I want to run 4 1000watt lights in one room. But for sure the room cant hold that many watts. I know theres somthing i can do but im not sure what it is. What do i tell the electrition to do? And what do i tell him i need it for?
Also once i do this does this mean i have to get the 240V balasts?
Thanks for your help guys
Both of the folks have given good answers, I think its simple as abc, and sometimes d. There is another option and I think that may be the source of your confusion. You could have an electrician wire a subpanel, its like your service panel just smaller, commonly used for hot tubs and sauna's. WHen you turn off the subpanel at the Main service panel it doesn't have any power and you could install your individual circuits your self.
Now for the abc's and sometimes d. Electric wiring and switches are color coded. For 'normal' 120 volt circuits the are Black (hot wire), white (neutral or ground wire) and green( grounding wire). The black wire attaches to the gold screws, the white wire attaches to the silver screw and the green wire attaches to the green screw. For 240 volt circuit you add another breaker switch and a fourth wire, usually red, and it attaches to the second breaker. In the US, the additional cost for receptacles and wiring makes this an unlikely option unless your are running the 240 to a subpanel and then running 120 volt circuits from that.
Planing the installation starts at the service panel. Do you have the extra spaces available? Open the panel and see it there are any spaces that are not in use, a flat 'knock out' below your existing switches and what is the number on your "Main" Switch. If you don't have any open spots, maybe you have some spots that are not in use. Mine has a circuit for an electric stove, standard 50 amp 240 volt circuit, and my stove is gas. I could buy seperate breakers to replace the DiPole breaker and use the result to wire 2 20 amp circuits that are 120 volt. Another standard one is for an electric dryer, standard 30amp 240 volt circuit, same story.
Here are some pictures for wiring a plug, its the same for the switches and recepticles. ALWAYS TURN OFF THE SWITCH before working on electric circuits. You would be suprised how much you can learn about electric circuits by just wiring one plug successfully. Come on, its not just a job, it's an adventure. I did buy a book, Wiring Simplified, I saw one that lloked better for newbie's put out by the Stanley Company and available at the big box stores. VV
