Safety for indoor greenhouse?

[Zabeta]

Hi everyone,

I recently acquired one of those small indoor greenhouses that basically consist of a frame and shelves and a plastic covering. It's about 6' tall, 5' long, and 3' wide.

The purpose of this was to increase humidity for the orchids; therefore, I have a humidifier that I run intermittently to get the humidity up to 70% or 80% (but not lower than 55%).

However, I also need to supplement the natural lighting in the summer months. In the previous set-up, I had the plants on a table by the window, and lights shining on them throughout the day. For the greenhouse, I've bought some clamp light holders with reflectors, and also some CFL bulbs with the equivalent of 60w.

My question is, with all the cords from these lights, as well as the lights themselves, is there any sort of fire hazard from running the lights along with the humidifier? At this point, I'm trying to build up the humidity in the morning, and then run the lights after the humidifier is turned off. But it depends on me being here to monitor everything and make sure the various functions are running separately.

I haven't found anything online. Since it is a small space, I'm being extremely cautious. What do you think?

Thank you!

[Ray]

If they are all being run off of the same curcuit, all you need to do is add up the true (not equivalent) wattages of all of the devices, and make sure they don't overdo the rating of the circuit.

As far as heat and the potential flammability of the materials, I suppose that if you keep them reasonably separated, it won't be an issue.

[estación seca]

If you put too many electrical devices on one circuit, the circuit breaker is supposed to flip and open the circuit, turning everything off. If you have an older house with fuses rather than circuit breakers, the fuses are supposed to burn out, open the circuit and turn everything off. If none of this happens properly the wires supplying the devices can overheat and cause a fire.

[Zabeta]

Thanks, Ray and Estación. I'm less worried about the circuits and more worried about the dampness on the lightbulbs. Is there any possibility that the tiny droplets would cause the lightbulbs, or their appliances, to spark? At times, the humidity is 80% or so, and I worry that the dampness will cause a problem. (Then again, people in really humid areas still use lightbulbs, so . . . )

[estación seca]

No, just humidity won't cause sparking. Don't spray water on the plants when the lights are on. High humidity will cause fixtures to rust faster than otherwise. There is a concern if water sprays on high-temperature bulbs. CFL and standard fluorescent lights don't get hot enough for this to be a concern; HO T5 and HPS lights do get hot enough for this to be a concern.

[Zabeta]

Originally Posted by estación seca

No, just humidity won't cause sparking. Don't spray water on the plants when the lights are on. High humidity will cause fixtures to rust faster than otherwise. There is a concern if water sprays on high-temperature bulbs. CFL and standard fluorescent lights don't get hot enough for this to be a concern; HO T5 and HPS lights do get hot enough for this to be a concern.

Excellent, thank you!