15x6'6" grow shed 3d model. Tell me what you think!!

Hello growing community. This is my first post and have 3 grows under my belt. Man I have learned a bunch on my own and through this awesome collection of people. My set up thus far has been a 5x5x7 cheap grow tent with 2 600w lights, 3 6in fans, 1 air scrubber, home made rdwc (works awesome), portable ac for summer time (those 600w get HOTT!) Now I need to change my growing location and have decided to build a shed in my backyard. Measurements will be 15'x6'6", and I have made a colored 3d model on google sketchup. I do have framing/construction experience, not so much the wiring that will need to be done. But I'm pretty handy and research things for days, so we will see.

Anyways the shed will be in my back yard in a back corner. One door no windows, insulated, 60amp sub panel. In the pictures you will see 3 views. Front view, (only studs visible so you can see into the shed), right view (which has the 2 600w lights), and left view, (which has the 3, 2' 6 bulb floros), that side will be veg. I know I can get alot more lights and plants jammed into here but I want to stay legal and only have 6 going at a time which is my mature plant limit. And my house main panel is only 100amp, so I am thinking of going 60 amps for sub. Which won't let me run much else than what I have modeled in the shed. Ask about anything you think I may have missed or don't know what something is in the pictures.
Thanks for looking!!

What makes you think 60 amp will barely run that shed? Doesn't look like you'll be pulling much power at all.

- Jiji

That 10000 btu ac, running with the 600s. and if I have the veg side on at the same time as flowering. I'm roughly looking at 46 amps. Don't want to run the panel past 80 percent capacity. At least that's what I have read not to do.

The t5 lamps will be high output (54 watt a bulb)

You should post a breakdown of your estimated power usage. I think your off on your numbers.

You plan on running the ballsts at 240v?

- Jiji

2 600w hid. 1200w
3 2' 6 bulb HO t5 972w
1 10,000 btu ac. 2,930w
1 8in inline fan 200w
1 6in inline fan 115w
2 Comercial air pumps 120w
3 water pumps. 24w

All added up 5,561w
Divide by 120v
You get 46.34amps. Little shy of 80 percent of a 60 amp panel.
Unless I am totally missing something (very possible), I think I'm pretty dead on. I have check the numbers for watt consumption with respectable brand names and with what I already have.

Ok.

The 600w hids will pull a few extra watts, but close enough.

Are you sure about the t-5s? thats a lot. The 4 footers pull about 54 each.

The AC doesn't sound right. 24.4 amps is a lot. If it was 120, you couldn't even plug it into a normal outlet.

- Jiji

just a thought......have you thought about the actual size of your shed......6' wide you may have a lot of waste in material vs a little wider, try and consider the size boards you can buy, an example if you buy 8' 2x4`s your going to have say 2' in drop for every board.
jiji`s got a point that seems real high for a 10k btu, should be less than 10a for most of the modern units.

I did an online calculator for a btu to watt conversion for the ac to try and get a round number, but I'll do more research into mine. Its an off brand and a little old so I will probably get a new one. Thanks Jiji
And yeah as far as waste seedHo, I know I wish I could go wider but 6'6" is the biggest I can go with out pinching the gap between back side of my house and the corner of the shed.

What program did you use for that 3d design? I like it a lot and would like to try it out.

No need for a ac honestly. I have done 1200 watts and I if you exchange the air enough youll be fine.

Mt Doo said:

No need for a ac honestly. I have done 1200 watts and I if you exchange the air enough youll be fine.

Click to expand...

That would depend entirely on where he is and what things are like for his grow setup.

Each situation is different and should be viewed that way.

Its google sketchup, I used the free version. Mickeykrinshaw12
And yeah I'm in California, so summer temps get into 100s.
I have been think of running the 600s only for winter crops. And use the t5 side for one or two smaller Grows in the summer time. Help keep my electrical bill down a bit.

Looks like you have a solid setup. Are you going to run a new line for the 60amp panel? Is there going to be a attic space? Why not put the fans and ballest up there? Vent the lights thru the soffits in the shack. I would go with a bigger AC. 10k will prob get it done but it will run all the time. You will save on the light bill with a bigger unit that will work more efficiently. Lots of cool things you can do when starting from scratch.

Other than being limited to a 100 amps main panel, is there any reason (something that you haven't told us about) that would lead us to believe that the electrical service to your home is any different than most residential service in North America that is supplied with 240 volts / 120 volts "split phase"? Then you should be aware that your sub-panel will be feed with four wires from your main panel (two "hot" wires, one neutral wire, and one ground wire), bearing in mind that the two hot wires feeding the sub-panel will be coming from a double pole circuit breaker mounted in the main panel, thus supplying your grow room with 240 volts / 120 volts split phase. What you are not realizing in your load amperage calculations is that not all of the 120 volts branch circuits inside your grow room will be on one pole when you start adding more than one branch circuit (each branch circuit on its own separate single pole circuit breaker) when placed directly below the last previously installed single pole circuit breaker. The load will alternate between the two poles each time you add another single pole circuit breaker for another branch circuit. You want to carefully plan your 120 volts branch circuits wiring in the grow room so as to have the loads divided on separate branch circuits, so to not overload one pole (phase) more than necessary. This is referred to as "load balancing". Gee with that said, I hope I didn't confuse anyone.

With R-11 (or if you go to 2"x6" studs, R-19) insulation in your walls and R-19 or higher in the roof, you could keep out that summer Cali heat, leaving you only the heat from the lights to handle. With a smaller AC.

Or so it seems here.

Dude awesome 3D modeling. Sweet looking groom.
I recently started a closet grow. A few observations.

• If you can go 8' wide you'll really enjoy the extra couple feet! Plus better use of lumber.
• Taller is better for couple of reasons. 1) You may not always want to scrog and go for big boys. 2) You have the option to isolate some of the heat away from your grow.
• You have way more power than you need. But keep the AC on a separate circuit.
• Isolate your res to maintain h2o temps
• Insulate the walls and ceiling very well. The So Cal temps are hot. (I'm here too)
• Pull in your fresh air from below your shed. Dig an air box for free cooler air.
• Exhaust from below also to avoid heat signature.
• Think LED, I'm liking it.