and out of the hot water tank) but you can use the electric heating element in the hot water tank too, is just more expensive . In uk all sockets are the same but cookers and hotwater tanks are wired into a fused switch with no plug and are on a dedicated cirucit so the dont overload it (thats what i have read in the last few days) I have run an ext-cable for the light (not a long term solution) Need the fan in the loft but cant find the ring for the sockets! (they might not even be in the loft cos im in a bungalow) If thats the case then its getting beond what im willing to attempt.

oh and we are 240v

I wonder if the "experienced electrician" still monitors this thread?

Red1966 said:

I wonder if the "experienced electrician" still monitors this thread?

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UK... No way...
I use the "American Wire Gauge" {AWG} and the "National" Electric Code [NEC} I was a Lic Electrical Contractor in CA...
It's just UK I think 50 cycles 240 single phase...
I wouldn't want to advise the wrong thing...
If ya need anything "American" or help with an Electric issue in the USA... I could prob help...
Questions?

I have one. What is the approximate cost to run 3 x 110v, 20 amp circuits through 60 ft of attic to 3 quad outlets? The attic is easily accessible and has 7-8 foot of head room down the center until the end where you'd have to get to the part of the roof where it slopes down to the wall. There are two out lets already there but are on one shared circuit shared with another room. Materials and labor if you could.

Red1966 said:

I have one. What is the approximate cost to run 3 x 110v, 20 amp circuits through 60 ft of attic to 3 quad outlets? The attic is easily accessible and has 7-8 foot of head room down the center until the end where you'd have to get to the part of the roof where it slopes down to the wall. There are two out lets already there but are on one shared circuit shared with another room. Materials and labor if you could.

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$0.13 in phone calls to local electricians. after that probably $50-$75 an hour.

you asked for labor costs so i am assuming you can't do it yourself.

tuxedo said:

I have a power question: I have a power strip rated for 1500 joules surge protection. Is it OK that I plug my 600 watt HID light, 8" can fan (~300-400 watts), and my 70-pint dehumidifier (~300-400 watts) into the same strip? I added up the wattage of each and it comes to about 1200-1400 watts on max power for everything. I just want to be sure this is OK. I dont have another grounded outlet in my room so I am limited to this one outlet. Ideally I would plug them into their own sockets, but my options are limited. I just want to be sure that if the humidifier, can, and light are pumping full throttle, I won't start a fire or have something terrible happen.

Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

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Assuming your 120v north america. 1400/120=11.66 Your close to the limit. It a breaker trips then you have too much on that vircuit. 12a is 80% of a 15a feed. If your strip is cheap I would consider an upgrade.

How many 55 watt CFLs can I run on a single 15 amp circuit

Medical User said:

How many 55 watt CFLs can I run on a single 15 amp circuit

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26.

120 x 15 x 0.8 / 55

Hi, I have a 220v cable running underground to my building (75 feet from my house) that runs a construction heater that I don't use or need. It's a simple red cable with one red wire, a black one and a ground. Is there a way to split that off so that it will be 110v?

white1340 said:

Hi, I have a 220v cable running underground to my building (75 feet from my house) that runs a construction heater that I don't use or need. It's a simple red cable with one red wire, a black one and a ground. Is there a way to split that off so that it will be 110v?

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yes, hire an electrician. will cost you about $100 depending on what electricians charge in your area. if you are looking to do it yourself then remember rule #1...TURN OFF THE MAIN BREAKER BEFORE DOING ANY WORK!!!

Sorry don't know any electricans well enough to see the contents of my building.

white1340 said:

Hi, I have a 220v cable running underground to my building (75 feet from my house) that runs a construction heater that I don't use or need. It's a simple red cable with one red wire, a black one and a ground. Is there a way to split that off so that it will be 110v?

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That cable is going to have 4 conductors: black, white, green (or bare copper) and either red or blue. The black and the red or blue are your two 110 volt phases. Just like 110 wiring, the white is neutral and the green (or bare) is ground.

This is how I did mine with a 50A (formerly a furnace, I think) outlet and an appliance cord:


I used one of the legs to feed a 110V 20A outlet for my table saw and the other feeds the 15A 2-gang outlet above it and a few more down the line.
The 20A outlet also houses the splice that feeds the 15A run, but if I were to do it again I would give myself more room by putting the single 20A outlet in a double box with a single cover plate.

My panel had a 50A double breaker that I replaced with a 15 and a 20. Otherwise, those circuits are still protected at 50A. Breakers are pretty easy to change out - obviously, be sure to kill the main and leave its cover on when you remove the panel cover because those two terminals will still be hot (and unfused) from the meter pan.

I ought to have run BX where the appliance cord is and for all the exposed romex - I used what I had (same with the boxes).
If you are buying materials anyway, you may as well use the right stuff. Because I rent, everything will be pulled when I leave.

The two large wires coming into the main breaker are hot off the pole. Other than calling the electric company there is no way you can power these wires down. To be safe wear thick rubber footwear when working around hot wires. I have a pair of what the cops called jesus sandles, when their attempts at tazoring me failed.

Ok so heres my electrical question, I just moved into a new house and i want my master bedroom to be able to handle up to about 5k watts, not saying i will be using them all i just would rather have more than less. What would i tell an electrician when I call him? What would i say to sound more professional, Honestly have no experience or knowledge in the electrical field my uncle wired my last two rooms RIP. Just don't want to sound to conspicuous or anything. Thanks in advance for the input
Im in San Diego, California by the way.