Breaker, Pumps & Lights Oh my!
Accessories!
On average, not a custom job, in a home you will normally have a branching circuit for each room, & may have several circuits in one room, such as kitchen. A circuit in a living room may consist of all the outlets, lights on one breaker, usually 15A or 20A (Amperes). With a home entertainment system, optional lighting & accessories, you may reach @ a peek of 8A or 10A roughly & this is a Max load. Once everything starts up, the over-all surge drops considerable, so your total power consumption, with the TV, sterio etc rocking wide open, your still using less way than the initial start-up surge, which in most cases, you will never start up everything all at once anyways, so reaching that peak will take work, maybe throw in a vacuum, or hair dryer. How does this all relate to breakers & my aquarium. Well, your aquarium, loaded with power hungry components will probably make good use of a 20A breaker, thinking MH average maybe umm 250W @ 2.0833A, each VHO, PC T5 another 420W 3.5A for an IC660 ballast. Heaters, how many of you use two of these just in case, average 200w to 300W each @2.5A, you can see how quickly these things add up, if this is on the same breaker as your living room (all say Eye) then your loaded on that circuit. One thing you can do is get your trusty pen & paper and write things down. When I get new electrical equipment, first concern is, can I use this and still be safe, meaning will it use more current than my already loaded circuit can handle? I write down the wattage, or amperage reading on the piece of equipment, if it is purchased new, it will be labeled, usually on the bottom. Then I continue with all of my equipment until I have a list, Example Return Pump 65W on 120 volts AC = 65 divided by 120 = .541667Amps using Ohm’s law. I then total the list, I will use the total amperage to figure out if I’ve exceeded the breaker I’m using or maybe plan to use, I like to have a cousin of minimal 75% or less the rating of the breaker total Max load, which means if you instantly turned on everything all at once, this is how much amperage it would need. The labeled amperage in most cases is this initial start-up current surge and not the actual running load amperage. Some of your more larger power consumers will label two listing of amperage, starting & operation amperage, those values are nice to have, otherwise you would need an ammeter to get a true reading of how much current is being used. Our main concern here is making sure we’re not pushing the limits of our circuits. These basic ideas will work on most any electrical device you have. The link I’ve posted has calculator in them to do the very same as described, including figuring out wire size & breakers needed. If you get to the point that you do need another circuit, then unless your really experienced, I’d stop there & get professional help, make sure it is someone that keeps up with the ever changing local & national codes. It just isn’t worth trying to DIY & save you money, at this point you owe it more so than anything else to get this done properly. The rest of the equipment can be DIY & safely with a little help.
I will write up on, surge power strips, why I like them, & touch on, GFCI & AFCI as my next subject matter, also ground probes. I purposely went generic on these topics because each location can be unique, I’d rather a PM or direct post for your particular application. These basic steps are easier than it looks, & should be practiced by anyone that is willing to give a fish a home such as ours.
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