J
johnnyballbag
Premium Member
Supporter
- 305
- 0
Hey Farmers, decided to put together a lil Electrical Faq as requested by Logic. With all the possible scenarios, there's no way i could cleanly make up a thread that covered all angles in one post, so it'll be a continual, work-in-progress kinda thing.
The first thing i'd like to talk about is amperage. Since most farmers talk wattage, at least when it comes to lighting, you need to know how to convert the numbers back and forth. To determine amperage, add up your total wattage, and divide that number by the voltage of the circuit. Say you're running 5,000 watts of light on a 240V circuit. 5,000 divided by 240 equals 20.8 amps. If you were to run that wattage on a 120V circuit, you'd have almost 42 amps, big difference! This is the reason why people run their lighting on a higher voltage circuit, 240V if you're in the US. By doubling your voltage, you cut your amperage in half. This becomes more important as you increase the electrical load. Amperage is what hurts you when you get "zapped." Amperage is also what your circuit breakers work off of, the power is shut off when the amperage surpasses the rated load.
To determine your wattage, add up the total amperage, and multiply that number by the voltage of the circuit. So if you had 10amps of power being pulled from a 120V circuit, multiplying 10 times 120 gives you 1200 watts.
Not only are breakers rated in amperage, so is wire. Which means if you decide you need to change your breakers in your panel to a higher load, you MUST change the wiring also. I can't stress that enough, electricity is something you don't wanna sacrifice on. When a wire is fed more power than it is rated for, it produces heat. Over time, it WILL cause a fire. So if you think you're saving time and money by only changing your breakers, you'll be in for a rude awakening when your whole entire house burns down. While we're talking about staying within electrical ratings, there's another thing i wanna point out. It's best to only use 80% of the circuit, which helps to prevent any problems due to surges. So on a 15amp circuit, don't run anymore than 12amps. On a 20amp circuit, don't run more than 16amps. Remember the 80% rule and use it, not just in your growroom either.
I'm trying to make up a wire ampacity chart that's easy to read, i'll put it up when it's done. That way you can determine what size wire to use with whatever amperage load you have.
The first thing i'd like to talk about is amperage. Since most farmers talk wattage, at least when it comes to lighting, you need to know how to convert the numbers back and forth. To determine amperage, add up your total wattage, and divide that number by the voltage of the circuit. Say you're running 5,000 watts of light on a 240V circuit. 5,000 divided by 240 equals 20.8 amps. If you were to run that wattage on a 120V circuit, you'd have almost 42 amps, big difference! This is the reason why people run their lighting on a higher voltage circuit, 240V if you're in the US. By doubling your voltage, you cut your amperage in half. This becomes more important as you increase the electrical load. Amperage is what hurts you when you get "zapped." Amperage is also what your circuit breakers work off of, the power is shut off when the amperage surpasses the rated load.
To determine your wattage, add up the total amperage, and multiply that number by the voltage of the circuit. So if you had 10amps of power being pulled from a 120V circuit, multiplying 10 times 120 gives you 1200 watts.
Not only are breakers rated in amperage, so is wire. Which means if you decide you need to change your breakers in your panel to a higher load, you MUST change the wiring also. I can't stress that enough, electricity is something you don't wanna sacrifice on. When a wire is fed more power than it is rated for, it produces heat. Over time, it WILL cause a fire. So if you think you're saving time and money by only changing your breakers, you'll be in for a rude awakening when your whole entire house burns down. While we're talking about staying within electrical ratings, there's another thing i wanna point out. It's best to only use 80% of the circuit, which helps to prevent any problems due to surges. So on a 15amp circuit, don't run anymore than 12amps. On a 20amp circuit, don't run more than 16amps. Remember the 80% rule and use it, not just in your growroom either.
I'm trying to make up a wire ampacity chart that's easy to read, i'll put it up when it's done. That way you can determine what size wire to use with whatever amperage load you have.
