Wattage info

[Pharaoh]

Working on my basement setup and designing the light setup. Does anyone know what the wattage/amperage for a standard 4x2 commercial ceiling light? I believe that standard lights are T8s with four bulbs. I am trying to figure out how many of these lights I can put on one lighting circuit. I am having problems remembering my math tonight.

 

[bbrtmad]

if there are the standard florecent shop lights. i have 8 8ft x2 tubes in my shop on a single 30 amp breaker. Probably could run more they only peak during start up after that there draw is minimal.

 

[chesterthehero]

standard light commercial AC units have 30 amp breakers... im going to vote "a lot" is a safe answer

 

[Pharaoh]

Well, I finally realized that I needed quite a bit more light in the basement then I had originally though. I was originally wanting to put all of the lighting on one circuit so that I could dedicate the other line to outlets. I am looking at 11 4'x2' (4 bulb) lights in the main area, 1 in standard issue light in the bathroom and possibly 2-4 more of the 2x4s int he fish room.
Now I am under the assumption that 16 light is too much for the circuit, but I would really like to know how many I could get away with in total so I can then put in the safety factor.

 

[zennzzo]

You are running what wattage bulbs? Normally the ballasts will store the energy to start the tubes. Add up the wattages.
I have run 1000watt Halides safely on a 15 amp circuit...

 

[mrunlucky07]

Watts is volts x amps

So if you are running a 30 amp breaker on 110v that is 3300w.

 

[stevieuk]

The UK version of a 4x2 Modular fitting contains 4 x 36watt T8 tubes, so a total of 144watts per fitting, I`d guess it`d be the same in the USA.

So you should be able to run 20, although I`d suggest a max of about 15, to allow for starting currents, although you might be able to get slightly more if they were on different switches, say 5 at a time coming on.

 

[crisper]

Consult your local electrical code if you don't know.

 

[rallysman]

Consult your local electrical code if you don't know.

I don't think the code has that type of information.

 

[Pharaoh]

I am going to go to the hardware store tomorrow and find out what the wattage rating for the 4x2 lights. Once I have the wattage of the ballasts, then I will know how many watts they pull. Then I can figure out how many wats I will have on the entire breaker. Maybe we can do some math from there.