Quick Electrical Question

[gpd124]

We had our electrician install two dedicated breakers for our 180 gallon fish tank.

We will have the LED lighting run off one of the breakers (3 AP 700s). The other will run everything under the tank.

They installed 2 15 amp breakers. I thought we might use 20 amp breakers. Will I be alright with what is installed. Sorry, I have no electrical background.

We won’t have a chiller since this is located downstairs and we live in the northeast.

 

[twwety]

Also no experience but I know my lights (150W) at about 60% output only draw 0.6amps so you should plenty fine.

 

[takitaj]

Add up all the watts drawn from each piece of equipment on each circuit then divide each by 120. That will give you roughly the total amps drawn on each circuit. If the totals are under say 12-13 amps then the 15 amp breakers will be fine.

 

[nereefpat]

You can NOT swap out a 15 amp breaker for a 20 amp one, because the wire would also need to be increased from 14 gauge to 12 gauge.

 

[takitaj]

@nereefpat That is true and I apologize, I should have mentioned that! I didn't want to confuse him/her with too much info and left out a key piece.

@gpd124 If you find you need more breaker then you'll need to call the electrician back. I'm a little surprised they didn't ask you about the potential load requirements. It could be because your main panel is getting close to the max?

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

We had our electrician install two dedicated breakers for our 180 gallon fish tank.

We will have the LED lighting run off one of the breakers (3 AP 700s). The other will run everything under the tank.

They installed 2 15 amp breakers. I thought we might use 20 amp breakers. Will I be alright with what is installed. Sorry, I have no electrical background.

We won’t have a chiller since this is located downstairs and we live in the northeast.

If its 14awg wire it can only be a 15amp if its 12Awg wire it can be a 20amp braker. But more than likely they sized the wire accordingly..

 

[alain Bouchard]

do you expect to use more than 2880 watts with everything at full load?

 

[alain Bouchard]

from what I read, those ap700 are 185W (3x185W is 555W). Your available power at each breaker is 1440W (80% of maximum of 1800w). you seam to have plenty left for heater and pumps.

 

[srobertb]

We had our electrician install two dedicated breakers for our 180 gallon fish tank.

We will have the LED lighting run off one of the breakers (3 AP 700s). The other will run everything under the tank.

They installed 2 15 amp breakers. I thought we might use 20 amp breakers. Will I be alright with what is installed. Sorry, I have no electrical background.

We won’t have a chiller since this is located downstairs and we live in the northeast.

I’m running

4 Kessils A360’s, a trident, 500w heater, return, 2 power heads, 8 dos pumps, fans, a small refrigerator, etc off one 15a circuit. You will be fine. Make sure they’re GFI!