vader

My friend is going to be running 2 (maybe 3) 1000 Watters in his grow room. With a sun circle light mover. He was wondering how it would be best to wire this up. While just plugging it in will probally work, too many grow operations are destroyed by electrical fires, and crops can be lost due to constantly flipping circuit breakers.

The lights will be on a intermatic heavy duty mechanical timer. Basically he doesn't know what would be best. It seems adding a 30amp breaker in the fuse panel and running it to the timer would be the best bet. He doesn't know what guage wire, and how to physically run it (would in the attic in conduit work?). Obivously he doesn't want to create more problems than we will solve. From the timer he was probally going to wire it to one of those 4 outlet heavy duty receptable boxes, and plug in the lights and mover into that. Also what about switching the grow room to 240V somehow, and just running off that? He went down to the library and read some books on electrical code and residential wiring, but they where no help. It seems there is not much need for a bedroom to have this much current.

Help him out!

harrad

vader,
Do you have electric baseboard heat? If so, you probably have a 240V 20A (or 30A) circuit in the room already!

For multiple 1KW lamps 240V is the way to go! Dont forget to switch your ballasts over to 240V before you plug them in. You can run (3) 1KW setups off of a single 20A circuit. Invest in a GFCI breaker to keep everything safe.

Some materials you will need:
12GA Romex wire.
(1) 20A 2 Pole GFCI breaker.
(1) 4" Handy box w/metal 4plex outlet cover
(1) 240 volt Intermatic timer
(2) 240V 15A NEMA 6-15 duplex outlets - -
(3) 240V 15A NEMA 6-15 Plug cord ends..U
(4) Strain relief's

Conduit is not required.

Basically you run it like any other 240V circuit, both wires (Black and white) are hot (120V to ground), dont forget to hook up the neutral wires on the GFCI breaker (directions should be provided).

DO get a book on basic residential wiring! Never work on energized circuits! Your 240V circuit will be run similar to a 240V hot tub (GFCI) or heater (NO GFCI) circuit.

Play safe! Harrad.

iwishicould2

Is GFCI a much higher voltage?

Mendrel

GFCI stands for Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter. It's basically a mini circuit breaker. I believe most American homes are required to have one on any outlet within 6ft of most water sources. It runs on the same voltage as it is hooked up to handle. The American standard is 120volts. I don't remember seeing any GFCI 240v outlets ever but they may exist. So to answer your question, no, it's the same voltage that you are running in your home unless you wire it different.

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James Bong

use the same wiring codes that you would have in your kitchen....basicly you would put in your thirty amp breaker..(Be careful here...add the totals of the breakers in your box....they should not exceed the rating of the main breaker...in other words a 100 amp main breakers would have about 5 20 amp circuits hooked to it)......if need you need a larger main breaker have an electrican install it into your box (most older homes need larger breaker because of all the electrical do dads we use now days..so you won't be doing anything supicious if you have an electrician install a bigger breaker in your house)

ok you have you 30 amp breaker...use 3 wire 10 gauge solid wire (not braided wire!)to run through the attic...secure the wire with insulated staples (available at the same place you get your wire) to the studs of the ceiling below you (be careful not to fall through!) ...run the wire down the wall to your newly installed outlet box in your grow area. hook red and black to your outlet...(red wire goes to the wide the side that has the wide slot in the outlet and the green goes to the ground slot (marked on the outlet)..if your house does not have grounded outlets (Mine doesn't)..have the electrican ground the green wire at the breaker box...(Usually it's grounded to a metal water pipe..(NOT GAS) or grounded to a copper rod driven into the ground)...making sure you have a good ground outlet will prevent fires and shocks from your lights...grow your plants!