Wiring Dilemmas - Need Quick Help :)

How should I wire my new in-line exhaust fan? It has a green, black and white wire. The directions state that it should install "white to white", "Black to black" and so on. I do have have bare wires hanging out anywhere to use, so I was hoping to modify an extension cord to serve as the power cord for the fan. Can I hook up these 3 colored wires to the two braided wires of an extension cord if I cut the female end off?

I have already wired all of my light sockets for my CFL bulbs by doing this. I essentially have a cheap, 3-way extension cord. Plugged into that, I have 3 other extension cords which I have cut the female plug end off of. Those 2 exposed wires were connected to a cheap light fixture. Each light fixture has a 2-socket splitter so that I can run 2 bulbs. Each bulb is a 23w CFL. So I am currently running 6 to 9 bulbs on a single power outlet. Is this ok/safe?

Yep, that's exactly what you do. Cut the female off an extension cord, wire white-white, black-black, and the green is the ground, which can be left alone or attached to something grounded.

rule #1 with electricity if the wire feels hot get a fatter wire!!!

with that in mind,
use #10 gauge wire in extension cords to be safe it is rated to 30amps
but #12 is rated to 20amps and is better than #14 rated to 15amps
use #16 lamp cord to feed a fixture that uses around 200watts, so 4 or 6 23w cfl would be ok

every 25 feet you lose around 10%
in temps above 100deg you lose 10%(unless wire is heat rated or in conduit)

chances are that the outlet you are using is on the same circuit breaker as other house hold areas like maybe a bedroom or living room or perhaps a lighting circuit
best bet is to go to the fuse/breaker panel and find out what is all on that one circuit. this is good to know in case the grow room trips a breaker.

most bedroom or lighting circuits are rated to 15Amps
most bathroom/diningroom/kitchen circuits are 20amps
smoke detectors are on a 15a circut and new code requires them to have their own circuit
there can even be a separate 20a circuit for microvave, dishwasher, refrigerator,washingmachines
if you see breakers with blue reset buttons marked for your bedrooms dont use those circuts or have the breakers removed and replaced with standard ones
just make sure to keep the old ones for later store them in the bottom of the panel behind the cover

a 4500watt water heater can use 25amps when it is active it is good to have it on a timer opposite your grow lights

Awesome, thanks for reassuring me! I'm going to come back to your info Rat! Great stuff!

oh and +rep !

Actually #16 wire is good for about 1200 watts (voltageXamps=watts), #16 wire is good for 10 amps. Also using #10 wire for an extension cord isn't a very good idea because most outlets are only rated for 15 amps. I actually wired my grow room separate from the rest of the house because I wanted it to be specific. Thats the safest way. If you don't know how to do these thing correctly, its best to have someone wire it for you. Believe me, growing weed is fun but not worth burning your house down.

Your fan doesn;t pull a whole lot probably 150w max.... I always feel a little better with a legit ground all the way.......

I found a 16/3 extension cord and cut the female end off. This worked perfectly and I secured the three wires with the wingnut caps (or whatever they're called). I have been having some issues with the fan though. Not sure if it's my filter or the fan itself. It's BARELY pushing any air. I have a DIY carbon scrubber with about 2 inches thick of carbon flakes, in a cylinder shape, sort of like a cone air filter for a car. I didn't think that the filter was too restrictive for air but I have to assume that's the culprit. I have a 250 CFM in-line fan to clear out my 4 ft by 4 ft by 6 ft room. When i put my hand at the end of the 4 inch vent I can barely feel moving air . I am going to try to take apart my filter and loosen up the carbon with maybe some lighter materials in the middle.