I've been hobby growing for three years or so but for some reason I'm recently paranoid about leaving the lamps on when I leave the house. I'll just open the closet doors and leave the bedroom light on. I think it's just from general anxiety I've had recently more than any grounded concern. I've got a 250w HPS which is plugged into a power strip which is then plugged into a 6-outlet wall plug. Then in the other half of the closet is about 8 cfl's for vegging. These are suspended by cords which rest in a shelf above them, and I use copper wires to wrap around those cords to hold them up, altering the height of the cfl's to allow for growth. The cfls are plugged in individually to another power strip on that same shelf which is plugged into the HPS power strip. Blah anyway, what are the causes of grow fires? My wife says I don't need to worry but I wanted to get more opinions. There's no water sitting around and I remove the plants from the area for watering. There is one pretty old fan in the setup but I don't see how that would be an issue. I tried searching the net for the causes of grow fires but the only ones that are visible are entire houses or rooms devoted to the garden. Is there much risk at all for this small setup?:cheers2:
I'd just check your equipment every once in a while, make sure everything is in working order and all the bulbs are secure in their sockets. I don't have much information on this honestly, but an occasional overview of your set-up might help alleviate some of your apprehension. I think there are sections in a couple of the books I've bought about growing which concerned wiring, but like you said it seemed more for full grow rooms and not a closet space like mine so I never really looked over them. I also only use CFLs, don't have an HID yet. But I will glance over my books when I get home, better to be safe than sorry. In the meantime I think you are fine, I'll let you know but I think you might be just a little paranoid lol.
I would say you don't have much to worry about. You are using less electricity than alot of peoples computer. But, it never hurts to be careful. Just make sure you use grounded wires and that they are rated to handle the power draw you are using. Feel the wires/outlets to see if they are getting hot. This is a sign of electrical resistance, which means you are overloading the wires. The cords/ballasts on th HPS will get warm, but not hot. If you often pop the circuit, you might want to move some of your equipment to a different circuit. I like to use power tool grade extension cords where needed. If you macguivered any of the wiring in your setup, spend the time to do it right or hire an electrician. You can eliminate the powerstrip from your setup by replacing the first outlet the 6 plug unit to a GFCI outlet(the ones in bathrooms with plugs). This will reduce resistance. Just some thought, but if you use common sense, you should be fine.
Oh, I'd be more worried about something in the closet catching on fire that an electrical fire. I would remove any flammable materials. If you have plastic sheeting up, I'd switch to drywall. Make sure to clean any leaf debris up too, this in kindling.
nice information. thanks for posting. I agree I am probably being too paranoid. I'm always removing dead leaves just cuz I think they're ugly. but I think there's a couple shirts nearby that I should relocate. thanx! 8^D
you can not use GFCI on HPS ballast type starters.. This is designed to trip when there is a variant in current draw.. When the Hps is starting, it will trip this GFCI and this will just screw up your grow op.. stick to the power strips they wil trip if there is a short.. 250W Hps X 8, clf 25W/Avg... = 3.33 Amps.. I think its highly unlikely you will cause a fire.. Im usually home for the 9hrs my hps is running.. I check cords for heat and kinks, make sure nothing is sitting on main extensions (like anything that will pinch them.. even a empty clothe basket.
