Electricians please step in......

I have just become legal through the state of Michigan, and need to get my grow rooms up and running as soon as possible. I am a patient and caregiver, and need to be at max capacity for plant numbers. The biggest obstacle I see is getting adequate power to my rooms. I'm hoping not to have to upgrade the service coming into the house.

My current service is 100A Main Panel, see photo.



The small box you see to the left of the main panel is for my water heater, and is powered & metered separately.

Main panel has the following breakers:

• (2) 15A sp
• (4) 20A sp
• (1) 30A dp to sub panel in laundry room
• (1) 30A dp to well pump
• (1) 40A dp to garage sub panel
• see diagram below

What I hope to do is put a 60A dp breaker in main panel and feed to 60A sub panel.

My needs are as follows:

• (4) 1000w HPS (220v) on 12/12 cycle (18.181818A)
• (4) 1000w MH (220v) on 24/7 cycle (18.181818A)
• (2) eco-plus 600cfm blowers (120v) (carbon scrubbers)
• (4) in-line duct fans (to cool lights) (120v)
• (4) oscillating fans (120v)
• (2) separate ebb & flo systems (flower rm & veg rm)

In addition, I will have Co2 regulator connected to "Co2-4e" controller, and PPM-1C monitor.

With all this lighting my rooms are going to get pretty hot. So I intend to seal rooms and inject the Co2. Past experience has shown that I can run temps as high as 90f with the Co2. Lighting will be cooled and hot air vented to outside the rooms.

My other small room is for storage, and I run a cloning machine and floro tubes over clones.

As far as the rest of the house goes, I use very little electricity. I am single and live alone. My stove is gas, no dishwasher, no garbage disposal, and the fridge runs when it is needed. My coffee maker, toaster oven, and microwave are generally used once a day. At night there may be the TV and one lamp being used.

I figure if I run the lighting off 220v circuits, I should have enough 120v left for the other items. Am I on the right track.....?

I intend to do everything to code, and my first and main concern is for safety. I've lived through one house fire (candle related) and do not want to experience another one.

If you need more info just ask away.

Any and all comments and recommendations are welcome.

Glad to be here, Phillip

I think your heading in the right direction. i read through that pretty fast, but I'd recommend getting yourself a 2 pole 60AMP breaker and running that to a 60amp disconnect mounted separately (like in your grow room), then splitting your power from that. For sure though, i'd make sure that your lights are wired to 220V, just because of how many amps your going to be drawing. Just remember, don't mess up that wiring, cause 220V will generally kill your 120V stuff instantly (except for the fans maybe).
Def sounds like your on the right track and seem like you have a pretty good plan. Take your time and you should be fine.
Oh, fyi, you can use just one "leg" of that 220V for your 120V stuff. No need for a separate breaker, just do the amp calculations, and even out your load on each leg if possible.
Hit me on a PM if you need anymore info and we'll see what can be figured out.

Yeah you look like you have it, but here's some pointers to help you out. I'm not sure how far you room is away from that panel, but I would recommend installing another 60-100amp breaker and running some SO cord to the new panel and building it on a piece of plywood with your outlets and timers. That why when you are done or move or whatever it'll come down nicely then you can take it with you or sell it or whatever. Also with the bigger breaker you'll have room to add other stuff if need. It's not going to be much more at all from 60amp to 80-100amp before you start, but if you go 60amp then need to up it it'll basically be like doing it over again. I could build you a complete sub panel with breakers, contacts, relays, timers, plugs, and anything you need and ship it out to you. PM me if you need any help or want would like something built for you

Are you talking about having all of those 1000w lights going at once? Eight of them? Wouldn't that go over 60 amp right there?

What I would do is the 60 amp panel with 2 30 amp 2poles and a 20 amp gfci sp. use 10/2 for 4 lights on each of the 30 amps.12/2 for the 20 amp. Thier will be no need for a neutral for your lights. Thats just me . But I just do things right.

10/2 with ground, 12/2 with ground. If you get so cord it may be listed as 3/c #10 and 3/c #12.
I wish i could figure out how to run my lights on a 27 light cycle. LOL

You should just call a electrician out to your place, hash it out with him. If you are legal there wont be any worries. Most the fellow electricians i work with smoke anyways. these other dudes on here have the right idea though. do the wattaged to amps formula and you should be fine.

1000 watts/220 volts 4.54 amps. For a coutinous load like your lights you should only use 80% of the breaker size. 20 amps = 16 amps continious duty, 30 amps = 26 amps etc.

your wire should be rated 125% of your full load amps.

mochadog70 said:

Yeah you look like you have it, but here's some pointers to help you out. I'm not sure how far you room is away from that panel, but I would recommend installing another 60-100amp breaker and running some SO cord to the new panel and building it on a piece of plywood with your outlets and timers. That why when you are done or move or whatever it'll come down nicely then you can take it with you or sell it or whatever. Also with the bigger breaker you'll have room to add other stuff if need. It's not going to be much more at all from 60amp to 80-100amp before you start, but if you go 60amp then need to up it it'll basically be like doing it over again. I could build you a complete sub panel with breakers, contacts, relays, timers, plugs, and anything you need and ship it out to you. PM me if you need any help or want would like something built for you

Click to expand...

Thanks for the replys everyone.......

My main panel is about 25' from my new rooms, so I plan to to install the sub panel on the outside wall of the veg room. Then I will have very short runs for distribution. The sub panel will be 125A with 20 slots, fed by 60A DP in the main panel. Then in the sub panel I will install eight 15A DP breakers, one for each ballast. That's eight separate circuits. So, 8x1000/220=36,363A back at the sub panel. Then I will install four 15A SP breakers for the exhaust fans from the lights, fan on scrubber, Co2, etc. The receptacles for the lights will be 30A 250v. I know I'm nearly maxed out, but if this all looks good and SAFE, I need to do it this way for now. Down the road I will upgrade main panel to 150A service, just would rather not have to do it right now. Costs for build out, electric, and all growing equipment is already very high.

Leothwyn

Yeah your going to have to upgrade your service, or scale down your plans. Your not being realistic about your usage. Just looking at your panel you've got three double-pole breakers in there which means high amps. Say your well pump turns on while your doing laundry & the grow lights are on, your running insanely close to tripping your main service breaker. 8000 watts of lights + your cooling system for that much heat is at least 40 amps @ 220. If this is a serious, legal grow-why half ass it like that? Call a professional electrician. Your current plans are a code violation anyways.

I think lmn8r is right, you can't add a "legit" sub panel if you are not certified electrician, and a 100amp main service with 3 dp & 5sp breakers in "40(x1), 30(x2), 20(x3), 15(x2)" is already pushing it to the limit.
And by the law you need to keep at least 2 free space in the main panel.

VincentVega said:

Thanks for the replys everyone.......

My main panel is about 25' from my new rooms, so I plan to to install the sub panel on the outside wall of the veg room. Then I will have very short runs for distribution. The sub panel will be 125A with 20 slots, fed by 60A DP in the main panel. Then in the sub panel I will install eight 15A DP breakers, one for each ballast. That's eight separate circuits. So, 8x1000/220=36,363A back at the sub panel. Then I will install four 15A SP breakers for the exhaust fans from the lights, fan on scrubber, Co2, etc. The receptacles for the lights will be 30A 250v. I know I'm nearly maxed out, but if this all looks good and SAFE, I need to do it this way for now. Down the road I will upgrade main panel to 150A service, just would rather not have to do it right now. Costs for build out, electric, and all growing equipment is already very high.

Leothwyn

Are you talking about having all of those 1000w lights going at once? Eight of them? Wouldn't that go over 60 amp right there?

It would if I ran them off 120V, with 220V that amperage is half.

I will keep the circuits evenly distributed in the panel. All receptacles will be commercial grade and rated higher than the actual draw.

Am I still sounding okay...?

I appreciate all comments and corrections.....keep them coming.

Phillip
​

Click to expand...

wow! you are using more wire for your 8 lights then you should ever have to. Breaker per light is not needed. If you overload your main breaker it will trip and then you turn it back on. Whatever combination of shit you were using when it blew don't do it again. as long as you use the correct size wire in combination with the correct size breaker, tripping a main breaker is not a serious problem.

lmn8r said:

Yeah your going to have to upgrade your service, or scale down your plans. Your not being realistic about your usage. Just looking at your panel you've got three double-pole breakers in there which means high amps. Say your well pump turns on while your doing laundry & the grow lights are on, your running insanely close to tripping your main service breaker. 8000 watts of lights + your cooling system for that much heat is at least 40 amps @ 220. If this is a serious, legal grow-why half ass it like that? Call a professional electrician. Your current plans are a code violation anyways.

Click to expand...

Yep. why risk it. Cutting it close for sure.

you will have to have 2 timers that will take 4 seperate wires or eight individaul timers. no wonder its costing so much.

Okay, I hear what everyone's saying. So, I need an electrician to come to my house and determine whether or not I need a new service drop in order to increase my load center to at least 150A, and also give me a price to install the new panel. Does the electric company charge for a new cable from the pole to the house...? Once I have a price for the new service I can adjust my budget.

If there is an electrician reading this thread that can come and do some work, I am ready right now. My rooms are framed and the electric needs to go in next. Please respond with email or PM and leave a phone number.

Moving forward....
Phillip

were i live if you upgrade the county will not let you go with anything less then 200amp. I have done a few of these recently and the material was around 350.00. If the meter was more then 12 feet from the panel our county requires a outdoor disconnect 200 amp. If you are required to have the disconnect add 100.00+. If you can get an electrician to do it for 500.00 that is about average for a guy that does them on the side. With no major obstacels i can do one in atleast 8hrs. If you call a contractor expect to pay 1500.00 to 2000.00. The prices are what it cost were i live and what i charge. I would come help but I am way to far.

the power company does not charge for the cable from the pole to the top of the meter were i live. If you live in a 2 story house you would not need a mast. If you live in a single story and you have to go trough the eve you will most likely need a mast. Some power companies my require that you hang a couple of feet of wire out the mast or maybe not. Local codes and requirements from the power company may differ.

mast= 10' rigid conduit and weather head. If no mast is required you still may be responsible for SE cable and weather head. Approx. 12-15 feet.

Sorry for all the posts.