Electrical Ques. If I can help someone I will...

bill coswell

Active Member
Thanks for the reply big bud. I'm in the US. i've got 3 1000 watt lights and a 13 amp ac. also have a 60 amp mech. timer. how would you wire it?
 

jahtrip

Well-Known Member
man im glad i got a reply so quick ...... thank you lorenzo im gonna invest in a new timer and see what happens...
 

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the reply big bud. I'm in the US. i've got 3 1000 watt lights and a 13 amp ac. also have a 60 amp mech. timer. how would you wire it?
Are the lights and AC both 240? If so, you're at about 20-25 amps. (shooting from the hip)
I' wire the outlets in parallel.
60amp timer? Dang!
 

bill coswell

Active Member
good lookin on the quick reply. bbb and gg I'm repin both of you. I'm using a 40 amp breaker and 8 gauge wire. oh and yes they are both 240. the ac is 18k btu the ballast are digital and 4.5 amps. trying to get the room worked out for some purple real soon. can't wait
 

lorenzo08

Well-Known Member
good lookin on the quick reply. bbb and gg I'm repin both of you.
first glance, I thought you said rapin.

I'm keeping my nose out of most of this because I'm not familiar with international wiring. sounds like you know what you're doing. remember to keep everything protected with the right size circuit breaker. in the us, we split up circuits into 15 or 20 amp groups. 40 amps at 240v is a lot of power in one circuit. electric stoves can run on a line like that here.
 

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
first glance, I thought you said rapin.

I'm keeping my nose out of most of this because I'm not familiar with international wiring. sounds like you know what you're doing. remember to keep everything protected with the right size circuit breaker. in the us, we split up circuits into 15 or 20 amp groups. 40 amps at 240v is a lot of power in one circuit. electric stoves can run on a line like that here.
A raping would almost be welcomed. Been too long. :)

He's in the US, so hop back in man!

I think my electric stove is 60 amps not sure. (can't figure out WHY there is the main panel is on the OUTSIDE of my house. Feeds the stove, AC and internal sub panel. Just what I want to do, reset a breaker in the dark in the rain outside. The house is only 12 years old).

Going 240 will save some on the electric bill, but doubt enough to notice. (so its NOT a reason to go 240) To drop wire size I can see that as a reason.

Yup 40 amp of 240 is a LOT. Thats 80 amps of 120!

Do people get overly worried about draw?

A dedicated 15 amp'er or two for a killer room should be just fine.
 

lorenzo08

Well-Known Member
can't figure out WHY there is the main panel is on the OUTSIDE of my house. Feeds the stove, AC and internal sub panel.
sounds like a good layout to me. not so good being outside, but having the heavier loads on a separate panel closer to the meter eases the stress on the rest of your house.

when I moved in, my whole house was run on a 100 amp sub panel at the end of 50 or 60 feet of 2 or 4 gage. I put in a second 100 amp sub panel outside near the meter to run baseboard heat last winter. this winter, I'm putting in central air heat pump and will run it off that panel, as well as the kitchen.
 

lorenzo08

Well-Known Member
still not really sure what bill has planned. everything running off the 8 gage line? in cars, with large stereo's, it's fine to splice off 2 gage into 2 or 3 smaller gage cables for separate amps. but with household wiring, there's a lot more danger of overload with the higher voltages and risk of fire.
 

[email protected]

Active Member
I've been a member here for almost a month now and I see alot of people asking electrical questions...

I've been an Electrician for about 10yrs now so if someone has a question pertaining to electrical or wiring, I'll be happy to help if I can
hello just a quick one for ya ,would it be possible it install a fan controller unit in a portable ac unit ?ive had a nightmare with heat in my cab! so ac is only option (i think?) and in your opinion,would it cost too much to run at same time as lights?,also would a reduction in fan speed have much effect on power consumption? thanks kev.:peace:
 

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
hello just a quick one for ya ,would it be possible it install a fan controller unit in a portable ac unit ?ive had a nightmare with heat in my cab! so ac is only option (i think?) and in your opinion,would it cost too much to run at same time as lights?,also would a reduction in fan speed have much effect on power consumption? thanks kev.:peace:
A fan controler to control the whole AC unit or just the AC units internal fan?

If entire unit hell no! Even with a freq drive on the compressor (which isn't designed for a freq drive) wouldn't work for a damn!

Slowing the fan speed isn't a good idea either. The evaporator will over cool and frost up clogging itself defeating its effectiveness. You might be able to change the metering, but thats not a DIY type job.

As for cost, doesn't matter if the lights are on too (unless you have some odd peak-rate billing)
 

[email protected]

Active Member
A fan controler to control the whole AC unit or just the AC units internal fan?

If entire unit hell no! Even with a freq drive on the compressor (which isn't designed for a freq drive) wouldn't work for a damn!

Slowing the fan speed isn't a good idea either. The evaporator will over cool and frost up clogging itself defeating its effectiveness. You might be able to change the metering, but thats not a DIY type job.

As for cost, doesn't matter if the lights are on too (unless you have some odd peak-rate billing)
thanks for your answer,dont think i,ll bother with that one then:peace:
 

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
thanks for your answer,dont think i,ll bother with that one then:peace:
One thing I have been pondering is using a small dorm fridge, and building an acrylic tank to fit inside of it. Fill the tank with water, add a pump and a radiator (I have a nice one for this too) and a fan. Fridge cools the water, pump pumps it to the radiator in the room, the fan blows through it cooling off the air.

Sound good on paper.
 

lorenzo08

Well-Known Member
my only thought is that it might not be able to move enough heat out of the reservoir in the fridge. if you find an evaporative fridge from a camper, those are extremely efficient. they only have to power a little heating element in the back, no compressor. but not sure if they can move heat as quickly as one with a compressor.

I had a similar idea once. I got it from reading about a university in texas or someplace. the air outside is cooler and makes air conditioners run more efficiently at night then during the day, so they put in huge holding tanks for water under ground. they cool the water all night (also being off peek hours) then pull that water from the tanks during the day to cool the buildings. they save hundreds of thousands a year doing this.

my idea was to use an upright freezer and antifreeze in tanks inside the freezer. cool the water at night then pull it into the house during the day. it never left the paper. not really practical, and don't know if it would actually save any money. but a small cube fridge to cool a grow room might work well.
 

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
Keep in mind that during the 12 hors of off it has a lot of time to recoup. Plus if it flows fast through the radiator, there is little temp drop of the water. Also is dependent on res vs radiator vs room size (and room temp)
Air flow across the radiator and water flow through the radiator are independent of each other.

I plan on trying it. I have everything but the fridge.
(people are using them to chill hydro res)
 
Last edited:

Dr Jones

Well-Known Member
Hi M8, wondering if you're clued up on power cnsumption. I just installed an ac unit and intend to run it all day. It replaces 2 fans and a heater that was on for 8 out of 12 dark hours. My question is; in terms of percentage, how much more juice am i going to go through if any with these changes?
 

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
Hi M8, wondering if you're clued up on power cnsumption. I just installed an ac unit and intend to run it all day. It replaces 2 fans and a heater that was on for 8 out of 12 dark hours. My question is; in terms of percentage, how much more juice am i going to go through if any with these changes?

Check my sig. You can tweak your whole room
 
Top