Hello! <span style="font-size: 14px;">My apartment is 60+ years old. I have been running into some electrical issues with my grow and I wish to resolve them as soon as possible. I can use any and all help! </span> <span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span> <span style="font-size: 14px;">I have 8 switches on my breaker. Only five are in use for my studio apartment. 1 for the water heater, 2 joined together for the fridge and oven, 1 for the lights, and 1 for all (4) outlets. </span> <span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span> <span style="font-size: 14px;">This means I have my 6000 btu a/c, 400 watt hps, fan, laptop/phone chargers, room fans, toaster oven... everything plugged into something running on one circuit. I have come to the conclusion that I am riiiiight at the cap with normal use of all my electronics. When something uses a little too much power, like the ac goin ham, or the toaster oven being on at the same time as the ac, the breaker trips, and my lights, ac, fan...everything goes out. </span> <span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span> <span style="font-size: 14px;">NO BUENO! </span> <span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span> <span style="font-size: 14px;">Before I go calling the electric company and play dumb so they can come out here and do something about this, can anyone tell me what my options are here? Is it possible to re-route an outlet to a different switch so that the one circuit that is running everything doesn't trip out? I'd like to do it myself </span> <span style="font-size: 14px;">I hope I used the correct terminology for everything lol</span> <span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span> <span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span> <span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span> <span style="font-size: 14px;">Thank you!</span> <span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span> <span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span> Edit: Currently checking this out. I hope I'm in the right direction and my stoney ass can reward myself for answering my own question... http://www.oneprojectcloser.com/how-to-run-a-new-e...
Electric company isn't responsible for breaker boxes...they just provide the juice going TO the box. You would need an electrician to do things properly (different thing)...and since this is an apartment, very likely the landlord needs to be in the loop for any work being performed since they have an obligation to ensure it is up to code.
sounds like if it's a rental apartment you're pretty much screwed. i doubt your landlord is going to let you re-wire the apartment to accommodate your grow setup without extensive electrical knowledge yourself, and electricians are NOT cheap. and most of them HATE rewiring old construction. they happily take the jobs wiring a new house being built, because running wires without walls is a lot easier than snaking them through 60 y/o dusty walls. as a guy with moderate experience doing DIY home remodeling, it'd probably be easier to rip the walls down to studs and run them and reboard it up. Pain in the ass? absolutely. which is why in my first statement i said you're screwed unless you can figure out how to split some of those breakers up... again, playing with an electrical box without knowing EXACTLY what you're doing is likely going to kill you. arc both 115v lines across your body and you're done. just 1 of them off the main could do serious damage, possibly kill you still.