Well I just joined so I guess I'll share some knowledge. First I would like to say that if you are not familiar with electricity this kind of work should be left to someone who is. Electricity is dangerous at any voltage, never work on anything live and make sure to ground everything. So lets say you've gone all out and your pushing a couple thousand watts of lights. First thing you want it is a timer but they usualy don't handle the load you need unless you spend big bucks. What you need is a contactor, like a giant relay it does the switching for you, the timer needs only to push the load of the contact coil. You'll want the run a 3 wire (2 hots one neutral) to your contactor and run half your lights on each phase. you'll need a 2 pole breaker with interlocking poles for your panel, Ground fault interupt breakers while expensive may be a good investment if your grow room is damp or wet. A good trick if you cant afford GFI breakers is to wire GFI recepticles is series with your lighting circuit. Make sure that your GFI recepticle is rated at a high enough amperage. You're contactor and timer should be installed in a dry location.

HID bulbs emit most of their light from the sides, mounting the bulbs sideways in white housings will yeild the most light to your plants. balasts should be kept dry as well, if you dont have a proper fixture with a proper housing for the ballast it may be better to install it in a remote location.
coldpurple Reviewed by coldpurple on . 1000's of watts of light? here are some tips. Well I just joined so I guess I'll share some knowledge. First I would like to say that if you are not familiar with electricity this kind of work should be left to someone who is. Electricity is dangerous at any voltage, never work on anything live and make sure to ground everything. So lets say you've gone all out and your pushing a couple thousand watts of lights. First thing you want it is a timer but they usualy don't handle the load you need unless you spend big bucks. What you need is a Rating: 5