Holly shit u guys i didn't know that my question will start a 3rd world war lol , anyways thanx ALL of u for input , good or bad , every input on a subject is appreciated , i think that now i know what is the difference between 120v and 240v , the reason why i ask , i'm planning to go vertic and i have two x 600w lights cool tube and one 1000w i'm planning to buy another 1000w and i need to buy extra cool tube reflectors for both of my 1000 w lights , , i'm planing to do 2 vertic set up so i have perpetual harvest but we will c how that works , i'm not no electrician but i have a really good knowledge how to wire house and stuff ,i,m in the middle of flipping a house and all electric work i did it myself and it pass the inspection with flying colors lol, believe it or not i did this all with a book from lowe's home improvement about wiring , i was reading the book and i was check in short movies on you tube lol i got skills because they tell u step by step what to do but i'm not all technical on all that difference between 120 and 240 , that part they really left blank , of course they sed that bigger appliances need 240v on that size of a breaker lets say house clothing dryer is on double pole 30 amp breaker they told that stuff but they didn't go in more depth why that's why i thought that i will ask, but after what read here i definitely will be going with 240v
110v VS 220v
- Thread starter wawa007
- Start date
SFguy
Well-Known Member
Brother Numsi
Well-Known Member
A better question for you is did you see an improvement going to the higher voltage? I have a radio amplifier that will generate more output on 240 than 110. (measured) (Henry 3K) Did you notice a difference in performance? Just curious. I'll stay out of the electronics arguement...enough going on there. Let's talk about the effect of 240v on cannabis vs 120v
Brother Numsi
Well-Known Member
Just for the guys who don't want to look it up here is Superstoners' link:
120v vs 240v
Many people are misinformed about the method in which power companies charge for electricity usage. Many growers believe that if a ballast is rewired from 120v to 240v they will save up to 50% on the power bills. The reason for this is belief that households are charged by the amperage. This may be due to the fact that, on average, most households only have up to 200amps available and that each circuit breaker is rated in amps. The truth is that very little savings will be noted if growers changed their ballasts from 120v to 240v. Lighting systems that run on 240v will only require half the amperage but not half the wattage. The method for calculating this is: Amps x Volts = Watts.
For example: A lighting system that runs on 120v and draws 6 amps of current will consume 120v x 6 amps = 660w; this would typically be a 600w lighting system. If the same ballast was wired to 240v then the amperage would be 660w/240v = 2.75amps, but the wattage would still be the same.
Power companies do not charge by amperage or volts; they charge by kilowatt hours. For example one 1000w HID system being run for 1 hour will incur a cost of 1 kilowatt hour.
So then, why have 240v? There are many reasons for using 240v; however, the main reason for indoor gardeners has to do with amperage. If a grower is running 5 x 1000w lights at 120v which draws 9.5amps of current per lamp, then 5 separate 15 or 20amp circuit breakers would be required to run the 5 lighting systems. If the same grower was running their lights on 240v instead of 120v then three lights could be run on one 20 amp circuit.
There is another factor which makes 240v “better” than 120v. This has to do with voltage drop or the voltage lost due to resistance when power travels down a cable. The lower the resistance on the wire, the less the voltage drop. The shorter the distance between the power socket and the ballast, the lower the voltage drop. A thicker power cable will also reduce the voltage drop due to less resistance.
I'm still curious if you noticed a difference. The article would lead me to say no...my amplifier says yes LOL.
120v vs 240v
Many people are misinformed about the method in which power companies charge for electricity usage. Many growers believe that if a ballast is rewired from 120v to 240v they will save up to 50% on the power bills. The reason for this is belief that households are charged by the amperage. This may be due to the fact that, on average, most households only have up to 200amps available and that each circuit breaker is rated in amps. The truth is that very little savings will be noted if growers changed their ballasts from 120v to 240v. Lighting systems that run on 240v will only require half the amperage but not half the wattage. The method for calculating this is: Amps x Volts = Watts.
For example: A lighting system that runs on 120v and draws 6 amps of current will consume 120v x 6 amps = 660w; this would typically be a 600w lighting system. If the same ballast was wired to 240v then the amperage would be 660w/240v = 2.75amps, but the wattage would still be the same.
Power companies do not charge by amperage or volts; they charge by kilowatt hours. For example one 1000w HID system being run for 1 hour will incur a cost of 1 kilowatt hour.
So then, why have 240v? There are many reasons for using 240v; however, the main reason for indoor gardeners has to do with amperage. If a grower is running 5 x 1000w lights at 120v which draws 9.5amps of current per lamp, then 5 separate 15 or 20amp circuit breakers would be required to run the 5 lighting systems. If the same grower was running their lights on 240v instead of 120v then three lights could be run on one 20 amp circuit.
There is another factor which makes 240v “better” than 120v. This has to do with voltage drop or the voltage lost due to resistance when power travels down a cable. The lower the resistance on the wire, the less the voltage drop. The shorter the distance between the power socket and the ballast, the lower the voltage drop. A thicker power cable will also reduce the voltage drop due to less resistance.
I'm still curious if you noticed a difference. The article would lead me to say no...my amplifier says yes LOL.
droopy107
Well-Known Member
schooled!!!
superstoner1
Well-Known Member
i added the third 1k at the time i went to 240v so, yeah,i saw a huge improvement.lol. honestly, there should be no visisble difference and light meter did not reflect it. i will say that although my phantoms were cool running before on 120 now the heat is nonexistant, but huge difference in heat output on magnetic ballast, huge. after being on for hours i can touch it and that was not the case with 120. its really for allowing more use of high pull items.A better question for you is did you see an improvement going to the higher voltage? I have a radio amplifier that will generate more output on 240 than 110. (measured) (Henry 3K) Did you notice a difference in performance? Just curious. I'll stay out of the electronics arguement...enough going on there. Let's talk about the effect of 240v on cannabis vs 120v
Brother Numsi
Well-Known Member
That's good enough an outcome for me. I am planning on adding a 3rd 600w system so that your system is running noticably cooler is a very good thing. Thanks. What reflectors do you use or do you use Phantoms as well? (Maybe I should look at some of your other posts) I have Lumatek LK-600's and Yield Master II Supreme reflectors. I was going to add a Magnum XXXL plus another LK-600.
I'm retired so I look at this as a lot of fun
superstoner1
Well-Known Member
i have the same yield master in the center and two blockbusters on outside. i would have done another blockbuster but space was too tight, the blockbusters have a much better set of readings on the light meter but when you add 50% more light its all good.
hotrodharley
Well-Known Member
Still says its cheaper. Not any half (I would never fall for 50% off anything that easy). But on welding jobs - my 240 runs way cheaper to fillet weld 1/4" plate than my 115V welder.
hotrodharley
Well-Known Member
There is every reason to run 240V if a guy can afford to have the panel wired correctly in my experience. Overall bills really are lower. But I run metal equipment too.
BTW I have said here on RIU openly I am no indoor expert by any means. I have grown guerrilla since 1964 and have been forced inside when transferred to AK. Got here in the middle of a record breaking snowfall (we got over 14' at my house) and went straight into a record breaking rainfall summer. The Weather Channel named us as one of the 5 worst weather summer cities for 2012.
Emergency indoors I'll promise you but it started by planting early for transplant outdoors. That shit never happened and I have cobbled together a pretty good system with 2 400 watt MH high bays I modified for remote ballast, a EM 1000 watt HPS, a boatload of bowl reflectors and assortments of CFLs and a bunch of T8 fixtures. T5 in my future! It's already snowed here and more on the way.
polyarcturus
Well-Known Member
i would have to say its about 10% cheaper ive found it cheaper to run 240v too. but i wasnt saying that when dumbass was talking about 50% off lol
hotrodharley
Well-Known Member
Dig it. If it were 50% cheaper electricians would be working overtime rewiring and installing sub-panels and such in half the homes in America.
Vonkins
Well-Known Member
Guess I'm not to big of a dumb ass,huh? All I said is its cheaper on ur electric bill to run lights at 240 instead of 120. Cheaper is cheaper, whether its 5$ or 500$.
polyarcturus
Well-Known Member
no your still a dumbass.
Vonkins
Well-Known Member
I might be one but I was one who is right. That's all that needs to be said. So now u can say (U ARE CORRECT SIR). Now u see why I make the money I make. I know my job. Like I said I might be a dumbass but I'm still right and that's all that matters to me. Ha ha.
ArcticGranite
Well-Known Member
Just promise you'll never try to teach electrical theory!
polyarcturus
Well-Known Member
you not right nothing you have said has been right.
listen i know how that "10%" is saved (it would vary based on locale) do you? if you do then tell me right now.
listen i know how that "10%" is saved (it would vary based on locale) do you? if you do then tell me right now.
Vonkins
Well-Known Member
. This is what confused me. Earlier in this post u said it doesn't make a difference in ur bill. But now for some reason u changed ur mind and said it does make ur bill cheaper. So which one is it, cheaper bill or not. Looks like ur just following the bandwagon and don't really know ohms law.
Vonkins
Well-Known Member
Don't worry I make way to much money to be a teacher at the apprenticeship. U don't have to worry bout me ever schooling ya in class.
Vonkins
Well-Known Member
If u keep surrounding yourself by idiots u will become one. Hurry get away from those idiots now, ur evolving to be an idiot to. Actually I think my its too late for u. The point of no return has already been passed.