Grow Room Electrical

[MIGrampaUSA]

Gday. Quick rundown im thinkin bout settin meself up a grow tent running cpl 600w mh/hps cpl inline fans an water chiller an cpl other bits an pcs. Heres me problem im in an older house so dunno if the wiring and pwr board/sub panel will be able to handle the load of it all. The circuit thats available in the area is a 15amp and has a 700L fridge on the same circuit Im from aus if that makes any differenc heres a cpl pics..
Had someone tell me i shld never set up a grw room as me wiring is to old View attachment 943039View attachment 943038View attachment 943040

Well, it looks like most of my previous post doesn't pertain to your situation.

At minimum, I would be running new wire to your grow area. However, it's hard to tell from the picture if that would actually be enough to do what you want to do safely. It looks like you're running 240v so your amp draw would be about half of that same setup on a 120v system.

If I were in your shoes, I'd have the system inspected by a qualified electrician prior to setting up a grow room.

 

[GrowinDownUnda]

Well, it looks like most of my previous post doesn't pertain to your situation.

At minimum, I would be running new wire to your grow area. However, it's hard to tell from the picture if that would actually be enough to do what you want to do safely. It looks like you're running 240v so your amp draw would be about half of that same setup on a 120v system.

If I were in your shoes, I'd have the system inspected by a qualified electrician prior to setting up a grow room.

Cheers for the quick reply. Picture of the actual wiring probs be better i know its not the ancient cloth wrapped wiring so theres a plus cause i dnt wanna burn me house dwn.. yea its 240v over here an circuits only rated to 15amp that plan on using although i could split grow room pwr ovr cpl circuits not ideal though.. Ive thought about gettin some one out to check out the sytem but as its not legal to grw here i dunno wat i would say iv even thought about gettin a 20 to 30 amp circuirt installed but same deal..

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

Cheers for the quick reply. Picture of the actual wiring probs be better i know its not the ancient cloth wrapped wiring so theres a plus cause i dnt wanna burn me house dwn.. yea its 240v over here an circuits only rated to 15amp that plan on using although i could split grow room pwr ovr cpl circuits not ideal though.. Ive thought about gettin some one out to check out the sytem but as its not legal to grw here i dunno wat i would say iv even thought about gettin a 20 to 30 amp circuirt installed but same deal..

I'd tell an electrician that you're wondering how safe the wiring is to run modern appliances. I'd keep it simple and that you're curious as to whether or not an upgrade is in order. I wouldn't mention a grow room. lol

 

[PipeCarver]

I'd tell an electrician that you're wondering how safe the wiring is to run modern appliances. I'd keep it simple and that you're curious as to whether or not an upgrade is in order. I wouldn't mention a grow room. lol

Post some pics of what you're trying to do or a diagram. 30 years electrician I can help. Here in Canada a fridge needs to be on its own circuit and draws about 1100 watts. not enough room left on a 15 amp breaker to wire much, a couple fans, up to approx 1500 watts. Your shit is old, I've not seen anything like it here in North America.

As long as your new wiring is good, tight connections, properly wired it shouldn't effect the old wiring as long as your not massively overloaded on that panel already. What amp main circuit do you have? What do you run in your home other than the normal household stuff, ie: fridge, stove, dryer, electric heat?,freezers, unless you've maxed out every circuit with high watt equipment you should be alright. I have the old cloth wire in my home with soldered connections. Here we'd add a 6-8 circuit 30 amp pony panel along side the existing panel and run your new 15 amp circuits off that.

If you've never done this I'd suggest you do it. Stand on something in front of the panel board,plywood,rubber, to keep yourself from getting grounded. Then tighten each screw holding the wires to the breakers, over time they'll loosen up and loose connections can causes fires.While on the board with one hand feel the breakers for warmth. If the circuit is in heavy usage, ie: stove, dryer running it should be slightly warm, hot is a problem and needs looking at.

I'm not familiar with Australian electric code but I can offer what I've got if you need help

 

[GrowinDownUnda]

I'd tell an electrician that you're wondering how safe the wiring is to run modern appliances. I'd keep it simple and that you're curious as to whether or not an upgrade is in order. I wouldn't mention a grow room. lol

Haha i could always pull the stop watch out an time how quick it takes the local cops to come rollin threw to make sure im not upto anythin dodgey..
All good thanks for the help anyway ill have it checkd out then go from there

Post some pics of what you're trying to do or a diagram. 30 years electrician I can help. Here in Canada a fridge needs to be on its own circuit and draws about 1100 watts. not enough room left on a 15 amp breaker to wire much, a couple fans, up to approx 1500 watts. Your shit is old, I've not seen anything like it here in North America.

As long as your new wiring is good, tight connections, properly wired it shouldn't effect the old wiring as long as your not massively overloaded on that panel already. What amp main circuit do you have? What do you run in your home other than the normal household stuff, ie: fridge, stove, dryer, electric heat?,freezers, unless you've maxed out every circuit with high watt equipment you should be alright. I have the old cloth wire in my home with soldered connections. Here we'd add a 6-8 circuit 30 amp pony panel along side the existing panel and run your new 15 amp circuits off that.

If you've never done this I'd suggest you do it. Stand on something in front of the panel board,plywood,rubber, to keep yourself from getting grounded. Then tighten each screw holding the wires to the breakers, over time they'll loosen up and loose connections can causes fires.While on the board with one hand feel the breakers for warmth. If the circuit is in heavy usage, ie: stove, dryer running it should be slightly warm, hot is a problem and needs looking at.

I'm not familiar with Australian electric code but I can offer what I've got if you need help

Dont got much in the way of high wattage appliances just oven/stove hot water system clothes dryer there is an in the wall ac/heater but they all run on different circuits. Wall heater wont be used over winter as we have open fire an probs wld only be runnin grw rm durin the cooler months so wldn have to worry about ac overldn anything in summer. As for the main circuit breakers im not sure but in the 2nd pic i posted there is 2 55amp blak boxes culd they be the main circuit breakers? Rough calculation on how many amps id be pullin frm grw tnt wld be around 13amps not including water pump an air pump. But i could run fans wtr pmp air pmp an other smaller things off seperate circuit to reduce load

 

[PipeCarver]

Haha i could always pull the stop watch out an time how quick it takes the local cops to come rollin threw to make sure im not upto anythin dodgey..
All good thanks for the help anyway ill have it checkd out then go from there

Dont got much in the way of high wattage appliances just oven/stove hot water system clothes dryer there is an in the wall ac/heater but they all run on different circuits. Wall heater wont be used over winter as we have open fire an probs wld only be runnin grw rm durin the cooler months so wldn have to worry about ac overldn anything in summer. As for the main circuit breakers im not sure but in the 2nd pic i posted there is 2 55amp blak boxes culd they be the main circuit breakers? Rough calculation on how many amps id be pullin frm grw tnt wld be around 13amps not including water pump an air pump. But i could run fans wtr pmp air pmp an other smaller things off seperate circuit to reduce load

i probably should keep my mouth shut, this ( to me ) is an odd system. But I'll ramble --- 2 wire 240 V I'll assume each one of those white bars are fuses and the black lower left main breaker (?) and the switch on the right (Odd thing to have to me ) 30 amp hot water tank. I see the meter box has a super charger for the hot water ( lol) another oddity that may have something to do with the switch but ??? I've never seen such as set up. Your ground bar doesn't seem to be used, do you not carry a ground to each circuit? Plugs aren't grounded? A lot of people get electrocuted in Australia?

Seems to me 240 V with no ground amateurs better not touch.

You either need to upgrade your panel or put a small panel on the side ( if allowed ), re- arrange your existing wiring to free up a circuit. That would take time and some rewiring would be involved but I'm sure you could find space if you map out your circuits and with some fiddling you could use unused plugs or under used circuits and configure in such a way as to put the unused to use in your grow room.

I've had to switch things around in my own home to do that for power in an area I had none.

I've had plenty of 120 v zaps in my life( hundreds) even some 347 v tags ( working on commercial lighting fixtures hot) and few 240 volt ( working on welding machines) but if I'd been working my trade and replaced 120 v ( here) for 240 V ( there) Im sure I'd be dead I don't think my system could have handled the hundreds of 240 zaps. I've been tied to a 120 v system were I couldn't let go a couple times ( that really fried me for a while, I don't think I'd have survived being tied to 240 v.

If in doubt you'd better find a friend or someone with experience. Me thinks maybe 240 un grounded systems are not to be fucked with by amateurs.

 

[GrowinDownUnda]

I've never seen such as set up. Your ground bar doesn't seem to be used, do you not carry a ground to each circuit? Plugs aren't grounded? A lot of people get electrocuted in Australia?

If in doubt you'd better find a friend or someone with experience. Me thinks maybe 240 un grounded systems are not to be fucked with by amateurs.

Youve probs never seen it as ya not in australia??? An i did say it was an old sytem.. This the reason i was askin for advice on wat (someone with knowlege) peoples thoughts are on the current system that is installed.
Im not to familiar with how it all works this the rwason im askin in the first place an wasn to have some one take the piss of the situation...

Hot water service runnin its on circuit makes sense yea same as a stove or any other high output appliance? Power boost is to heat water faster if the hot water runs out. Im not an electrician so why everything is set out like it is i wouldn have a clue..

It may not be up to todays code but from what i understand it has been brought up to recent codes of that time when it was ugraded an its legal but if you wanted to add or replace circuits the whole house would have to brought up to current code specs in order for a licenced elctrician to sign off on it..

An your not 240v is something that shouldn be messed around with by someone that has no clue an i had no plan on doin anything myself just wanted an opinion by someone that has more understandin of everything then my self.

Question now though would you think 13 amps over a 15amp circuit would be safe to run on my current system. Or if i split the load out over 2 circuit that arent been used by anything of high wattage.

 

[PipeCarver]

Youve probs never seen it as ya not in australia??? An i did say it was an old sytem.. This the reason i was askin for advice on wat (someone with knowlege) peoples thoughts are on the current system that is installed.
Im not to familiar with how it all works this the rwason im askin in the first place an wasn to have some one take the piss of the situation...

Hot water service runnin its on circuit makes sense yea same as a stove or any other high output appliance? Power boost is to heat water faster if the hot water runs out. Im not an electrician so why everything is set out like it is i wouldn have a clue..

It may not be up to todays code but from what i understand it has been brought up to recent codes of that time when it was ugraded an its legal but if you wanted to add or replace circuits the whole house would have to brought up to current code specs in order for a licenced elctrician to sign off on it..

An your not 240v is something that shouldn be messed around with by someone that has no clue an i had no plan on doin anything myself just wanted an opinion by someone that has more understandin of everything then my self.

Question now though would you think 13 amps over a 15amp circuit would be safe to run on my current system. Or if i split the load out over 2 circuit that arent been used by anything of high wattage.

13 amp is fine on a 15 amp. A good ballpark is wattage 1500 watts stay under you're good, go over and you'll blow fuses or heat up your wires. Spread the load out if possible, Fans don't use a lot of watts ( 50 ) so you could add them to an existing circuit as most of your circuits are likely not maxed out. Your light is your only heavy load 1200W spread the rest out to different circuits if possible.

 

[Happysmoke]

Gday. Quick rundown im thinkin bout settin meself up a grow tent running cpl 600w mh/hps cpl inline fans an water chiller an cpl other bits an pcs. Heres me problem im in an older house so dunno if the wiring and pwr board/sub panel will be able to handle the load of it all. The circuit thats available in the area is a 15amp and has a 700L fridge on the same circuit Im from aus if that makes any differenc heres a cpl pics..
Had someone tell me i shld never set up a grw room as me wiring is to old View attachment 943039View attachment 943038View attachment 943040

That Main panel looks like it's from the 1930's. That being said, I would not bother running that settup even without the fridge on the circuit. Maybe think smaller draw like a led quantum board and a small tent and fan. Then thoroughly test the settup before putting plants in. The last thing you want is one of those fuses blowing and not have a replacement, or just not being there to see it's blown.

 

[GrowinDownUnda]

13 amp is fine on a 15 amp. A good ballpark is wattage 1500 watts stay under you're good, go over and you'll blow fuses or heat up your wires. Spread the load out if possible, Fans don't use a lot of watts ( 50 ) so you could add them to an existing circuit as most of your circuits are likely not maxed out. Your light is your only heavy load 1200W spread the rest out to different circuits if possible.

That to me sounds like a safe bet but i still dont wanna go settin everything up before i have more of an understanding on how safe my current wirring circuit is. Like ground circuit so if things get to hot or short out an burn the house down
How to do i know if the house has ground circuit connected to each circuit

 

[GrowinDownUnda]

That Main panel looks like it's from the 1930's. That being said, I would not bother running that settup even without the fridge on the circuit. Maybe think smaller draw like a led quantum board and a small tent and fan. Then thoroughly test the settup before putting plants in. The last thing you want is one of those fuses blowing and not have a replacement, or just not being there to see it's blown.

Lolz shes an old one thats for sure but i dunno bout 1930's Before we moved in i remember the elec came round one day an he was banging on about him havin to upgrade something but bak then i wasn really payin any attention to wat exactly he had done. Now that i want to set up a grow im kickin meself that i didn pay more attention to the bloke..
Edit: I can fit mcb's into those ceramic circuit breakers its not the best solution but there cheap enough to always have a cpl spares layin around aswell

 

[PipeCarver]

That to me sounds like a safe bet but i still dont wanna go settin everything up before i have more of an understanding on how safe my current wirring circuit is. Like ground circuit so if things get to hot or short out an burn the house down
How to do i know if the house has ground circuit connected to each circuit

Do your receptacles have 2 or 3 prongs? Do your extension cords have 2 or 3 wires? Open up a receptacle cover
( if you dare) and look at the box. Is there a ground wire connected to the box? Do you have a ground rod pounded into the ground outside your home with a conductor leading to your panel? I see what looks like one #8 or # 6 cut off and that sized wire up here would be our main ground wire leading to the ground rods. and its hard to tell if the screws on the ground bar itself have connected wires.
Do you really need to run both 600w lights?

 

[Happysmoke]

Lolz shes an old one thats for sure but i dunno bout 1930's Before we moved in i remember the elec came round one day an he was banging on about him havin to upgrade something but bak then i wasn really payin any attention to wat exactly he had done. Now that i want to set up a grow im kickin meself that i didn pay more attention to the bloke..
Edit: I can fit mcb's into those ceramic circuit breakers its not the best solution but there cheap enough to always have a cpl spares layin around aswell

Lol. I'm in the states and apparently am stuck in a 120v mindset. Anyway, it didn't Dawn on me that ALL of your system runs on 240v so anything you plug in will only draw 1/2 the amps for the same wattage. I would suggest having it looked over if you are unsure about things like proper grounding or wire type/ condition. It should not cost too much for an inspection.

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

Lol. I'm in the states and apparently am stuck in a 120v mindset. Anyway, it didn't Dawn on me that ALL of your system runs on 240v so anything you plug in will only draw 1/2 the amps for the same wattage. I would suggest having it looked over if you are unsure about things like proper grounding or wire type/ condition. It should not cost too much for an inspection.

I mentioned that in a previous post. He will draw about 1/2 the amps on a 240v system that he would on a 120v system. The amp numbers given by OP seem to more or less correspond to lighting on a 120v circuit. If your draw indeed turns out to be half of your expected ... you're certainly in much better shape than you thought amp-wise.

 

[GrowinDownUnda]

Do your receptacles have 2 or 3 prongs? Do your extension cords have 2 or 3 wires? Open up a receptacle cover
( if you dare) and look at the box. Is there a ground wire connected to the box? Do you have a ground rod pounded into the ground outside your home with a conductor leading to your panel? I see what looks like one #8 or # 6 cut off and that sized wire up here would be our main ground wire leading to the ground rods. and its hard to tell if the screws on the ground bar itself have connected wires.
Do you really need to run both 600w lights?

Yea bloke every point has 3 wires connected iv had a few apart before. I have basic knowlege of wiring just not to experienced with the main an power panel an so on.. An its not something i wanna play around with myself..
There is 3 wires still connected to the ground bar? It looks like there cut off but they go threw a hole drilled out in the board. Will look around for a ground pole outside is there a chanve that the ground wire is eatherd under the house or somewhere like that if i cant find the rod outside.. Dmt exactly need 2 600w lights but i wanted to make the most outta the area i have sorta thing..
Heres a close up of the 3 wires connected to the ground bar. I would thought every circuit would have a ground wire leadin back to this ground bar though?

 

[GrowinDownUnda]

I mentioned that in a previous post. He will draw about 1/2 the amps on a 240v system that he would on a 120v system. The amp numbers given by OP seem to more or less correspond to lighting on a 120v circuit. If your draw indeed turns out to be half of your expected ... you're certainly in much better shape than you thought amp-wise.

All the amps that i will be drawin for the power supply i have roughly estimated an rounded up to closest number as i didn want to overload any circuit. Id rather over estimate then to under estimate the amps an run into problems once everything was up an running.. See over here everything is run on 240v some panels will have direct 400v as well i think dont qoute me on that though. So wen i see other countries runin only 120 it confuses me to why yous only run small number of volts 240v should be the norm everywhere..

 

[PipeCarver]

I mentioned that in a previous post. He will draw about 1/2 the amps on a 240v system that he would on a 120v system. The amp numbers given by OP seem to more or less correspond to lighting on a 120v circuit. If your draw indeed turns out to be half of your expected ... you're certainly in much better shape than you thought amp-wise.

The equipment would have taken that into consideration and marked as such on the labels 600 watts on a 240 v supply is only 2.5 amps

 

[GrowinDownUnda]

All good found the ground rod that still has the wire from ground bar connected plus another metal cable as well an im sure that cable runs out the the circuit breaker out in the shed.. Sorry for the useless questions people.. I will be still gettin an electrician to go over the internal house wiring before banging a heap of extra power threw the system

 

[GrowinDownUnda]

The equipment would have taken that into consideration and marked as such on the labels 600 watts on a 240 v supply is only 2.5 amps

13amps was a rough estimate on everythin on that circuit not includin a water pmp an air pmp if i wanted to go down the rdwc route.. Not 100% on the fridge usuage i evn contacted lg an they cldn tell me the usless fools so i pland that it roughly should draw 4.2amps wen motor kicks in i could be miles off on that one though..

 

[PipeCarver]

13amps was a rough estimate on everythin on that circuit not includin a water pmp an air pmp if i wanted to go down the rdwc route.. Not 100% on the fridge usuage i evn contacted lg an they cldn tell me the usless fools so i pland that it roughly should draw 4.2amps wen motor kicks in i could be miles off on that one though..

Here is a site you can use. you just need 2 of the numbers to calculate your load in numbers that will make sense to you.