Question About Electricity

after visiting another thread on this forum i became curious...my grow is at a property (not very big in square feet..) that has a box that says "100amp".

now..i know 30-50 is the standard but why 100amp in less than 1K square feet?

how many lights plus things like tv etc can one safely run on this type of system? right now i assume my biggest power eaters are my 2 600w hid systems and my big screen tv (50-55" i think). other than that just a few cfls for room light, etc. a microwave...etc.

if they were heating the area with electric....that would need a 100amp service for sure

the heater at this property is gas...not electric..

also it doesnt have air conditioning (in the summer i have to use a portable unit)

maybe the folks before you had a hot tub or something. either way you are pretty safe with most anything on that circuit. in an old house, id be more concerned with the wires and outlets being able to handle the workload.

aye...those thinner older wires were wrapped in waxed paper insulators if memory serves on really old homes

nightmares all around...dig around in the wall and look for sure...

more than likely 100amp box is not there to simply suggest that there might be one day when such a power load is required, but more for insurance and loan requirements from money lenders dealing with the property itself

i think 100 amp load center is pretty common-

i don't believe i've heard of a residential service less than 100 amps. maybe in an apartment?
keep in mind the things that are plugged in all the time. continuous duty cycles require a 20% increase in amperage calculations.(read dryer on half the day. mine runs on a 50A 240V circuit by itself.)

out in the boonies round here i've seen plenty of 60amp boxes on homes....lots of older cramped apartments too

You should always be running your own wiring if using lights larger than 400w in my opinion. Do not take it wrong and personally set up the wiring if you do not have electrical experience, but do not trust a houses wiring for industrial style electronics. Most houses even with 100 or 200 amp service do not have high enough gauge wiring to handle large lights plugged directly in to the outlets. With proper gauge wiring a 100 amp service can handle a ridiculous amount of lights.

1000w @120 9amps @240 5amps
600w @120 5amps @240 3amps
400w @120 4amps

Rounded these up to be on the safer side.

+ 20% for continuous duty cycle-

very important rule, and if i'm not mistaken, CODE.

i shall consider myself lucky as i use 2 600s and i didnt run any wire or hire anyone to check things out...its been this way now for a yr and a half so i assume im safe. of course i dont plug the lights directly into the wall..they are on surge protectors capable of handling 1800w (i have two and one light plugged into each surge protector and of course are plugged into separate outlets). infact ive never plugged both lights in 1 surge protector or into the same socket.

in addition to the two lights i use two fans and thats usually all thats on except during hot summer days (a/c unit that eats up 1k watts)

im no electrician by any means. my knowledge of electricity is very n00bish to say the least.