Electrical question, please help
- Thread starter Taylored
- Start date
read06
Member
You could just say your planning on refurnishing or remodeling to turn it into a bed room/family room and see if you can get a few outlets thrown down. im pretty sure you could ask to have them put wherever you wanted up there i imagine.worst comes to worst tell him a fake ''bedroom'' design and say it would be best suited to your needs to have them close together/spaced however you plan it. As for price thats something you'd have to discuss with the electrician/handyman as alot of them are self employed or family run things so prices will vary. Maybe a friend of yours may have taken a class or two back in school and they can help out if expenses are an issue. I suggest going professional unless your friend knows what hes doing though as electricity isnt something to play with (lol i rewired a lamp a last week and still can feel my fingertip from the blast i got from holding an exposed wire when i plugged it in.
IF ALL ELSE FAILS as a LAST RESORT call the electric company but you better have a silver tongue and a great story to explain it all to them without them getting snoopy and the chance of them looking and notice the spike in power use. ive never had a problem with that part but ive also only ever used a few lights and small fans.
alternative...an extension cord or two and a powerbar plug from walmart for like 5-10 bucks. the one i have and use are about 2 feet in length including its cord with 6 power sockets
=--------------|======| kinda looks like that
IF ALL ELSE FAILS as a LAST RESORT call the electric company but you better have a silver tongue and a great story to explain it all to them without them getting snoopy and the chance of them looking and notice the spike in power use. ive never had a problem with that part but ive also only ever used a few lights and small fans.
alternative...an extension cord or two and a powerbar plug from walmart for like 5-10 bucks. the one i have and use are about 2 feet in length including its cord with 6 power sockets
=--------------|======| kinda looks like that
psilocybindude
Well-Known Member
As long as your not going with a high wattage large scale grow OP, i wouldn't bother with having the electrical ran up to the attic i would just try and stealthily run an extension cord up there if you will be running under 1000 watts, make sure that the extension cord you get is grounded and is rated to run the power you are going to be running threw it though.
SS68396331
Active Member
Just have him pull a Dedicated 20A, 12/2 grounded circuit up there to a switched 4X box..tell the electrician you want to plug in a light and add some fans to ventilate attic heat in the summer, or better yet say nothing and just tell him..or her... what you want. If he says a 15A will do, just tell him..or her..you would just prefer a more robust circuit...someplace to say..plug in christmas lights..Maybe he'll have a razzzu timer for those..
You should end up with a 4X switched outlet (the funny looking one like you see in the hospital). Now.. a 30A with 10/2 grounded would be better but its more expensive, plus leaves a ton of room for growth. 20A will be plenty tho. The 20A will be good for @2k watts of load give or take 2-400W. The 30A will be good for @ 3K. which is A LOT and a good electrician will start asking silly questions..It should cost @ 200 and parts. Circuit breaker, wire, box, switch, etc.. another 100 or so depending on the price of the wire. 300 dolla? double the parts cost on the 30A stuff.
I would not even consider a 15A undedicated, In my humble opinion.. Being undedicated I think its a little light and can be less the reliable. If its not dedicated, enter extension cords..it will only take once or twice of the breaker tripping when you turn on the vacuum or microwave before you consider hard wiring your circuit.
If you do choose to use a drop cord spend the money and use a good one..12/3 or even a contractor grade 10/3. Find the circuit in your place with the least use and tap it. Keep in mind everything from your cord to the panel is probably sized for 15A tho. NEVER undersize your wire or mess with switching breakers..ever..your house could burn down.
I'll share two things then shut up:
1. The circuit breaker is protecting the wire downstream that it is rated for. IF you run a CB that is rated higher than the wire you are protecting you will overheat an undersized wire. result..fire. To figure your wire/breaker size add up all your loads that will be on the circuit..multiply that by 1.25..Example 1: A 600W light load, a 100 watt fan load, a couple pumps @ 75 ea.. is 850W. Multiply by 1.25..gets you just over 1K.. 15 amps is plenty. (about 1700w to be more precise) Example 2: 3x600 watts in lighting, maybe a few 37W cfl's maybe, add 200W in fans, you are well over 2K and will be liking the 20A circuit.. PS>>when adding up your light load, use the ratings on the Ballast.
2. Stealth is cool, but its hard to invent stories for cords poking through to the attic. I saw a guy with a fricken hose poking out the front of his gable just not long ago..lol. A big A$$ green garden hose..but hey, its not illegal to have a hose running into your attic..is it? It just raises questions..
You are wise to hire an electrician if you can afford it, very much worth the peace of mind. Happy safe growing.
You should end up with a 4X switched outlet (the funny looking one like you see in the hospital). Now.. a 30A with 10/2 grounded would be better but its more expensive, plus leaves a ton of room for growth. 20A will be plenty tho. The 20A will be good for @2k watts of load give or take 2-400W. The 30A will be good for @ 3K. which is A LOT and a good electrician will start asking silly questions..It should cost @ 200 and parts. Circuit breaker, wire, box, switch, etc.. another 100 or so depending on the price of the wire. 300 dolla? double the parts cost on the 30A stuff.
I would not even consider a 15A undedicated, In my humble opinion.. Being undedicated I think its a little light and can be less the reliable. If its not dedicated, enter extension cords..it will only take once or twice of the breaker tripping when you turn on the vacuum or microwave before you consider hard wiring your circuit.
If you do choose to use a drop cord spend the money and use a good one..12/3 or even a contractor grade 10/3. Find the circuit in your place with the least use and tap it. Keep in mind everything from your cord to the panel is probably sized for 15A tho. NEVER undersize your wire or mess with switching breakers..ever..your house could burn down.
I'll share two things then shut up:
1. The circuit breaker is protecting the wire downstream that it is rated for. IF you run a CB that is rated higher than the wire you are protecting you will overheat an undersized wire. result..fire. To figure your wire/breaker size add up all your loads that will be on the circuit..multiply that by 1.25..Example 1: A 600W light load, a 100 watt fan load, a couple pumps @ 75 ea.. is 850W. Multiply by 1.25..gets you just over 1K.. 15 amps is plenty. (about 1700w to be more precise) Example 2: 3x600 watts in lighting, maybe a few 37W cfl's maybe, add 200W in fans, you are well over 2K and will be liking the 20A circuit.. PS>>when adding up your light load, use the ratings on the Ballast.
2. Stealth is cool, but its hard to invent stories for cords poking through to the attic. I saw a guy with a fricken hose poking out the front of his gable just not long ago..lol. A big A$$ green garden hose..but hey, its not illegal to have a hose running into your attic..is it? It just raises questions..
You are wise to hire an electrician if you can afford it, very much worth the peace of mind. Happy safe growing.
hotrodharley
Well-Known Member
You can actually do all the work of running any conduit or romex or whatever is code-compliant. A contractor or licensed electrician is only required to connect an adequate system. In most locales. Check your local requirements. There's an excellent video on You Tube by a licensed electrician and former home inspector I tried to post but RIU is fucked up right now I guess.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDPTwPD-7eI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDPTwPD-7eI
psilocybindude
Well-Known Member
The amount of outlets is up to you figure out how many you need and tell the electrician.
What is a 20a outlet?
knucklz
Member
Always hire licensed/bonded electricians. We are new to this too and had a friend help us who "knew what he was doing"... He hooked up our neutral to our ground and this resulted in very very hot ballasts and a very hot circuit board. It cost us 200 to hire a electrician to fix it. He ran us a 4 wire 220 which he hooked up to a timer box that distributes up to 4 220 and 2 110 on a single timer and then also has 2 110 that are constant. We used Craigslist under services. Luckily, we are legal so we were just honest about it on the phone to make sure he was comfortable with it. After the job, he smoked out with us... Cool guy, we will call him again