# 100 AMP PANEL advice



## 215zealot (Sep 25, 2008)

im concerned my new home only has a 100 amp panel box, instead of the 200 i was hoping for.


i dont have a big grow in mind, but i want to run at least 1600 total watts. (3)x 400watts plus fans and carbon filter 


will my panel support this?

im going to run two 400s in one room, one wired to the circuit in that room and the other drawing power from my bathroom circuit. 


another 400 will be running in another room.  

add one carbon air filter+ squirrel fan + misc fans and pumps, timers, dehumidifiers.


is this possible???? please let me know.


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## 215zealot (Sep 25, 2008)

so ive been doing a little research in an attempt to prematurely answer my own question, please tell me if i am wrong!!!


this is what i read...

"As we have described before, an indoor pot garden is very lucky to yield one pound per 1000 watts of HID lighting, and no matter how they're doing it, only so many plants can fit under a single lamp. In order to get anywhere near 71 pounds at harvest time, they would need to be running at least 70 lights, and more than likely it would actually require eighty or ninety 1000-watt lights. That's 80 or 90 thousand watts of electricity, which is technically impossible given that the most wattage a residence can actually pull over a PG&E circuit is 48000 watts, and that's only if they have an upgraded 200-amp line and are maxing out both 120V circuits from the utility."""



SO




100 amp panel can handle up to 24,000 watts of electrical if it is being maxed out.


Lets divide that in half to be safe, at 12,000 watts of power.  now, assuming that half of this power is used for TVs, fridge, etc, that leaves around 6,000 watts of power


is this enough breathing room or will my circuits be overloaded???

so theoritically, it would be safe to run at least 2000 watts of lighting for my grow OP on a 100 amp panel????  i dont need any extra wiring to accomplish this?


and considering that i run 1000 watts through two 20 amp circuit breakers, this seems OK????


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## 215zealot (Sep 25, 2008)

heres some more advice i grabbed off an electric forum

I try to keep my 15 amp circuits as close to or below 1000 watts as I can, although, it will hold 2,000 watts with little trouble.
You will have to check the watts ratings on your switches also!
Just add up the total of the wattage of the bulbs you intend to use.
Match that to switches and circuits that can handle the watts.
For a 20 amp circuit, You could possibly go as far as 3,000 watts with no problems.
These figures are at 120volts with a little under the 80% of the circuit amperage tolerance allowed by code.
NEVER operate a circuit at full rated amperage. The rated values are there so you can make responsible and safe decisions about what you install in your home.

Once again, check the switch watts rating. Keep the total at 80% or below the rated watts of the switch.

Welcome to the forum,
Tom
petey_racer
08-14-2006, 01:14 AM
For 120v lighting circuits, a 15 amp circuit can handle 1800 watts. A 20 amp 2400 watts.

For a continuous load you must use the 80% loading rule. Almost nothing in home is considered a continuous load, especially lighting. Common sense does tell us though to keep loads under these full current numbers.

Circuits for lighting MUST be sized according to the maximum wattage a fixture is rated for. If you use 150 watt recessed fixtures, but are using 65 watt lamps, you still use 150w to figure the circuit load.

Switches are rated in amperage, NOT wattage, and must be sized according to the load they control. So do not switch fifteen 150w fixtures with a 15 amp switch.


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## 215zealot (Sep 25, 2008)

also, i think that im tripping and that my new home actually has a 200 amp panel.  its a very remodeled house but its kind of small (only 1000 sq 3bdrm) and the panel looked kinda small compared to the 200 watt panels i see pictures off.


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## Growdude (Sep 25, 2008)

215zealot said:
			
		

> also, i think that im tripping and that my new home actually has a 200 amp panel. its a very remodeled house but its kind of small (only 1000 sq 3bdrm) and the panel looked kinda small compared to the 200 watt panels i see pictures off.


 
Just look at the main breaker if its 200 its a 200 amp panel.

The only concern you will have if its 100 amp is what the total load of the house will be with the lights on if your total load is above 100 amps you will trip that main breaker.

Otherwise the 3rd post is the rule of thumb for the 15 or 20 amp breakers
and if you run the 1600 watts beetween 2 breakers you should not have a problem.


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## The Hemp Goddess (Sep 25, 2008)

You can't really go from what your main service is.  You have to look at the breakers that supply the power to the rooms you plan to pull electricity from.  You could well have 2 bedrooms on one 15 amp circuit.  If you have lights plugged into a bathroom circuit, you could trip a breaker just turning on a blow dryer (1500W).   In other words, you have to consider everything else in your house that requires electricity and what circuit they are on.     

I always recommend running dedicated circuits for growing spaces.


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## NorCalHal (Sep 25, 2008)

The safest bet is what HempGoddess said, run a seperate circuit for your lights.

Look at your service panel. 
As Growdude said, look at the MAIN breaker, and it should say the amperage value on it ( most likely 100,125,150 opr 200 amps). Thats a start.

Then look at the panel and see if there are any "blank" space on the panel for you to install a new breaker. They will look like "fins or tabs that a breaker will "lock" into. If this is the case, you are in the money.

I would recommend installing a 30 amp, 240 breaker to run 3, 600 watters. This is way overkill for those lights and you will have no issues. I run 4000w on a dedicated 30 amp, 240 breaker. 

This would be the safest way, inho to wire up your lights.

Now, if you have no means of wiring this up yourself, or the knowledge, there are a couple of other options.

Find out what breakers control what outlets in the rooms you are going to use. As Hemp also said, you most likely have 15 amp breakers controlling multiple outlets. YOU MUST FIND OUT WHICH BREAKER CONTROLS EACH SPECIFIC OUTLET. You will want you lights on a breaker of it's own.
Correct me if I am wrong, I am not sure the amperage rating for 600w lights, but I beleive it is 6 amps @ 120? If this is correct, you could run 2, 600s on 1 15 amp breaker. But, if you can, change that 15 amp breaker to a 20 amp.

One other option is to "splice" into your cloths dryers 240 amp outlet. Most dryer plugs are on a dedicated 30-50 amp 240 breaker. If this is possible, you are in the money.
CAUTION, if you do this, you can only run your dryer when your lights are OFF. And you will have to convert your ballasts to 240v, which is fairly easy.


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## The Hemp Goddess (Sep 25, 2008)

Before you switch a breaker out for a larger one, make sure that you have a heavy enough wire gauge to handle the current.  I have found that you generally cannot switch out a 15 amp breaker for a 20 amp safely.  A 20 amp breaker requires a minimum 12 gauge wire--a 15amp breaker requires 14 gauge.


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## 215zealot (Sep 25, 2008)

THANKS FOR THE ADVICE GUYS!!

i just signed papers so im not in the house yet, but i will go check it out, the next day im back at the house is tuesday so hopefully i can get a better look at the panel and teh circuit loads for each breaker.


seriously NORCALHAL, quality post!!  if i had a 'props' button i would prop you!  that answered alot of my questions.


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## Killertea08 (Sep 25, 2008)

Yeah dude if you have a 100 amp panel then this would be possible but you are going to have to cut some load on something else in the house.  When you have time to look at your service panel take some time and have your women or a friend stay inside with the lights on.  Then one by one turn off breaker by breaker and make a note which one is which.  I like to put a label by each breaker so I know what goes to what.  You can choose to add a dedicated line for your lights but if you have only 100amps then I wouldnt do this unless you where not using all of that 100amps.  Lets say you add up all the breakers in your panel and your only have 80 then you can add a 20 to equal 100.  Or you can run an existing circuit that you have found on your check list your not using and relocate it to your grow room which is very easy.  I did this with a spare room so I could run my 1000w.  Electrical diy books help out a great deal with this.

Another option is to construct a "Sub Panel"  Its a seperate service panel thats connected to the main panel.  Only do this if you have a 200amp panel.  
If you have available space for extra breakers on your panel throw in a 60amp breaker and the right gauge wire I think I was told 6 gauge, to 4- 15amp breakers or 3 20amp breakers.  then you have your 3 or 4 seperate outlets close by.  I looked this up at a book store and it should me exactly what I needed.  I went to Home depot and asked a guy there what I needed.  Said I work with wood and I run a lot of power equipment etc.  He bought it and showed me the stuff I need.  You may have to buy a spool of wire thats all I could find when I went and it was expensive and really overkill.  Might have better luck buying the wire online in shorter length.  I have some pictures from a high times mag on sub panels I will snap a shot for you so you get a better idea. be right back.


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## Killertea08 (Sep 25, 2008)

Here ya go bud.  Sorry if the pictures are fuzzy.

Oh this is what I read in the high times mag I saved.

ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR MORE POWER.
By far the best solution for your power needs is to run additional internal circuits directly from you power box to your growroom.  keeping wires inside walls whenever possible is safer for your personal security than running an external conduit along ceilings and walls.  As a general rule, for every two 600w bulbs(1,200 watts) you'll need a free 20amp circuit . this rule covers the peripheral devices outside of lighting and allows for a few extra amps as a recommended " amp-cushion."

DISTRO-BOXES
Aside from running internal circuits through your home or using electric generators, you can use some basic knowledge obtained for how to books on electricity to buid your own power distribution board.  Such boards can be used to separate and distribute hundreds of amps directly from a breaker box, and they are extremely useful when the power box is not in close proximity to the grow room.

A distribution box or "distro box" as they're also called can be a growers best friend. distribution boxes are lightweight and portable and can be assembled from parts bought at your local hardware stare for less then $150.  Once constructed , a distro box can be attached directly to one or more circuit breakers in your panel box, creating new circuits for your growroom.  In electricians lingo, a distro box is basically a subpanel, or secondary, power box.  With long enough supply lines and wiring with the appropriate gauge , you can run a distro box off a main power box from a considerable distance, even through multiple floors.


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## Killertea08 (Sep 25, 2008)

Another home made distro box aka Subpanel


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