[bluegrass]

Ok so I just test fired my flowering room, I am growing in an apt btw, so I test fired an 5000 btu AC along with 1400 watts of HID lighting, a breaker flipped for that one room, I take it that I am overloading the circuit, correct? I am living in an apartment, once again. Is there anything I can do to fix this situtation? Could I run an extension cord from my bedroom into the flowering room to run one of the lights as to not flip the breaker or is this going to be more expensive than I thought? Thanks in advance...Peace and respect

[bluegrass]

This really troubles me as I have even yet to get my vent fans and carbon scrubber in there. What can I do to fix this problem you guys?

[Stackin Paper]

Im no sparky but can't you just get a bigger breaker for that part of the house?

[leadplant]

Split the load like you suggested. Put the AC on the ext. cord to your room. Extension cords do increase safety risk so get a good one with built-in trip switch and 12 gauge thickness minimum. Most residential wiring circuits are 15 amps with 14 gauge wiring. 1400 watts of load is OK but its a little bit on the high side safetywise, especially if its older wiring. People plug in 1500 watt spaceheaters all the time and it seems ok but go and look at the char marks on the outlet after a season or two of that.

[bluegrass]

the trouble is that I really dont know how to install the damn things. I may need to find an electrician. I hope this wont cost much...

[bluegrass]

Originally Posted by leadplant

Split the load like you suggested. Put the AC on the ext. cord to your room. Extension cords do increase safety risk so get a good one with built-in trip switch and 12 gauge thickness minimum. Most residential wiring circuits are 15 amps with 14 gauge wiring. 1400 watts of load is OK but its a little bit on the high side safetywise, especially if its older wiring. People plug in 1500 watt spaceheaters all the time and it seems ok but go and look at the char marks on the outlet after a season or two of that.

That sounds great, I will buy the best one I can find at an affordable price. I hope I can solve this problem as I am about to begin soon. I never had this problem before because I never ran an ac before. Plus I was living at a different apt with newer wiring probably...Thanks for the help and keep it coming you guys.

[hererisssh]

Leadplant has it right. You don't want to get involved with electricians at a rental anyway, real suspicious. Run the lights on their a seperate circuit if possible and run as small an extension cord as you can. The greater the length the greater the risk.

[rocky]

I dont know about electricity, but i do know that it can kill you , so be carful

[leadplant]

Another, better way to go is to use another existing 20 amp circuit closeby if there happens to be one in your circuit panel. Many building codes require bathrooms to be on their own 20 amp circuit. Most 20 amp circuits are 12 gauge wiring. A 15 amp breaker can usually be upgraded to 20 amps but the 14 gauge wiring would need to be replaced with 12 gauge. Not hard at all as a DIY but dont attempt it if not 100% comfortable.

[Inuit]

Leadplant is on the right track.

The real question is what size is your breaker to the rooms in question.

Also, see if you can find the amperage draw on the AC and let us know.

Extension cords are the cheapest easiest way to do it, but they are a PITA and easy to trip over.

Upgrading the breaker w/o changing out the wiring is ASKING for trouble, so don't do that unless you replace all the wiring as well. A 15A circuit uses 14G wire and a 20 uses 12G wire. See if you can see some of the actual wiring for the circuit, and it will tell you on the wire if its 12 or 14. It will say something like "Romex 14-3 AWG" Which stands for 14 gauge, 3 wires. If you happen to get lucky, and you have a 15A breaker and 12G wiring, then I would def recommend you change out the breaker, but NOT in any other circumstanes.

Also, are you running 120V or 220/240V?

A better option than the ext cords is to run a subpanel to your grow area, and then run dedicated outlets to diff areas of the room.

Give us a total power consumption estimate including fans and pumps. If you don't know the wattage they use, tell us how many of each and what size you plan on using.

Even with no elec exp you can easily run a sub panel IF, and its a HUGE IF, IF you have a kill switch that shuts off the entire panel. They are usually located at the top of the box, of in a small box either above the panel, or somewhere between the meter and panel. If you don't have a kill switch than just use extension cords. The benefit of a sub panel is its easy to do yourself and you can run everything up to code except for having it done w/no permit, but its not too hard and with a little help from around here we'll have you in good shape

Be safe

I

also, Pm me a link back here when you respond, as I don't bookmark threads.