New Room - Electrical Advice

[jigilous]

Just got a new dedicated space for growing with 240 Amps of juice.
My full flowering buildout will be (5) 4x8 tents with (2) 1KW lights per tent. So 10KW. That puts me at ~50A there.

My thoughts are to have an electrician come in and run two 240v outlets to the center of my room on a column that is there. I figure I can pickup the Powerbox-15000 TD and just plug it in there to handle my ballasts and fans for the hoods. The 2nd 240 outlet would just be for backup or growth.

I figure for my rez pumps, circulation fans, etc. I can use the 120v outlets throughout the main room that houses all the tents.

It has been a few days that I've been stalling on calling the electrician because I'm just not 100% on what will fit my needs and still be discrete as far as the electrician is concerned.

 

[hiboy]

Your first statement is 240 watts of power, u mean 240v . What is the size of breaker and wire you are going to run from your main panel to your grow area.
hiboy

 

[jigilous]

The circuit box in the room has (12) 20A breakers in it. I figured the electrician would just take 3 of those and run a new 240v outlet that can take max 60A. I'm probably entirely confused about that point though.

The choice of cable is up to the electrician I guess, but the consensus around here seems to be 6/3 romex. Or no?

 

[hiboy]

The circuit box in the room has (12) 20A breakers in it. I figured the electrician would just take 3 of those and run a new 240v outlet that can take max 60A. I'm probably entirely confused about that point though.

The choice of cable is up to the electrician I guess, but the consensus around here seems to be 6/3 romex. Or no?

So there is a circuit box in the room with breakers in it. Go to your main panel and see what breaker is feeding your circuit box. In a perfect world your main panel where the meter is would have a double breaker in it and it would be labeled sub panel. It is important to see what size breaker it is. You plan on adding an extreme amount of power, so a 100 amp sub panel would be ideal. If its only a 50 amp breaker, that means that all those existing breakers and your new ones would be only allowed that, 50 amps.
hiboy

 

[jigilous]

I'll need to head over to the space and check it out. The place is a commercial rental so I'm hopeful it is OK.

 

[jigilous]

I had an electrician come and give an estimate and am including his scope of work and the cost estimate. Can someone give me their thoughts on the cost?


--------Scope and Estimate----------
Install 2 220v 60amp dedicated circuits from electrical sub panel located inside unit to post near rear of office. Each circuit will have individual conduit and will terminate with a 14-60 receptacle.

We will eliminate circuits as required to make room inside panel for new 2-pole 60amp circuit breakers.

The cost for the above items is $780 including labor and materials. This does not include the cost of an electrical permit.
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[bigcheese510]

I had an electrician come and give an estimate and am including his scope of work and the cost estimate. Can someone give me their thoughts on the cost?


--------Scope and Estimate----------
Install 2 220v 60amp dedicated circuits from electrical sub panel located inside unit to post near rear of office. Each circuit will have individual conduit and will terminate with a 14-60 receptacle.

We will eliminate circuits as required to make room inside panel for new 2-pole 60amp circuit breakers.

The cost for the above items is $780 including labor and materials. This does not include the cost of an electrical permit.
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its not that bad but its not that great either. the permit is going to be expensive and also it leads to the work having to be inspected by the city. if this is the route you want to go dont be affraid to haggle the price. you could save yourself a few hundred bucks.

 

[organicfreak]

sounds fair

 

[jigilous]

its not that bad but its not that great either. the permit is going to be expensive and also it leads to the work having to be inspected by the city. if this is the route you want to go dont be affraid to haggle the price. you could save yourself a few hundred bucks.

Expensive permits and city inspectors is not the greatest news this AM.
I read that for my city(The City) if the work costs below $500 then you don't need a permit and/or don't need to be licensed. Wondering about asking the electrician if we can do something under the table or get creative so we don't need permits/inspectors.

I do see "420 Electricians" advertising in various outlets, and feel sure they would more sympathetic about permits, etc. however I kinda feel like if I get a "420 Electrician" I am just inviting in rippers and/or basically letting some dude know I grow and where.

 

[1971]

depending on what city you are in, permits are not expensive at all and cheap insurance to determine if the work is being done at a minimum quality. call your building department to find out fees and what not, they can be pretty helpful.

not knowing the distance run from the panel to the post, it is hard to say if the price is fair, but given equip costs, labor, etc, it is withing line with what you are looking to have done. i am curious why he is running two conduits when one would work? also, is the post the best placement versus a wall? that way you could mount your ballasts and what not to a wall. will you have enough 120v outlets?

when it comes to electrical work, go licensed. you DO NOT want someone not licensed messing around with power. something done wrong could kill you.

personally, i'd avoid 420 electricians for the very reasons you listed unless you are getting a referral from a friend.

 

[hiboy]

Im wondering what you gona plug into these 60 amp circuits.???
Does the powerbox 15000 td require a 60 plug? or is it a hardwire. I think you said you wanted one conduit as a spare. That a great idea for expansion when u da king of the hill.
I bid stuff all day, and ur not getting ripped off, wire is at all time hi right now
hiboy

 

[1971]

dear god, I need to read more clearly.

to save cost you could simply run one bigger pipe. that way you could pull additional circuits into it as needed.