Electrical Question

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

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

"Gary V. Deutschmann, Sr." wrote in message
...
Hi Travis

Amperes is equal to watts divided by volts.

Provided that thepowerfactor of the device is 1, ie. that the current and
voltage is in phase.

You will find that only strictly resistive loads have a powerfactor of 1,
capacitive / inductive loads reduces the powerfactor and that will need to
be factored in when doing the power calculations. This effectively means
that you only get the true wattage * power factor out of the device, the
rest is lost in heat / internal losses in the device.

Also be aware that the start current is higher than the running current, so
that will have to be factured in to...


Something like this: True wattage = output wattage / power factor, so true
wattage = 440 / 0.7 = true wattage = 628 watt for a standard ballast
connected to a 440 Watt Metal Halide light fitting...

The power factor for electronic ballasts are usually in the 0.9 to 0.95
range, so less power loss / heat loss there...


When you have the true wattage of a device you can deduce the current via
Ohms law, ie. I = P(resistive) / U = I = 628 / 120 = I = 5.23


The start current for small ballasts / lamps can be neglected because they
will be caught by the slowness of the fuse, but if the fuse was utilized
maxed out and all the ballasts were turned on at the same time it might not
be slow enough not to blow / break the cirquit. To be safe never utilize a
cirquit more than say 85% to 90% and you should be just fine...


Does this make sense?


Regards

Morten




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






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Hi Travis.

Have you found an answer to your question?

I'm afraid that the dorks that responded were more interested in
showing off.
You really won't have to worry about power factor unless you've got
some really HUGE pumps on your tank.

Reply to this post if you still need help and I'll try to assist via
email.

Erik



On Tue, 13 Apr 2004 07:06:26 GMT, "Travis A."
wrote:

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