Beginner Amperage

[jrock_at_rons]

I've been lurking around LOR for quite some time, and now that my kids are getting a bit older, I'm considering jumping in now. 

 

Being a complete planner/detail freak, I was wondering what i can expect in terms of needing dedicated circuits to run a show. 

Right now I'm planning on starting with 32 channels, all LEDs.  Could this be done with just my outdoor and garage circuits?  At what point would I need to consider adding circuits?

 

Thanks. 

 

[Don]

I've been lurking around LOR for quite some time, and now that my kids are getting a bit older, I'm considering jumping in now. 

 

Being a complete planner/detail freak, I was wondering what i can expect in terms of needing dedicated circuits to run a show. 

Right now I'm planning on starting with 32 channels, all LEDs.  Could this be done with just my outdoor and garage circuits?  At what point would I need to consider adding circuits?

 

Thanks. 

 

32 channels, all LED's? I'd say you have a 99.99% chance of being able to do that. (The .01% is if you are running 'a ton' of LED and aren't letting on to it.)

 

When to add more circuits? The best answer I have is what I consider the obvious one, that is when you realize you are going to exceed your current capacity. If you plan for 5 amps of power in your display this year, and 34 next year, then next year would be the year to upgrade.

[75redman]

Like mentioned above, if running LEDs you should't have a problem.  Last year I ran 6 controllers on one outlet.  I was about 95% LED.  With 22,000 lights all on I was pulling just over 16amps total.

[Jim Hans]

With all LED's running out of circuits due to amps may take a while, however, an issue to watch for is that current loss is additive to a GFCI outlet.  You may be able to run 50,000 lights off one 20 amp circuit but on a rainy night it may keep tripping your GFCI's. 

[75redman]

With all LED's running out of circuits due to amps may take a while, however, an issue to watch for is that current loss is additive to a GFCI outlet.  You may be able to run 50,000 lights off one 20 amp circuit but on a rainy night it may keep tripping your GFCI's.

Sorry Jim didn't think about the rain.  It doesn't rain much around here.

[jrock_at_rons]

Thanks for the responses everyone.  

 

How adverse are GFCIs to snow?  Currently I have just a static display (maybe 2000 ican lights) and even a mid-December rain will trip the circuit.  I'm hoping less pull from LEDs will remedy this.  Usually we don't have to worry about rain as much as snow though. 

 

Like I said, I'm planner, so I like to know everything before going in.  I was tempted to get in on the sale yesterday but I decided I want to complete my first song with the LOR software before I dove in.  

Thanks again. 

[wmilkie]

I'm running 8 controllers, 128 channels,   20k+   led lights; on one 20 amp circuit from my garage

during show time, the 20 amp circuit is dedicated to the show; I was showing a peak draw of about 8 amps, average about   3-6amps

 

this year I'll be expanding, so I may have to add another circuit just to be on the safe side

[Max-Paul]

This will be good advice to all of the noobies, not just the OP. Get what I believe is called a Kill-a-watt meter. This meter plugs in between the outlet and what ever you had plugged into the outlet. This meter will tell you how many watts the device is pulling and more useful will be how many amps is being drawn. There is a rule of thumb that many of us try to live by. Draw no more than 80% of the rated current of the circuit. Simply if the circuit is rated for 15 amps. The total current drawn on all outlet of that breaker should not exceed 12 amps. Back a year or two I had all of the lights on at the same time and was only drawing 10 amps. Normally you wont have all of your lights on at the same time and I would imagine back when I did the test. Bet my peaks were more like 7 amps.

[scrobbyd]