Author

Topic: Watts a typical house can handle? (Read 27882 times)

DrG
legendary
Activity: 2086
Merit: 1035
February 17, 2014, 03:48:42 AM
#18
If you're tripping breakers you're already going too far (unless somebody used a blender or microwave or some other short term high power device).
hero member
Activity: 642
Merit: 500
February 16, 2014, 09:56:27 PM
#17
There are two things that will trip a breaker, one is a short circuit, the other is heat. (Electricians correct me if I'm wrong here.)

For a regular breaker, the only thing that will trip it is heat (and a short circuit will quickly heat up the bi-metal in the breaker).

The exception to this are RCD breakers (commonly called GFCI breakers in the US).
donator
Activity: 1057
Merit: 1021
February 15, 2014, 11:45:50 PM
#16

How much did it cost to add each 200amp panel (I'm assuming single phase 120v)?

I bought all the materials myself and had the whips made.

$1100 for whips
$300 for boxes and breakers
$100 for wire and other parts
$1100 for electrician

$2600 for both so $1300 each.  Yes single phase 120V.

I also have 8 whips left over to do another box so it would be a little cheaper.
newbie
Activity: 18
Merit: 0
February 15, 2014, 08:46:44 PM
#15
Find an electrician on craigslist.

I called one back in 2011 and had him run 70 amps off the main line to my garage.  I ran 35 Video cards + about 15 box fans through 2 summers.  After 2 years I finally melted the wires and had to have them replaced with larger wires.

I finally moved everything to my warehouse that has 2000 amp service because I am sucking down way too much power now for my house.

I just had 2 more 200amp panels installed.

https://i.imgur.com/k0WRsEp.jpg
How much did it cost to add each 200amp panel (I'm assuming single phase 120v)?
hero member
Activity: 924
Merit: 1000
February 15, 2014, 06:24:42 PM
#14
A typical 15A breaker may not even trip if there's more than 15A running through it.

There are two things that will trip a breaker, one is a short circuit, the other is heat. (Electricians correct me if I'm wrong here.) The amount of time it takes for the breaker to heat up determines when it will break--it isn't smart enough to know how much current is running through it so if the panel is in a cold basement that will be a factor.

Here's an example of a breaker trip curve that should give you a little more insight. So this particular breaker would handle up to 1.13 times it's current before tripping. Stay safe!

donator
Activity: 1057
Merit: 1021
February 15, 2014, 05:45:52 PM
#13
Find an electrician on craigslist.

I called one back in 2011 and had him run 70 amps off the main line to my garage.  I ran 35 Video cards + about 15 box fans through 2 summers.  After 2 years I finally melted the wires and had to have them replaced with larger wires.

I finally moved everything to my warehouse that has 2000 amp service because I am sucking down way too much power now for my house.

I just had 2 more 200amp panels installed.

full member
Activity: 192
Merit: 100
February 15, 2014, 04:41:17 PM
#12
A lot depends on how serious you are about mining vs other things in life.

The first question I always ask people who want to get serious about folding, or in this case mining, is "Do you have an electric dryer outlet in your garage" which, if yes, is "are you using it".  If the answers are "yes" and "no" then 30 amps at 220v can run a lot of computing gear somewhere it won't be driving you nutz with the noise.

That, of course, assumes you can take over the garage and don't use an electric dryer.  Spouses often have something to say.  Hence the initial question of "how serious are you".

If, on the other hand, you are sitting in your room with the electrical outlets available to you in your room and want to see what you can do with that and only that ...  You already heard the answers.  You likely have one or two 15 amp or 20 amp circuits shared with other rooms in the house.  Trying to maximize your load in that situation will build loads of bad karma all around when you keep blowing breakers.
legendary
Activity: 966
Merit: 1004
CryptoTalk.Org - Get Paid for every Post!
February 15, 2014, 08:54:08 AM
#11
Here you go man. Your looking for the death&taxes protocol.
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/residential-limit-15amp-or-20amp-355305

full member
Activity: 137
Merit: 100
February 15, 2014, 08:24:03 AM
#10
Just plug it in...
If it pops the breaker... move it to another room/breaker.
If it catches fire and burns down the house... that's what insurance is for.
If you end up buying more miners than you can provide power for...re-sell them on ebay.

simple
newbie
Activity: 42
Merit: 0
February 15, 2014, 06:05:48 AM
#9
you will most likely burn your house down before you make back $500
member
Activity: 112
Merit: 10
February 15, 2014, 02:28:28 AM
#8
Better keep it in safe zone, or find any relatives house, that has low load on electrical circuit and place some miner there.
sr. member
Activity: 266
Merit: 250
February 15, 2014, 01:53:38 AM
#7
I just found out it's 15 amps.

how many watts do you think my computer and 3 monitors, a laptop, small refridgerator all use?

I'm guessing I'll be lucky if I can run two Antminers, which take up 800 watts total?

If you have 100 amp service doesn't mean you get to use all your 12x100=12,000 W so your question is incorrect.

It's "per breaker" so if you have a 15A breaker that gives you 1800W and it will blow once you get around 2000W so if you have 4x 1200W rigs each will take over a complete 1800W breaker. The remaining 600W will be unusable, unless too want to hook up a lamp or something. Basically from the 12000W maximum you probably can manage to get maybe 5000W in rigs plus the rest of the house microwave toaster hair dryer etc. And even if you use the 5000W you have to spread them arrive the house which is not practical. So count on maximum two to three 1200W rigs.

Remember a part of that 100A is dedicated to your washer/dryer. A portion is also dedicated to your kitchen.
legendary
Activity: 1148
Merit: 1000
February 15, 2014, 12:36:11 AM
#6
go to your breaker box... it should have some sort of labels or diagram... then they should say 10,15,20 amp... multiply that by 120 is the amount of watts you can put on that circuit


How many amps do the typical house have?  It's the original box when the house was built in the 70s, I'm sure it's worn out by now...

You probably have 100amp service.  Many newer homes have 200amp service but not all.
hero member
Activity: 674
Merit: 500
February 14, 2014, 11:35:33 PM
#5
I just found out it's 15 amps.

how many watts do you think my computer and 3 monitors, a laptop, small refridgerator all use?

I'm guessing I'll be lucky if I can run two Antminers, which take up 800 watts total?
hero member
Activity: 674
Merit: 500
February 14, 2014, 09:34:20 PM
#4
go to your breaker box... it should have some sort of labels or diagram... then they should say 10,15,20 amp... multiply that by 120 is the amount of watts you can put on that circuit


How many amps do the typical house have?  It's the original box when the house was built in the 70s, I'm sure it's worn out by now...
legendary
Activity: 784
Merit: 1000
February 14, 2014, 09:16:29 PM
#3
go to your breaker box... it should have some sort of labels or diagram... then they should say 10,15,20 amp... multiply that by 120 is the amount of watts you can put on that circuit


Not quite that simple.  Who knows what's been done to the electrical in the last 45 years.  Some dumbass may have replaced a 15amp breaker with a 20 because he kept blowing the 15 and is too stupid to realize that the 15 was there to keep him from burning down his house.  And then the OP puts a 20 amp load on it(which is too much even for a 20) and catches the wiring on fire in his wall.

OP, if you're looking at a serious operation, I'd look into spending a couple hundred bucks on an electrician to make sure your wiring and breakers are properly sized.  Maybe you have him install a few dedicated 240v plugs, PSUs wil generally be more efficient on 240 than 120.  Also, never load a circuit more than 80% for continuous operation.  So a 15amp circuit should stay around 12amps.

Get yourself a killawatt, it's cheap and incredibly handy to determine what your usage is for a particular machine.

Don't burn your house down to mine a few coins.....

Good luck!
member
Activity: 61
Merit: 10
February 14, 2014, 09:09:42 PM
#2
go to your breaker box... it should have some sort of labels or diagram... then they should say 10,15,20 amp... multiply that by 120 is the amount of watts you can put on that circuit
hero member
Activity: 674
Merit: 500
February 14, 2014, 09:01:54 PM
#1
How many watts can a typical household handle before blowing the breaker or whatever?

I want to know how many miners I can run before I start blowing fuses.

edit: my house was built around 1970 if that helps
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