HPS a fire risk?

I'm just curious what people think about the grow shops in the UK encouraging the sale of automatic fire extinguishers to people growing with HPS. Has anybody ever had problems with fire or know of anyone having a fire due to lighting? I never have but since I grow with in my house with my family I have started to think about this more and more. Paranoia or fact, is HPS dangerous?

There are so many things to take into account before answering this question.

But the short answer would have to be YES, if you are dumb about things.

Things such as having your 1000w hps on the same breaker as your washer, dryer, water heater, etc....now 1000w might not be enough to cause a fire, but if you add a water pump for hydro, air pump, 2 fans going, c02 regulator, and any additional toys we like to play with along with a washer/dryer...then yes, on an older house it could overload the circuit and start a fire.

If you happen to have your grow in your attic and for some reason your bulb blows (and this happens often) it could start a fire in the insulation in the attic.

Like I said, there are a lot of factors to consider. Play it safe and don’t do anything stupid like touching your hps bulb with bare hands. As long as you have a fairly new home with good wiring, and not running a 2000 plant grow op, then you should be ok.

My home was built in 2005. Last year I went to make some toast and happened to be standing by the fridge, all of a sudden I smelled an electrical fire from behind the fridge. I was lucky enough to be standing right next to it and was able to grab a handful of flour and put it out. It had nothing to do with the fridge and toaster being on the same circuit, it was just a lazy ass electrician put it together. Needless to say the builder was called and I now have a new wall and all new wiring for my house.

Anyway man the whole point of this was to tell you KISS....Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Unique said:

There are so many things to take into account before answering this question.

But the short answer would have to be YES, if you are dumb about things.

Things such as having your 1000w hps on the same breaker as your washer, dryer, water heater, etc....now 1000w might not be enough to cause a fire, but if you add a water pump for hydro, air pump, 2 fans going, c02 regulator, and any additional toys we like to play with along with a washer/dryer...then yes, on an older house it could overload the circuit and start a fire.

If you happen to have your grow in your attic and for some reason your bulb blows (and this happens often) it could start a fire in the insulation in the attic.

Like I said, there are a lot of factors to consider. Play it safe and don’t do anything stupid like touching your hps bulb with bare hands. As long as you have a fairly new home with good wiring, and not running a 2000 plant grow op, then you should be ok.

My home was built in 2005. Last year I went to make some toast and happened to be standing by the fridge, all of a sudden I smelled an electrical fire from behind the fridge. I was lucky enough to be standing right next to it and was able to grab a handful of flour and put it out. It had nothing to do with the fridge and toaster being on the same circuit, it was just a lazy ass electrician put it together. Needless to say the builder was called and I now have a new wall and all new wiring for my house.

Anyway man the whole point of this was to tell you KISS....Keep It Simple, Stupid.

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Totally agree with your post and have much experience in the past of HPs growing, in a place of my own with no family I might add. i currently grow in the attic but use a 250 watt cfl and still use a contactor relay!I don't have any sleepless nights but think I might however careful I was with an HPS running above my little boys bedroom.

The only thing you have to worry about with a CFL grow is, not enough yield, and mercury poison if it breaks.

When I was younger my friends and I used to break open thermometers and roll the mercury around in our hands. That shit was pretty cool when you drop it on the ground it splatters like the metal guy on Terminator 2.

I seem to be ok with the mercury so I would worry more about the low yield!

Unique said:

The only thing you have to worry about with a CFL grow is, not enough yield, and mercury poison if it breaks.

When I was younger my friends and I used to break open thermometers and roll the mercury around in our hands. That shit was pretty cool when you drop it on the ground it splatters like the metal guy on Terminator 2.

I seem to be ok with the mercury so I would worry more about the low yield!

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No I have the yield fine as I gro SOG with a 250 watt bulb and I'm adding side lighting as we speak. Last grow I got 0.5 per watt so happy with that for minimal electricity and maximum safety!

hey dude i rkn 95% of us worry about maybe burnin the house down,i got a young fella and misus to man,and yer makes ya think twice thats for shour,as long as ya not like the guy that posted on here earlier(can i put my 400watt ballast on a snugg blanky) i mean wtf common sense... gl keep it safe

Is it safe to put a sun gro ballast for a 400W HPS in a wooden cabinet? I've transformed a wardrobe closet into a grow cab, and I have a vortex fan and carbon scrubber for ventilation. Right now I have the ballast just sitting on a wooden shelf. What should I put under it to make sure we don't reach kindling temp? I have most of the grow chamber mylared or painted white. Suggestions?

pete bates said:

Is it safe to put a sun gro ballast for a 400W HPS in a wooden cabinet? I've transformed a wardrobe closet into a grow cab, and I have a vortex fan and carbon scrubber for ventilation. Right now I have the ballast just sitting on a wooden shelf. What should I put under it to make sure we don't reach kindling temp? I have most of the grow chamber mylared or painted white. Suggestions?

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yer should be fine just put it on top of ya cab,if ya that worried sit it on a couple of tiles or peice of glass,always best to keep them on the outside of your grow,i rkn the only chances from a ballist to start a fire would be on sumthin like fabrick ,carpet ,blankets ect

simple grower said:

yer should be fine just put it on top of ya cab,if ya that worried sit it on a couple of tiles or peice of glass,always best to keep them on the outside of your grow,i rkn the only chances from a ballist to start a fire would be on sumthin like fabrick ,carpet ,blankets ect

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Its actually in the top part of the cab, separate from the grow room, and so far tests have shown limited effect on raising the temp in the grow room underneath it. I should take pictures sometime and post them, but larry schmegma and I have put together two cabs that we're using and right now its top secret, no photos. The wardrobe closet with a carbon scrubber, hps and vortex fan, and a smaller 6 x 4 cab with an aerogarden in it. I think we might just use tile under the ballast, thanks for the suggestion. The aerogarden is starting to stink, the plants are about two weeks out of the seed now and are all doing good, aside from a little curling of the leaves on the plants in our hydrofarm. Is curling caused by too much water or too little water? Our pH should be good, slightly less than 6 in the hydro setups. I should probably head over to a different forum with these questions, but maybe someone with some knowledge might be reading here. Do we need an ionizer or an ozone generator to get rid of the veg smell from the aerogarden and the mother room?? I just wanna get this right. 11 plants going, 10 white widow and 1 kind bud bagseed (as opposed to brick swag we've been forced to buy for years). We've got Northern Lights, Big Bud, and more White Widow seeds we'll use after we perfect things. Somebody who knows what they're doing help me out with a little info por favor.

always wondered about setting up some fire saftey protection system. the safer the better right?

northeastern lights said:

always wondered about setting up some fire saftey protection system. the safer the better right?

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You can get auto powder fire extinguishers which are set of by a small bulb exploding at a set temperature of your choice on the extinguisher itself, in uk they are £30 for 6kg powder extinguishers.

I keep my ballast on a ceramic tile, as it greatly diffuses the heat. I tape all my wires up and out of the way, and run them above the reservoir so that if I get an overflow I have less worries. Also keep an extinguisher right outside growroom. Every grow room fire I have EVER read about has been negligence, people trying to run too much on one circuit, people with no electrical knowledge being DIY'ers, and one where a guy ran a bare, unreflected MH bulb hung on string over a grow table.......dumb ass. There is far more risk of fire from an appliance because you have less control over how it is wired than there is in a grow room where you have total control. I have been in insurance for almost 20 years...I've seen some fires, let me tell ya.

LOL Yeah Just Make Sure That YOur WIreing Is Okay ....
Im Running A 500 W HPS And Every time i leave the house
i wounder If i Burned Down the HOuse LOL