Hello, I have some quick questions. To start I work on and repair anything electronic for a living and installed a new electrical water heater in place of the old one which was wired wrong. The old water heater was supposed to be connected to a 240 (according to label on it) but the people who lived here before me had a single 20 amp 120 wire going to it. A plumber came over, gave estimate, I didn't have half that in the bank, decided to do it myself. I drained and removed old water heater & then discovered the single 120 20 amp wire using multi meter. I went to Home Depot and bought 20ft of 12/3 romex indoor / outdoor wire planning on not running conduit. I ended up running 1 inch conduit with the romex inside running directly to water heater wired to its connector with wire nuts. Then I wired in the 12/3 to a dual pole 30 amp breaker. The dual element water heater has ran perfect and my electrical bill has dropped from not having the wrongly connected water heater from 1986 connected. I explain so you know I'm capable of running wires and safely connecting them.
My Grow room equipment & plan:
As described above I still have the wire ran through the wall the old water heater was connected to. What I want to do is safely run two 1000 watt mh/hps lights, both of which are identical and have new digital ballasts. I then have two a 1200 GPH water pump for the RDWC system, 1137 LPH air pump to run the four 9" disc diffusers one in each container, two 6' inline fans 440 CFM each w speed controllers, two inline plastic bladed booster fans, for exhausting heat and keeping room temp where I want it, one small 6 inch clip fan and one 16" oscillating fan for plants. I planned on mounting the two ballast right next to the room exhaust up near where the lights will be (heat rises) and putting intake close to floor.
My Actual Question:
Now I have the one free wire to connect a 15 amp breaker but was wondering if it would make any difference if I ran another 30 amp breaker and ran the lights on 240? Can I use the timers that came with my lights on a 240? Can you please tell me how you would wire this up so it's safe? I have 5 open spots on panels and very limited money as I've spent a lot already. The cheapest method is best but obviously I want safe. The room I'm using only has one 120 plug and its combined with the light switch. I don't want to use it.
Thanks for any help