this may be dumb but where do you get the juice?

[Str8Dank]

so this may be dumb but i want to know how people are running 10-60k of lighting and if they are just getting industrial locaitons and getting a extra 200 amp drop or what. also from a stealth perspective how the hell do you get what must be a commercial location or at least a nice pole bard and get that kinda power drop without raising suspecion? i'm a legal grower but i still would like to stay WAYYYY under the radar if i jump into a setup of this size. i have a buddy that is getting a second drop to his garage for $500 and he said he can run 200 amps on it. so i'm guessing if he runs 220 that means 100 amps of 220 which would be able to do about 16k off of that 100 amps with a 40% buffer but would still need juice for ac, fans, mom lights, cloning rooms etc.

would it be feasable to get two power drops to a pole barn and have 200 amps of 220 and be able to run 30K (150A) and have say 20A 220 left for a mini split and then about 10 amps of t5's fans etc?

i know this topic can be tricky beasue it is dealing with the security one uses to keep their operation stealth but i'm just stumped. if i owned a workshop or some type of mechanical business (or at least a front) i could see how i can do this and spin it off as that but i dont even know what type of businesses would be good covers to justify that type of power.

also i have heard of people talking about 3phase power or something like that in industrial settings. how much can one of those handle and how expensive is it to get one of those dropped to say a pole barn?

i'm just trying to get the logistics together so i can get my business plan's expenses together so i have a realistic goal as to what 2 12 site XXXL's would run me to get the wiring right if i find a spot that is suitable

also for the vertical lighting are people wiring up their own ballasts like the old high bay shop 1k hps lights because i see some of the biggest grows are not using commercial ballasts. these look like a cheap alternative and i was thinking these would be the way to go. i cant imagine buying 20-30 electronic ballasts that seems like overkill and ungodly expensive compared to alternatives.

thanks farm!

 

[RMCG]

Might get more responses if this was moved to 'Grow Room Design' forum vs the Under Current forum.

 

[Papa]

the answers to most of your questions are going to be location specific. for instance, in my area you may have only one drop per legal parcel. 200amp mains are common in this area, and depending on the size of the house/property, I have seen 400amps. and that's 400 amps of 220v.

commercial/industrial spaces can easily have more amperage. Imagine what it takes to run all the refregerator/freezers in a 7/11, never mind the mills and lathes in a machine shop.





Papa

 

[motherlode]

you need a "business" that involves cold storage of some sort

 

[RollinEndough]

 

[motherlode]

hahaha you fucking slay me broseph

 

[CelticEBE]

Laughing so fucking hard right now I think I might cry.

 

[j wizzle]

HAHAHAHA funny shit...funniest shit ive seen in this place, im dying over here....

machine shop by far best setup for a front, cant beat it. and you can do it legit, $10,000 can buy you 2-3 large machines, maybe more in this economy... lathes, mills, anything with a cnc controller. they take a ton of power and eat up electricity. cold storage is cool too.

 

[Jalisco Kid]

I have a 400a service at my house. Just paid for the permit. JK

 

[Str8Dank]

awesome input thanks guys. i dont get the battery post or is it just random comedy?

JK do you mind me asking how much that costs to get a permit and what type of questions do they ask as to why you need the juice? do you need a business to justify it or will they add it to a personal account?

 

[Str8Dank]

i called my electric company and they sent me to a "specialist" but their line went to vm. I'm going to tell them i have a machine shop i'd like to move into a pole barn on the next property i purchase and want to know what it is going to cost me to get the necessary electrical drop(s) to the property.

 

[cemchris]

awesome input thanks guys. i dont get the battery post or is it just random comedy?

Nope thats 100% serious.

 

[Jalisco Kid]

I believe it was 85 for the permit. They (planners) told me it was too much power for my sq footage. I told them when they were taking over for my pops I would listen otherwise issue me a permit. Took some time to find a service panel at a good price. They list around 4 grand. My house is purely personal. Tell them in the future you plan on adding a second story and pool. JK

 

[j wizzle]

tell them youre putting a personal machine shop in a barn or your garage and require an extra panel.

 

[Str8Dank]

that's the type of info i was looking for JK! thanks for the insight i think we need a thread dedicated to this type of information because people run these massive setups but no one ever talks about the hurdles that are faced and how to overcome them.

cemchris - I'm a idiot i get it now it's hilarious i was just not thinking i had my mind so wrapped around this issue i was one track minded i overlooked the humor lol.

 

[RMCG]

They need to make sure their transformers on the poles can handle it too.

There have been several 'meltdowns' in CO. Not 100% growers, as lots happened when we got a heat wave over the summer.

 

[antimatter]

I dunno about the 400 amps but 200 amp services when adding an extra building are pretty standard and you can run a pretty large op on a 200 amp if your running everything on 240v with a flipflop when you start adding Co2 and ACs the amount of the lights you can run drops quite a bit compared to air cooling the room with 240v exhaust fans and 2400 cfm carbon filters not to mention huge startup costs but if your in a hot climate air cooling like we can in Canada doesn't work as well lol.

 

[Papa]

Took some time to find a service panel at a good price.

Meter box (400 amp, with no breakers) just cost me $400. It's the large amperage breakers and cable that cost the $$. MCM500 is way pricey, by the time I got it all finished, with two subpanels, it was $3,000 in materials. Permit was less than $100.

 

[Str8Dank]

thanks for the info papa that's really helpful!!!

 

[Jalisco Kid]

I paid 840 for a Square D 400a 42 breaker, 2) 200a breakers,a 200a subpanel, 2) 8' copper grounding rods. JK