120V or 240V?

i dont understand the difference? what do these mean? i saw a 600 watt HPS in both versions.

110v is standard Voltage in US. 220v is used in EU and other places. 220v is also used for electric dryers in the US. That big ass round 3 prong plug is what I am talking about if your in the US; that is 220v.

Most people use 220V if they're going to be pulling serious wattage like with a washer, air compressor etc. If you're pulling under 1650 watts you shouldn't need to use a 220v or need to use more then one breaker.

Ohms law states

Watts = Volts x Amps

Power is power, if you have a 600 watt light, and its a "perfect world" you need to supply it with 600 watts of power, in reality a ballast is not 100% efficient so your pulling more like 640-700 watts.

Anyway, back to ohms law.... an example

600 watts = 120 volts x 5 amps

Now, typical wiring in a north american dwelling is done on 14 awg thhn which is rated for a maximum of 15 amps and is typically protected by a circuit breaker at that amperage. As you can see it doesn't take too many 600 watt bulbs to put you at capacity on that 14 awg wire.

Now, lets say you are buying 240 volt ballasts... you still need 600 watts for that bulb... BUT look at what has happened to our amperage.

600 watts = 240 volts x 2.5 amps

We are now drawing HALF the amps, on the same size wire, effectively doubling that wires capacity to provide wattage... not current...

This is why you see most of the major loads in your home running at 240 volts, if you were going to produce the same wattage from your dryer, or oven, it would require larger wire gauge to carry that ampacity.

Hope this is as clear as mud.

I am new to the site and it is absolutly awesome, I do have one question relating to this 120 240 volts. I know a house wiring is genrially 110-120. If i am wiring up a grow of say ten lights. I know you switch the wires on the ballasts to except the 240volts but where do the colts come from? I am running a standered house panal with 15 amp breakers. I just cant seem to grasp where I am going to get 240 volts from when the rest of the house runs on 120? Get what I am asking?? lol anyhelp is hugly apprciated.

juice

unclejuicee said:

I am new to the site and it is absolutly awesome, I do have one question relating to this 120 240 volts. I know a house wiring is genrially 110-120. If i am wiring up a grow of say ten lights. I know you switch the wires on the ballasts to except the 240volts but where do the colts come from? I am running a standered house panal with 15 amp breakers. I just cant seem to grasp where I am going to get 240 volts from when the rest of the house runs on 120? Get what I am asking?? lol anyhelp is hugly apprciated.

juice

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the standard american home has 120v/240v coming into the home. it comes from the power co. off the transformer then into your home in the form of 3 wires, 2hots also known as A phase and B phase(usually black and red) and 1neutral (usually white). now everything plugged in at your home is at some point connected to at least 2 out of 3 of these wires back at the electrical panel. everything that is connected to a hot, A phase or B phase (black or red) and the neutral(white) has 120v and everything that is connected to both hots, A phase and B phase (black and red) has 240v. so hot+neutral=120v, hot+hot=240v if you want better detail i guess you can wiki it

so you can plug in a 240v ballast into the wall socket right away? or do you have to buy a transformer too? and if not why wouldn't every one opt for the 240 option and use them amps ?

InkJockey said:

so you can plug in a 240v ballast into the wall socket right away?

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No. Unless you have a 240v circuit already run to your grow, or the 240v ballast is convertible to 110v.

Usually, anything that runs on 240v in your home is going to have it's own dedicated circuit...Electric dryers, water heaters, stoves, that sort of thing...Usually anything that is 240v with a plug, will have one (or more) of the prongs on the plug end turned 90 degrees.

99% of the outlets in most homes are 110v. Those are the normal outlets that you plug your tv, lamps, computers, etc into. The prongs on the plug end will be parallel to each other.

Here's an example of a 240v plug end:

HowardWCampbell said:

No. Unless you have a 240v circuit already run to your grow, or the 240v ballast is convertible to 110v.

Usually, anything that runs on 240v in your home is going to have it's own dedicated circuit...Electric dryers, water heaters, stoves, that sort of thing...Usually anything that is 240v with a plug, will have one (or more) of the prongs on the plug end turned 90 degrees.

99% of the outlets in most homes are 110v. Those are the normal outlets that you plug your tv, lamps, computers, etc into. The prongs on the plug end will be parallel to each other.

Here's an example of a 240v plug end:

Click to expand...

Ahh that is very helpful thank you. Do you know if it is difficult to setup 240 outlet on its own circuit, like wire your own ??

InkJockey said:

Ahh that is very helpful thank you. Do you know if it is difficult to setup 240 outlet on its own circuit, like wire your own ??

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Difficult? It's usually not all that difficult for somebody with some basic electrical knowledge and skills.

However the risk of death or fire is VERY high if not done correctly.

It's probably not economical for most small hobby growers to pay for installation of a 220v circuit.

if you are only going w/ a 600 watt light, it would be impratical to set up a 220 circiut.
based on your questions, it would not be a good DIY project for you-no offense ,but you dont have the knowledge to do it safely and as stated above, it can be very dangerous.

well i will be running 2 1000w 1 400w 3 floros 5 pumps, fans, timers.. thought it would be nifty to set up a controller board

how many 1000w lights can you run on a 10 gauge romex wire if it is running on 220?

5............@120% for continuous duty cycle

iam5toned has a thread, bored electrician to answer, it has ALL the info