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    roycemek's Avatar
    roycemek Posts: 44, Reputation: 2
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    #1

    Jul 6, 2012, 10:18 AM
    220 vs 110 for Lights?
    I'm looking to install some new 4 foot 4 bulb T5HO fixtures in my garage and I've noticed that the balasts say that they can be wired with either 110V or 220V. My question is, is there any benefit to wiring them up in 220? The downside to me seems like it is a lot more work and extra materials/wires to run an extra hot to every light fixture in the 220V configuration. Is there a reason why anyone would choose to run the lights in 220V?

    Thanks,
    Royce M
    hfcarson's Avatar
    hfcarson Posts: 1,003, Reputation: 49
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    #2

    Jul 6, 2012, 10:44 AM
    Royce:
    Extra wiring? I disagree... two-pole breaker with two hot wires and ground to each fixture (220V) or single pole breaker and one hot wire and one neutral and ground to each fixture (110V)... so the wiring is similar until you connect a lot of fixtures...

    Advantages are when you are installing many fixtures... in your case with 54W T5HO you can get a max of 8 fixtures to a 20 ampere circuit. At 220V you can connect twice as many per circuit. Another advantage is voltage drop is reduced with the higher voltage that will allow longer circuit lengths without increasing wire size...

    If your garage is large (more than 8 fixtures!) you may wish to consider it...
    roycemek's Avatar
    roycemek Posts: 44, Reputation: 2
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    #3

    Jul 6, 2012, 12:08 PM
    In my case I'm looking at 6 fixtures (4 bulb in each fixture) but I'm still interested in learning which is the more efficient way.

    This might be a very basic question but in wiring a 220V light fixture, is the neutral not needed? That is why I thought I would be using 1 more line of copper.

    One other question is you mentioned 8 fixtures max at 110 on a 20A circuit. At 54W per bulb and 4 bulbs per fixture and 8 fixtures on a 110V circuit I got 15.7A theoretical. Should I be adding a buffer so as not to max each circuit out.

    At what range of lengths (ballpark) should I start to worry about voltage drop to where I should start plus sizing the wires?

    Thanks for all your help. Sorry for so many question.

    Royce M
    hfcarson's Avatar
    hfcarson Posts: 1,003, Reputation: 49
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    #4

    Jul 6, 2012, 01:04 PM
    Royce:
    1. Not a problem... with most 220V equipment as in light fixtures, the neutral is not used.
    2. The maximum continuous load allowed by the electrical code is 80% which in the case of a 20 ampere circuit is 16 amperes... so 15.7 is OK.
    3. If you're going less than 50 feet I wouldn't worry... actually at a 16 ampere load the maximum recommended cable length would be 56 feet with a 3% voltage drop.
    Of course if you wire these lights with 220V you can go twice as far... the drop is linear.
    tkrussell's Avatar
    tkrussell Posts: 9,659, Reputation: 725
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    #5

    Jul 7, 2012, 05:35 AM
    If this garage is attached to a dwelling, the maximum voltage allowed to be used is 120 volts.

    If this is separate structure, then it may be allowed to be considered as a commercial garage, and 240 volts is allowed.

    To size the circuit, you do not add the wattage of the lamps. You read the input watts or amps listed on the ballast, and size the circuit from there.

    See attached product datasheet, a typical 4 lamp T5 HO ballast draws 240 watts and 2 amps at 120 volts and 234 watts and .86 amps at 277 volts:

    http://www.advance.philips.com/docum...O-7600-B_F.pdf

    F54T5/HO 120-277 Centium # ICN-4S54-2LS-H 240-234 1.00 2.00-0.86


    The advantage using a higher voltage allows more load on a circuit, and results in copper and labor savings.

    Does not change the load in wattage, you still pay for the same amount of energy used , no matter the voltage used.
    hfcarson's Avatar
    hfcarson Posts: 1,003, Reputation: 49
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    #6

    Jul 9, 2012, 03:13 AM
    Tk...
    I wasn't aware there was a voltage limitation in dwelling and similar occupancies, but here it is in NEC 210.6(A)(1)... thanks, learn something new everyday.
    tkrussell's Avatar
    tkrussell Posts: 9,659, Reputation: 725
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    #7

    Jul 9, 2012, 05:02 AM
    Yep, that's the tricky part. Even if a garage is detached from a dwelling, and looks like a standard residential garage, an inspector may still consider it as residential.
    roycemek's Avatar
    roycemek Posts: 44, Reputation: 2
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    #8

    Jul 21, 2012, 04:03 PM
    Thanks for all the feedback. I have a couple more questions I've been thinking about. So if I decide to go with 240Volts to wire the lights then am I correct in thinking that at each light I will have one 12 gauge black 120, one 12 gauge red 120, and one 12 gauge green for ground? No neutral needed. Additionally given the discussion above does is sound right that I can run all 16 light fixtures on a 20A circuit with all 12awg wires (black, red, and green)? At the light switch end of things is it just a standard one black in one black out or is there something special to accommodate for the 240V circuit?

    Thanks again for all the help,
    Royce M
    tkrussell's Avatar
    tkrussell Posts: 9,659, Reputation: 725
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    #9

    Jul 22, 2012, 03:43 AM
    The amp draw should be one amp per fixture, so 16 fixtures should fit on one circuit. I suggest using more that one circuit for these lights.

    Correct, a neutral is not needed, however, you may use two wire cable plus ground with black and white, and tape the white a different color to indicate it is a hot wire.

    Need to use a double pole switch, rated for 240 volts.
    roycemek's Avatar
    roycemek Posts: 44, Reputation: 2
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    #10

    Jul 22, 2012, 10:43 AM
    The lights I've chosen are Lithonia IBZ-454-WD. In looking at the specs online I noticed that they list it rated at 120V or 277V. This might sounds like a weird question but is 240V the same as 277V? Or is 277V achieved only in comercial applications? Will it be safe and efffecient to run these on a 240V residential service. For reference the garage is detached and I have a 400A panel running both the home and the garage. 200A to the home and 200A to the garage.

    Thanks,
    Royce M
    tkrussell's Avatar
    tkrussell Posts: 9,659, Reputation: 725
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    #11

    Jul 23, 2012, 02:45 AM
    The ballast is rated to handle any voltage from 120 through up to 277 volts, it will work fine on 240 volts.
    roycemek's Avatar
    roycemek Posts: 44, Reputation: 2
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    #12

    Jul 27, 2012, 01:43 PM
    Relating to the theoretical loads on my 200A panel when running the lights at 240V. If I understand correctly, I should be using a 20A double pole breaker. If I'm running 16 lights at 240V, assume 1A load per fixture, should I count that as 40A used of the 200A I have available? Hope that didn't sound like too much a riddle. Thanks again for the help.

    Thanks,
    Royce M
    mike 165278's Avatar
    mike 165278 Posts: 168, Reputation: 7
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    #13

    Jul 27, 2012, 09:20 PM
    I doubt you have a 240v ballast. It's mostly likely a universal voltage ballast, meaning is operates at 120v single phase or 277v 3phase (480/277). If it were 240v it would have to have 3 leads for power, 1 for each hot leg and 1 for the neutral. I'm sure it doesn't. No 240 and 277 are not the same. But your ballast is 'smart' so you wire it the same. In your application you have to wire it 120v. Nice choice of fixture by the way. If you check with your local utility they probably have a rebate program and will pay you back for most of the fixture.
    mike 165278's Avatar
    mike 165278 Posts: 168, Reputation: 7
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    #14

    Jul 27, 2012, 09:28 PM
    Oh, and as far as effenency they are the same if your talking about your electric bill. Using them for 1 hour at 120v at 2 amps uses the same amount of energy as 1 hour 240v 1 amp. But your ballast can't be wired at 240, only HID ballast are quad tap.
    roycemek's Avatar
    roycemek Posts: 44, Reputation: 2
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    #15

    Aug 3, 2012, 05:46 PM
    Thanks for the responses. I'm learning a lot. I'm also realizing there are a lot of details. One more thing. Maybe is sounds odd but I'm planning to wire up the lights in the ceiling but rather than hard wire them I would like to install 20A 120V recepticals in the ceiling for each light fixture. Is this OK to do? Are there any code violations prohibiting this? Being that each receptical is dedicated for each light fixture and that this is being in the garage, will I have to used GFCI recepticals in the ceiling?

    Thanks,
    Royce M
    mike 165278's Avatar
    mike 165278 Posts: 168, Reputation: 7
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    #16

    Aug 3, 2012, 06:46 PM
    That's actually a very good and comom way yo wire them. Any supply house will have a 6' pre-wire appliance cord for a few bucks each. Cheaper and easier than making the whips yourself. I'm going to defer on the GFCI, I'd imagine you would, since a garage door opener now needs GFCI protection.
    hfcarson's Avatar
    hfcarson Posts: 1,003, Reputation: 49
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    #17

    Aug 4, 2012, 06:38 AM
    In the 2011 NEC they are required, 210.8(A)(2).
    About $8 and a good idea...
    shuntripper's Avatar
    shuntripper Posts: 180, Reputation: 8
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    #18

    Aug 4, 2012, 08:07 AM
    277V is a three phase voltage, and it would be on one hot wire and would require a neutral. Not the same at all. And not available in Residential.

    Those lamps are 54 Watts each, eight of them, even in a four car garage, will be realllllly bright, I don't think you need to do the 220V thing, those ballasts will consume the same power at whatever voltage you use. Use one 20A single pole space in your panel (cheaper, more room for other stuff) and save the expense of a two pole switch v. single pole. Also avoid inspector issues altogether
    roycemek's Avatar
    roycemek Posts: 44, Reputation: 2
    Junior Member
     
    #19

    Aug 4, 2012, 11:54 AM
    It is a residential garage but it is roughly 1800 sqft. Ceilings are 18ft on the high bay side and about 9ft in the workshop area. So far my plan is to run 120V to run the lights (parts recepticals, pigtails, etc. will cost less). I did speak with the tech rep at Philips regarding the balasts and according to him the balasts I received can be run on residential 120V, 240V, and 277V. For reference the balast is a Philips Optanium ICRP-4PSP54-90C.

    Regarding GFCI, could I just use a GFCI breaker at the sub panel instead of an individual GFCI at each receptical?

    Thanks,
    Royce M
    roycemek's Avatar
    roycemek Posts: 44, Reputation: 2
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    #20

    Aug 4, 2012, 11:56 AM
    Oh and where are you able to find GFCI recepticals for $8. Everywhere around here I'm finding them at about $15 even in bulk. Any good online retailers?

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