Ok Electric Users...Electricians?
- Thread starter Julirs
- Start date
djfunkshowkid
New Member
Uhhh, yeah.....wayyy too much. Unless that outlet has its own dedicated circuit. In theory your power strips or breaker would trip before anything would happen, but as I have learned in life..."It is better to be safe, than sorry"
jojackson
New Member
What is the maximum loading capacity (wattage) on the strips? This should not be exceeded. By power strips you mean these?
Most will state max capacity on them somewhere.
likewise each light or applience you plug in has its own rating.
Many herpers are guilty (myself included) of plugging
one of the above strips into another, however ALL strips should prefrable have in built surge protection/circuit breakers.
If one strip is 2400 watt, you may still exceed that by plugging another into it, depending the total rating of all appliences you plug into them. Where possible, always be safe as a priority,
massive electric shock is no walk in the park (I know), nor is fire that destroyes your home.
I guess this one of those expenses related to your pets keeping, right along with vet bills.
Best to have an electrician install further wall outlets, whatever the cost, than risk your life and home.
Most will state max capacity on them somewhere.
likewise each light or applience you plug in has its own rating.
Many herpers are guilty (myself included) of plugging
one of the above strips into another, however ALL strips should prefrable have in built surge protection/circuit breakers.
If one strip is 2400 watt, you may still exceed that by plugging another into it, depending the total rating of all appliences you plug into them. Where possible, always be safe as a priority,
massive electric shock is no walk in the park (I know), nor is fire that destroyes your home.
I guess this one of those expenses related to your pets keeping, right along with vet bills.
Best to have an electrician install further wall outlets, whatever the cost, than risk your life and home.
laurie
Retired Moderator
How many lights is too many lights to plug into one outlet? I have 5 flourescent lamps and 5 heat lamps with 60 watt bulbs plugged into one outlet using 2 power strips. Is this too much? Hubby is hollering at me about burning down the house!
My husband knows electric stuff and wiring. He would tell you the same think he tells me, it depends on how many total outlets are on that breaker and what else you have plugged into the others. We have my lizard lounge so loaded that only one more anything blows the breaker. I give my hubby fits, I have power strips pluged into power strips pluged into timers. See if you can determine what is on the breaker with the cham lights, what size the breaker is and we will have my husband give yours the math to say ok or problems. Will that help? By the way David (hubby) is a communications teck for the Dept of Energy so he does this stuff for a living.
Julirs
New Member
That would be great-I will get all the info tomorrow. This is a 30 year old house with wiring to match I am sure. With the 55" TV plugged into the same breaker as the kitchen lights and microwave-it often blows that breaker when I start the microwave. I don't think there is anything but one houselamp plugged into the one with the chameleon lights I am speaking of.
Malicious
New Member
I really don't think it adds up to be that much...
5) Tubes @ 15 watts each = 75 watts
5) Heat lamps @ 60 watts each = 300 watts
Total = 375 watts
Im in the same boat with 4 cages, 2 strips in one outlet. I also have the misting system in there and the cable box and the Plasma Tv.....
The strip would trip if it was overloaded, correct?
-Jay
5) Tubes @ 15 watts each = 75 watts
5) Heat lamps @ 60 watts each = 300 watts
Total = 375 watts
Im in the same boat with 4 cages, 2 strips in one outlet. I also have the misting system in there and the cable box and the Plasma Tv.....
The strip would trip if it was overloaded, correct?
-Jay
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jojackson
New Member
Malicious is right on the 8 ball, unless your strips are combined max capacity less than than the total capacity of all your lights, there should be no safety issue provided either the strips or your main home power has a circuit breaker.
Jacked up powerstrips should be off the floor where possible and well ventilated ,protected from spills and excess moisture.
If your tv causes cut outs (our aircon does unless something is removed from the board)
It might be worth investing in some rewiring and installation of a dedicated circuit, for future convenience. My home is around 60 yrs old, the thought of the wiring inthe roof is frankly terrifying!
Only two wall outlets per room also, as was the style of the day, but lighting on a different circuit to everything else.
Jacked up powerstrips should be off the floor where possible and well ventilated ,protected from spills and excess moisture.
If your tv causes cut outs (our aircon does unless something is removed from the board)
It might be worth investing in some rewiring and installation of a dedicated circuit, for future convenience. My home is around 60 yrs old, the thought of the wiring inthe roof is frankly terrifying!
Only two wall outlets per room also, as was the style of the day, but lighting on a different circuit to everything else.
ChamNovice
New Member
Most people "get around" it by not knowing any better and just continuing with it anyway. The correct way when you have that many things is to have an electrician come in and run dedicated circuits. Yes it's usually pretty expensive, but not nearly what it would cost if your home went up in flames, especially if you weren't home at the time.
Most circuit breakers are 15 amp in older homes for standard rooms(check the breaker itself to be sure). Total up the wattage use of all the items you have plugged into the circuit for that room. It should say on each individual piece of equipment what its wattage use is.
Watts ÷ Volts = Amps
Example: Your 5-60 watt bulbs is 300 watts. Divide the total wattage of everything by 110 and that will give you the very close to actual, estimated amperage that you are using. Which is 2.73 amps for just your heat lamps, which is fine. I don't know the wattage of your Flourescents or I'd just do the math for you. For a 15 amp breaker I like to give 10% leeway, so absoulutely no more than 13.5 amps on that circuit for myself just to be safe. Hope this helps some. Minus your heat lamps, you still have about 10 amps left with the 10% leeway I like to leave.
Volts = 110 or 120 on homes in the U.S.for standard outlets. I generally use 110 for my math to err on the safe side.
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GooglezNvincent
New Member
I got something like this, not only is it more convenient, but it garauntees no surges!
sandrachameleon
Chameleon Enthusiast
I got around this by fixing the problem. I have increased the line coming into the house from 100 to 200 amp (still not huge, but its a small house), added a pony/sub panel, and had three dedicated circuits run to the chameleon room.
If there is space on your exisiting electrical panel, its not very expensive to have a breaker dedicated and a couple lines run, each with a couple outlets. that way you know only the stuff in your chameleon room is plugged into that line, you know the max you can plug in, and you know its safe.
laurie
Retired Moderator
you are completely correct & my husband could do it in his sleep but do you think he has???? I forgot to mention we already have 220 in the house.
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summoner12
Avid Member
I was going to post with these numbers....
Just be sure you don't leave open terminals or wires and things should be fine. You can't burn down the house unless you have open or over heated wires.
If you run 16awg wire cords with 15amps of juice.... you'll feel warm wires... This is bad. If things are heating up (the wires) then you have an issue. If you do a little math, you should be ok if you keep it under 12-13 amps per breaker.
I run four 40W UV fixtures. Then I run six 50-60W heat lamps and two 100W heat lamps and one 75W heat lamp all on one outlet.... no issues. oh and I run my Computer and misc. computer things on the same breaker.... never tripped it.
a good rule of thumb... run thick wires/cords and let the breaker do the heavy lifting.
This makes the breaker snap before the wires give out and start a fire.
summoner12
Avid Member
Zap
all homes have 220 in the home... its just how much amperage can the 220 take?
220 is the number of volts.
Sandra upgrading to a 200 amp service, is a lot of juice. She could hold a small rock concert with that kind of power....
Most homes have two legs of 110VAC coming into the home. each leg is 60Hz. and they are 180 degrees from one another... so if you put both legs together you have 220VAC. when you look at the breaker box. the breakers on the left are most likely on the same leg as each other. the breakers on the right will also share the same leg from one another. If you had room to add breakers and wanted to put two breakers dedicated to one room it would be wise to add a breaker to each side of the panel so that they don't overload one leg coming to the home.... it would be like walking around on one high heal and the other foot wearing a flat shoe, if you put both breakers on one leg. the high heal foot would become sore and hurt much sooner than the flat since its doing more work.
Unless you have a huge breeding colony you probably won't overload a single breaker. 12 amps is a lot of juice.... but... it can add up, so pay attention.
all homes have 220 in the home... its just how much amperage can the 220 take?
220 is the number of volts.
Sandra upgrading to a 200 amp service, is a lot of juice. She could hold a small rock concert with that kind of power....
Most homes have two legs of 110VAC coming into the home. each leg is 60Hz. and they are 180 degrees from one another... so if you put both legs together you have 220VAC. when you look at the breaker box. the breakers on the left are most likely on the same leg as each other. the breakers on the right will also share the same leg from one another. If you had room to add breakers and wanted to put two breakers dedicated to one room it would be wise to add a breaker to each side of the panel so that they don't overload one leg coming to the home.... it would be like walking around on one high heal and the other foot wearing a flat shoe, if you put both breakers on one leg. the high heal foot would become sore and hurt much sooner than the flat since its doing more work.
Unless you have a huge breeding colony you probably won't overload a single breaker. 12 amps is a lot of juice.... but... it can add up, so pay attention.
ChamNovice
New Member
The expense also depends on the layout of your home and the proximity of where you keep your chams to the electrical panel. In this house it would be very expensive. Chams are kept on the northwest side of the house on the 2nd floor. The electrical panel is on the southwest side of the house in the basement...... I had thought about moving them to the northeast corner room on the 2nd floor. Hopefully it's not that difficult for everyone. You also may not have this option if you live in an apartment or in a rental property. I know it wouldn't be feasible here without considerable expense.
I was going to post with these numbers....
Just be sure you don't leave open terminals or wires and things should be fine. You can't burn down the house unless you have open or over heated wires.
If you run 16awg wire cords with 15amps of juice.... you'll feel warm wires... This is bad. If things are heating up (the wires) then you have an issue. If you do a little math, you should be ok if you keep it under 12-13 amps per breaker.
a good rule of thumb... run thick wires/cords and let the breaker do the heavy lifting.
all homes have 220 in the home... its just how much amperage can the 220 take?
220 is the number of volts.
Sandra upgrading to a 200 amp service, is a lot of juice. She could hold a small rock concert with that kind of power....
Most homes have two legs of 110VAC coming into the home. each leg is 60Hz. and they are 180 degrees from one another... so if you put both legs together you have 220VAC. when you look at the breaker box. the breakers on the left are most likely on the same leg as each other. the breakers on the right will also share the same leg from one another. If you had room to add breakers and wanted to put two breakers dedicated to one room it would be wise to add a breaker to each side of the panel so that they don't overload one leg coming to the home.... it would be like walking around on one high heal and the other foot wearing a flat shoe, if you put both breakers on one leg. the high heal foot would become sore and hurt much sooner than the flat since its doing more work.
Unless you have a huge breeding colony you probably won't overload a single breaker. 12 amps is a lot of juice.... but... it can add up, so pay attention.
You beat me to this one..... Thanks for taking care of that information.
Too much info to type on the small screen of my blackberry again(Like my first post). It doesn't layout this forum very well on it either.
There are 2 - 200amp panels in my house. So far no rock concerts.....
All rooms are wired with 20 amp breakers/12ga. wire here though, so it's not much concern, definitely something you should think about if you build a new home though, and know you will have a decent power demand for animals.
It is possible for a breaker that trips alot to wear down and carry less load than rated. It can also possibly arc weld itself in the "on" position(not common) when you reset it if the overload is still on the circuit and then it would allow you to draw more current than it's rated for, allowing the wires to heat up like you said.
Pure
New Member
To touch a little more on what Summoner was saying.
Amperage + resistance =s heat
Just because you do not over power your power strip doesn't mean you are not pulling more amps than originally intended to be pulled through your home's wiring. True a circuit breaker should trip before enough amps are pulled through the wires to cause any damage/fires. This however is in an ideal world. I find that in older homes this isn't always the case. Many times higher amperage breakers have been installed so the home owner stops tripping them. This in return puts the stress (heat) back on the wires. Then when you plug in your maxed out strip you fry your wiring. Sometimes instantly sometimes over time.
The larger gage wire causes less resistance therefor can take more amps without getting hot. If I had an older home and I was worried about overheating the wiring. I would simply remove the faceplate (trip the breaker first) and check for heat damage to the wire. I would also note the gage of the wire. Then compare that to the gage of the wire in the breaker box. Once you know the gage of your wire you can tell how much amperage you can safely pull. I forget the math involved to do this. But a google search should pull what you need to know.
Amperage + resistance =s heat
Just because you do not over power your power strip doesn't mean you are not pulling more amps than originally intended to be pulled through your home's wiring. True a circuit breaker should trip before enough amps are pulled through the wires to cause any damage/fires. This however is in an ideal world. I find that in older homes this isn't always the case. Many times higher amperage breakers have been installed so the home owner stops tripping them. This in return puts the stress (heat) back on the wires. Then when you plug in your maxed out strip you fry your wiring. Sometimes instantly sometimes over time.
The larger gage wire causes less resistance therefor can take more amps without getting hot. If I had an older home and I was worried about overheating the wiring. I would simply remove the faceplate (trip the breaker first) and check for heat damage to the wire. I would also note the gage of the wire. Then compare that to the gage of the wire in the breaker box. Once you know the gage of your wire you can tell how much amperage you can safely pull. I forget the math involved to do this. But a google search should pull what you need to know.
Dave Weldon
Avid Member
Howdy All,
Here's one of my favorite gadgets for tracking power usage (Kill-A-Watt EZ ): http://www.p3international.com/products/p4460.htm
Shop around and you'll easily find it under $40 and maybe under $30.
It has a boat-load of measurement functions under a bunch of sub-menus.
Among other things, it can show volts, amps, watts, power factor (PF), Hz etc.
If you enter your cents/KWH then it will calculate total accumulated cost as well as $/min/hr/day/wk/month/year. The unit defaults to $0.25/KWH but your cost may be between $0.10 and up. I'm running over the max limits so I pay the max per KWH for the majority of my power. With all of the taxes etc. I'm close to $0.25/KWH for the "excess" power used to run the chameleon room. That works out to about $1.00 per watt per year. So if I add a 100W lamp @ 12 hours a day it costs me about $100/yr run run it. Guess why I'm not "allowed" to add a couple of 400W Metal Halide lamps to light the enitre room .
DON'T get just the Kill-A-Watt unit, get the Kill-A-Watt EZ and you'll get all of the features.
It proved that my reptile room mini-frig was using less than about $35/yr of power and that was proof enough to convince my wife to let me keep it. The kitchen frig was using more than $300/yr but I still let my wife keep it .
Here's one of my favorite gadgets for tracking power usage (Kill-A-Watt EZ ): http://www.p3international.com/products/p4460.htm
Shop around and you'll easily find it under $40 and maybe under $30.
It has a boat-load of measurement functions under a bunch of sub-menus.
Among other things, it can show volts, amps, watts, power factor (PF), Hz etc.
If you enter your cents/KWH then it will calculate total accumulated cost as well as $/min/hr/day/wk/month/year. The unit defaults to $0.25/KWH but your cost may be between $0.10 and up. I'm running over the max limits so I pay the max per KWH for the majority of my power. With all of the taxes etc. I'm close to $0.25/KWH for the "excess" power used to run the chameleon room. That works out to about $1.00 per watt per year. So if I add a 100W lamp @ 12 hours a day it costs me about $100/yr run run it
. Guess why I'm not "allowed" to add a couple of 400W Metal Halide lamps to light the enitre room .DON'T get just the Kill-A-Watt unit, get the Kill-A-Watt EZ and you'll get all of the features
.It proved that my reptile room mini-frig was using less than about $35/yr of power and that was proof enough to convince my wife to let me keep it
. The kitchen frig was using more than $300/yr but I still let my wife keep it .
jeff martin
New Member
I really don't think it adds up to be that much...
5) Tubes @ 15 watts each = 75 watts
5) Heat lamps @ 60 watts each = 300 watts
Total = 375 watts
Im in the same boat with 4 cages, 2 strips in one outlet. I also have the misting system in there and the cable box and the Plasma Tv.....
The strip would trip if it was overloaded, correct?
-Jay
Yes it would trip if overloaded, Also a important factor is resistance, Dont run really long cords. Try and use the shortest ones possible to do the job. I dont work as a electrician now but i am still certified electrician. The power strips are rated for the strip to be plugged into a wall outlet direct. NOT into the end of another long cord. So the pigtail on the strip should be plugged direct into wall and then you can untilize the wattage rating. And it will trip if overloaded. Or unless you can buy a rated cord that is the same as the wiring in your house. Most outlets are on 14/3 wire and is rated for 15 amps at the breaker and have a maximum of 8 circuits per breaker. So when you go and buy extension cords look for a min of 14/3, Some cords are 16/3 or even 18/3 very thin wiring in cord. I buy only 14/3 or 12/3 cords. You can run a power strip at the end of a 100' 12/3 cord with no problem and utilize its max watts. But if you run a 16/3 at 100' you will burn your house down. The cord is smaller that the electrical in your wall and will not trip the breaker if overloaded. Hope this makes sense and helps.
