quick electrical advice

so my small.hobby grow keeps getting bigger lol and now i feel limited just by amperage space on my circuit.

i've been wanting to add a 2nd 1k hps but impossible on my 15a breaker/circuit. ive been thinking about it and just thought..

there WAS a baseboard heater hardwired into the room. ive removed it and have bare wires from a 220v circuit.. running to other heaters in the basement that i dont use. so i have no fear of overloading it.

is there anyway i can make use of that empty box? could i attach a receptacle to those wires?

my grow room is in my room with my panel box and i do have i believe its pretty well full (baseboard heat takes up alot of it) so just running a new circuit isnt really an option.

just looking for any ideas? im by no means an electrician lol definately dont want to burn my house down

First off, I'm no "electrician" either. lol
Ah, yea, I don't see a problem with using that outlet. As long as your circuit is 220V, if not you can use 2 x110v receptacles,15 amp each ,making a 4 plug in box. . There are 4 wires in a 220 circuit. You have a ground, a neutral and 2 hot wires . If you need help, type youtube 220v circuit wiring.
Hey, good luck, and most important,
Don't Burn The House Down!!!
lol

Are the other heaters still all hooked up?
Where is the thermostat?
That 220v circuit should only have 3 wires, 2 hot wires and 1 ground. I assume if the heater you speak of is gone that they just put wire nuts tying the wires together and stuffed it back in the box correct?
What color wires are in the box?

Depending on your answers will depend on how and if it can be done.

AKgrower29 said:

Are the other heaters still all hooked up?
Where is the thermostat?
That 220v circuit should only have 3 wires, 2 hot wires and 1 ground. I assume if the heater you speak of is gone that they just put wire nuts tying the wires together and stuffed it back in the box correct?
What color wires are in the box?

Depending on your answers will depend on how and if it can be done.

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the other heaters are still hooked up.. the wires are just pigtailed together in the box.. you are right there is only 3 wires coming out. not sure the color as its behind my grow tent atm but the thermostats were just built on the heater.. a lil knob.

Ok if the thermostats are on the heaters themselves that makes it much easier for you. Yes you can just add a receptacle to the box. Just be aware that the heaters operating on that circuit will reduce your amperage for the receptacle. You will just need to add a third wire to each pigtail and connect it to your desired outlet.

This will really help.

http://www.simplyhydro.com/growth_chambers.htm

IMO just take that 3 wire and put a 220v socket on it. You can run both your 1000w HPS at 4.5a each. 9 amp total and just use your bedroom sockets for normal household stuff.

SwiSHa85 said:

This will really help.

www.simplcomyhydro./growth_chambers.htm

IMO just take that 3 wire and put a 220v socket on it. You can run both your 1000w HPS at 4.5a each. 9 amp total and just use your bedroom sockets for normal household stuff.

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this would a perfect solution thanks ill have to read that link after i put my kids to bed

SwiSHa85 said:

This will really help.

www.simplcomyhydro./growth_chambers.htm

IMO just take that 3 wire and put a 220v socket on it. You can run both your 1000w HPS at 4.5a each. 9 amp total and just use your bedroom sockets for normal household stuff.

Click to expand...

link.doesnt seem to be working for me

Not sure what happened when i copied and paste.

http://www.simplyhydro.com/growth_chambers.htm

so i just looked into it more and its a 300v 12/2 line.. would i still be able to put an outlet on there? its on a double pole 20a breaker.

How did you come up with 300v? It’s highly unlikely that’s that case unless your power company is screwed up. If you are referring to the wires saying 300v on them it’s because that is the max amount of voltage they can handle. My bet is if you tested them with a meter you would be seeing 220v + or - a little. And yes 12/2 wire at 220v should be on a 20a double pole breaker.

AKgrower29 said:

How did you come up with 300v? It’s highly unlikely that’s that case unless your power company is screwed up. If you are referring to the wires saying 300v on them it’s because that is the max amount of voltage they can handle. My bet is if you tested them with a meter you would be seeing 220v + or - a little. And yes 12/2 wire at 220v should be on a 20a double pole breaker.

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Exactly! Just get a socket/receptacle at your local hardware store. It will most likely be rated up to 250v @ 20a. Many different types so get what fits your ballast.

https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/30926/what-types-of-electrical-outlets-are-found-in-a-typical-home-in-the-usa

Most likely like this.

AKgrower29 said:

How did you come up with 300v? It’s highly unlikely that’s that case unless your power company is screwed up. If you are referring to the wires saying 300v on them it’s because that is the max amount of voltage they can handle. My bet is if you tested them with a meter you would be seeing 220v + or - a little. And yes 12/2 wire at 220v should be on a 20a double pole breaker.

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yeah i just got the 300v from the wire.. is there any difference from a 220v or a 240v circuit? my baseboards say they run on 240v so idk.. i got a multimeter but never used it.

i really appreciate all the replies. this just seems like it would be way to easy of a solution lol

so a double pole 20a breaker lined with 12/2 running to a 20a receptacle then to 1 more heater that is never on would be ok? idc if its code cause ill just throw a heater back in there when i go to sell my house. just wanna still have a house left lol

Yea just wire the hot wire at the top of socket and outgoing bottom of socket to heater.

No there’s no difference between a 220 and 240v circuit, they are the same thing. Most receptacles for 220/240 are rated for 250v. Adding this receptacle is perfectly fine and to code if done correctly.

AKgrower29 said:

No there’s no difference between a 220 and 240v circuit, they are the same thing. Most receptacles for 220/240 are rated for 250v. Adding this receptacle is perfectly fine and to code if done correctly.

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thank you so much.. my plan is to add a 3rd set of 12/2 wire to the nuts and just run it a few feet away in a box by itself. seems like that would be fine.

or should i do it right in the box its in?

SwiSHa85 said:

Yea just wire the hot wire at the top of socket and outgoing bottom of socket to heater.

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should i do it right in the box or run a seperate line to it? the location is fine just seeing what would be best.

Yep, just get a surface box extender and some conduit. You aren’t really supposed to run standard Romex NM-B wire in a conduit but it won’t hurt anything. The correct method would be to buy some 12awg Thhn/Thwn wire in corresponding colors and run that in the conduit for code compliance. It’s really up to the inspector at that point.

You can do it either way it makes no difference in usability. Whatever is more convenient for what you need is what I would do.

so for simplicitys sake.. just leave it there.. the wire coming from panel on top of outlet, the wire going to the heater on thr bottom with the grounds twirled together around the ground? should be good?

loving you guys right now lol thanks