Electrical Question

Hi Travis

Amperes is equal to watts divided by volts.

Check your supply voltage with a meter!

At 120 volts:
Your Icecap is using 3.7 amps. 440/120=3.666666
Your Heater is using 1.7 amps. 200/120=1.666666
A 175 watt bulb uses 1.5 amps. 175/120=1.458333

But if your voltage is only 115 volts:
Your Icecap is using 3.9 amps. 440/115=3.826086
Your Heater is using 1.8 amps. 200/115=1.739130
A 175 watt bulb uses 1.6 amps. 175/115=1.521739

Watts and therefore watthours are calculated using volts x amperes.
The lower your supply voltage, the higher your amperage.
The higher your amperage, the higher your watthour usage and the
higher your electric bill.
In other words, the lower the voltage tap the electric company uses
for your house, the higher your electric bill will be, therefore, many
homes are on the 115 volt tap. If so, have them move you to the 120
volt tap on the transformer and see the reduction on your bill.

Most modern outlet circuits use a 20 amp breaker and 12 guage wiring,
but the outlets themselves are often only rated for 15 amps. Some
older homes only have 14 guage wiring and 15 amp breakers.

More than likely there will be other outlets on that same 20 amp
circuit, locate them and find out what they are used for also, and
include the total amperage consumed by these outlets, including
occasional use items, like a vacuum cleaner, etc. in your
calculations.

TTUL
Gary


"Travis A." verbositized:

I am trying to figure out if need to add more outlets around my tank. In
the future I want to upgrade to MH lighting and was not sure if my current
set up would be safe adding Mh also.

This is what I have now and maybe you could answer my question.

I am currently using 2 outlets, both are on the same circuit. Icecap 660
with 440 watts of VHO lighting, mag 9.5 & 7 for tank circulation & skimmer,
200 watt heater, 2 maxi jet power heads and fan in canopy, & 2 other outlets
for my calcium reactor. In the future I will probably upgrade to 2 175 watt
MH with VHO. My question is would I need to add another outlet or 2 from the
breaker box to run all of this safely or go to a higher amp breaker.

Thanks
Travis