Electrical help

Not sure why everyone is freaking out. A typical 20" box fan pulls 100W. A 350CFM exhaust fan is about 120W. Even if she managed to cram two 600W hoods in that space she'd still be under 1500W. Hell, a typical hair blow dryer pulls about 1500W! Throw in a bedside lamp and an alarm clock and it still wouldn't be a problem.

That being said, in a 3x3ish area you'd be fine with one 600W MH/HPS light. It would handle both veg and flower. Get one that's dimmable and you could even do seedlings under it. Add a fan, and exhaust fan/filter, and a small humidifier and your 15 amp breaker will never even blink. A 600W HID will put out a lot of heat though so the LEDs are a better option for a closet grow. And if it's an older house or apartment without a separate breaker for the bathroom outlets you won't be as likely to trip a breaker when someone turns on a 1500W hair dryer! LOL

For reference I was running 1240W of light, a 140W exhaust fan, 120W in air circ fans, a 60W water circ pump, and 60W in air pumps for a total of 1620W on a 20A circuit. I even wired my own house. And I didn't die! But then I was an electrical administrator so I had some small idea what I was doing.

And let's agree that nobody tries Boatguy's suggestion, OK?

I don't know... maybe Boatguy is on to something (or on something?). I've seem some crazy electrical stuff in 3rd world countries and not that many people die doing it. LOL, just kidding. Don't try this at home!

You've got to appreciate the use of inductance to steal power.

Boatguy said:

combining two breakers via extension cords is pretty simple. 9 wires, 3 sets of 3 wires neatly tied together. Hardest part will be determining which 2 outlets are fed by different breakers.

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Boatguy: The easiest part will be determining when you hook two different "LEGS" together, AS they MELT in your hands; maybe in your mouth like an M&M(if it explodes).



mim1: IS one breaker on one side of the box and one on the other??? DON'T do extension cord thing Boatguy suggested. Just saying. Murphy's Law.

Boatguy said:

You never know how a house is wired. Last place i was in, the entire 2 bedroom with kitchen and bath, was on the same 20a breaker.

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check the breaker box, exercise the breaker and see what lights go out. Lights and power have two different breakers. Light circuit can be used if the room lights are disconnected from the circuit, as well. So you can get 15 amps from power outlets and another 15a from lighting circuit if you pay attention to your panel layout.