Electrical question

[Animal Mother]

Okay, let's say I'm going to rig up 6 individual systems in one room. All will require power for filtration and lighting of course. There are only 2 outlets in this particular room, both will need to be converted to GFCI.

To safely run that much power, what are some suggestions for this scenario?

 

[Reefmike]

Have an electrician come out and install an additional breaker and run a dedicated circuit and additional outlets. You could even have him set it up so that you can install a generator to run that circuit during power failure.

 

[Ashlar]

To safely say 'how much power..' you have to do some math.. add up the consumption in amps of lights, powerheads, pumps, controllers, chiller, heaters, etc etc.. then take 125% of that figure and give it to an electrician. They can tell you how many circuits that'd require of what amperage.

 

[Animal Mother]

Alright. That was sort of what I had in mind.

Can anybody tell me how many amps Koralia 4's draw?

 

[Serk]

Doing some googling, Koralia 4's are rated at 12 watts @ 115 volt...

The conversion of Watts to Amps is governed by the equation Amps = Watts/Volts... So...

Amps = 12/115

Or roughly .1 amp each...

(Someone PLEASE double check me though!!!)

 

[Animal Mother]

@Serk wrote:

Cool. Thanks. That helps a ton.

 

[Animal Mother]

@200mfromocean wrote:

After adding it up it's probably going to be 25-30 amps. No chillers. I'll be using T-5's so not to be too strenuous on the power consumption.

I considered plumbing it all together to cut back on some of the overall equipment necessary, but honestly I'm not that handy in the DIY department, and I think not sharing the water supply between the tanks will benefit the situation in the long run. So each system will have individual skimmers, pumps, etc.

 

[melev]

On a 15 amp breaker, you are allowed to pull 80% of the load. 12 amps tops. On a 20 amp breaker, 16 amps max. This protects against overheating the wires in your walls.

 

[Animal Mother]

Okay, well my next question is... anyone have a guess at how much this is going to cost for the electrician labor, equipment, etc? I don't need an exact figure, just an educated, experienced guess.

.... going to get a loan tomorrow. Wanna make sure I'm not cutting myself short.

 

[melev]

Running the wire can be done yourself. You can even have the outlets wired if you wish. Then you have to pay the electrician to verify your work (saves time on their hourly wage) and tied those wires into your breaker box.

I've paid between $80 and $250 for an electrician to do work in my home. If that is the route you are going, I would suggest running at least 2 circuits, and have the GFCI protected. And plug in only the most essential stuff (return pump) in a regular outlet on a standard circuit. That way if a GFCI circuit trips (nuisance trip, not the real deal), you still have flow in your tank.

 

[Animal Mother]

Sounds good. I'm no Bob Vila by any means. I'd burn the house down if I did it. I'll just pay for it, doesn't sound like it's going to be ridiculously expensive, especially to know it's done right.