A question with lights

Maserati89

Maserati89

Active Member
Wow... this is such and incredible site and community.. I'm glad I stumbled across this!

Hey everyone, I'm glad to be a new member.. and hoping to contribute to this site many more in the future! I'm pretty much new to growing I've done my research and am ready to start my first grow!! Unfortunately...I'm stuck now, because I don't know how to install the lights! I'm wondering kind of power(1000w, 800w...etc) and how many or the maximum amount of lights that I can use and stick into two 12v wall outlet. I'm planning to start out with only a few plants in a small area, maybe around 10 or so.

I thank you very much! :leaf:
 
Medi 1

Medi 1

Well-Known Member
first off id like to see what a 12volt wall outlet looks like. there isnt one unless thats a typo for 110v/120 or 220v, 12v is a car

all going to depend on what the amp load on the breaker is in the wall and what the load is your using. keep under 75% of the total on breaker. you want to run about 10 plants then id use 2 x 600 at 110/120 they suk about 5. something amps each, at 220v is about 2.5 or so. need to add anything from the house that is on that same line to
 
Asquad

Asquad

Active Member
If you are new to growing you should start out using cfls for growing because it will be a good learning experience for you,provide bud in the end if done correctly, and the power associated with cfls is cheaper than using a 600 or 1000 watt hps system. But I dont know what your conditions are and how serious you are about this so..... just thought I'd give you some input.
 
Maserati89

Maserati89

Active Member
Medi 1 said:
first off id like to see what a 12volt wall outlet looks like. there isnt one unless thats a typo for 110v/120 or 220v, 12v is a car

all going to depend on what the amp load on the breaker is in the wall and what the load is your using. keep under 75% of the total on breaker. you want to run about 10 plants then id use 2 x 600 at 110/120 they suk about 5. something amps each, at 220v is about 2.5 or so. need to add anything from the house that is on that same line to
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Ohh yes my correction. I meant to say 120VAC. I will have to find out tomorrow because I have tenants currently living downstairs where my power box is. So do you mean that each 600w takes up 5 amps? And if so.. how much does 1000w take, or does it depend on the products? Excuse my questions because I have poor knowledge on electricity, but I am trying to research as much as I can but only a few specifics left I couldn't figure out.

Update** OK I now understand! Here is the equation for wattage: Example for 15 amp circuit = 15a x 120v = 1800, and maximum is 80 percent with 20 percent margin so 1440w. :D
 
Maserati89

Maserati89

Active Member
Asquad said:
If you are new to growing you should start out using cfls for growing because it will be a good learning experience for you,provide bud in the end if done correctly, and the power associated with cfls is cheaper than using a 600 or 1000 watt hps system. But I dont know what your conditions are and how serious you are about this so..... just thought I'd give you some input.
Click to expand...
Yes I am new to growing and am is very serious, but I believe I have done enough research to start somewhere near the intermediate level of growing.. except with no experience and hoping to gain some :D

But good suggestion with cfl's, but I'm expecting good results for a beginner.. so I think I'm going to start with cfl's for vegging and switch to hps after throughout the flowering and budding...(I was thinking of using leds for start..blue then switch to red..blah blah...). Thanks for input though but I have made up my mind :).
 
Medi 1

Medi 1

Well-Known Member
dont know what that math is for.

a 1k set up on average consumes about 9.5 amps per light at 110/120 when we run at 220 they always drop by about 50%. most average homes will run each breaker at 15 amps. so dont bug the tenhant, just assume for now its 15 amp. dont bother wasting time with the LED they dont do as good as they claim. mkost peop-0le that bought them now have them just sitting in the closet. most honest grow shops wont even stock them. and yes a 600 draws about 5.4 amps i think it is at 110/120v
you dont want to run 1k anyways as a 600 is more efficient. we can get quite a bit closer to the plant with them so we get more lumens to the plant. the 1k get hot so we need to be further away. and they only have on average about 50k more lumens than a 600 does. and alsmot double cost to run them. so its cheeper for all. wont be needing a bigger fan to cool it so more savings there to.
whats the room size you have to work with
 
Maserati89

Maserati89

Active Member
Oh the math is just for the maximum amount of wattage able to be drawn out from the outlet (just found that out hehe).

Hmm... I don't know how 1k setup can consume more power than 2 600w..I'll have to figure that one out lol. Like you said, 1000w drains about 9.5 amps per light, now that brings up the equation (correct me if I'm wrong) : Assuming that max load is 15 amps then - 1000w / 1800w(15x120) x 15 = 8.33 amps????
Isn't 1000w running on 8.33amps instead of 9.5amps??

I have another question that left me in a dilemma.. you said each wall outlet has a breaker load of 15 amps, now my question is, do you mean the 15 amps is the total load for both the receptacles together (the wall outlet has 2 plugs right)? Or is it per receptacle?
 
Snow Crash

Snow Crash

Well-Known Member
At the circuit breaker you can check an see what the amperage is for that specific circuit. It's usually 15 amps.

Generally speaking you cannot go over 1,800 watts on a 120v circuit without tripping the breaker. To be safe you shouldn't go much over 1,500 watts on a 120v circuit.

240v circuits allow for the same 15amps but it doubles the number of watts you can run. A 1000w system on 240v only pulls about 4.6 amps so you could run three 1,000w systems on the same circuit at 240v. Most residential don't have 240v hook-ups anywhere but at the dryer. If you get a control box though (basically a 240v power strip) you might be able to utilize this hook-up if you have one close enough to the grow room (within 20 feet). These dryer circuits are usually 20 amps, so running four 1,000w systems on the 240v circuit, and all the ventilation on a 120v circuit, could allow a person to turn an entire garage into a grow room without calling an electrician.
 
FREEMARC

FREEMARC

Member
yes,my 1000 watt was like 8. something
Maserati89 said:
Oh the math is just for the maximum amount of wattage able to be drawn out from the outlet (just found that out hehe).

Hmm... I don't know how 1k setup can consume more power than 2 600w..I'll have to figure that one out lol. Like you said, 1000w drains about 9.5 amps per light, now that brings up the equation (correct me if I'm wrong) : Assuming that max load is 15 amps then - 1000w / 1800w(15x120) x 15 = 8.33 amps????
Isn't 1000w running on 8.33amps instead of 9.5amps??

I have another question that left me in a dilemma.. you said each wall outlet has a breaker load of 15 amps, now my question is, do you mean the 15 amps is the total load for both the receptacles together (the wall outlet has 2 plugs right)? Or is it per receptacle?
Click to expand...
 
Medi 1

Medi 1

Well-Known Member
i didnt say 2x600 is cheeper to run than aq 1k, i said a 600 is cheper to run. and anyone that has eletric baseboard heaters is 220

and i didnt say each outlet has on average 15 amp. i said each line to that,. there could be many lights and plug ins in that samne line back to the breaker. you need to shut that breaker off and see what it controls to know whats on that line, then need to add all lights or anything that is pluged in to those that went out when you shut the breaker. if nothing is pluged in thyen nothing to add. just 1 of my 15 amp lines has 6 outlets and 2 lights running off it just from the house. nothing is pluged in so im drawing a load only on the house lights. andf another one is hope the guys that built the house didnt cheep out on non grounded lines. i found alot of that over the years. i have a power bar that has a light that shows if the circuit is grounded or not..in 1 house only 1 outlet was grounded from the whole house...scary work
 
Maserati89

Maserati89

Active Member
Medi 1 said:
i didnt say 2x600 is cheeper to run than aq 1k, i said a 600 is cheper to run. and anyone that has eletric baseboard heaters is 220

and i didnt say each outlet has on average 15 amp. i said each line to that,. there could be many lights and plug ins in that samne line back to the breaker. you need to shut that breaker off and see what it controls to know whats on that line, then need to add all lights or anything that is pluged in to those that went out when you shut the breaker. if nothing is pluged in thyen nothing to add. just 1 of my 15 amp lines has 6 outlets and 2 lights running off it just from the house. nothing is pluged in so im drawing a load only on the house lights. andf another one is hope the guys that built the house didnt cheep out on non grounded lines. i found alot of that over the years. i have a power bar that has a light that shows if the circuit is grounded or not..in 1 house only 1 outlet was grounded from the whole house...scary work
Click to expand...
Oops I must have misread, but I understand now! Thanks your very informative :D
And as for the grounding work on that house...WHAT?!?!? I haven't got shocked so far with anything in my house...but I better make sure unless I wanna how 1000w feels like :/
 
Medi 1

Medi 1

Well-Known Member
you wont get shoked. unless something is touching the outlet box. its just nto a safe way to wore the house. wont handle the full load and may...may short out. i should say you could get a shock if something was wrong in the line somehwere.,
 
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