Electrically Challenged

[Johnny Reefer]

Forgive me, please, for starting another thread on electricity. I’ve read through other threads but I still have questions. It’s always been a foreign language for me. I dropped out of Electricity 9 after one day. The teacher was talking about Ohm’s Law that first class. Teachers usually cover basics on the first day. If Ohm’s Law was basic theory, I knew right away I was destined for a big, fat F had I stuck with it.

I’m moving in December to a condo. I’m upgrading my Reef and FOWLR systems at the same time. The Reef is most likely going to go in the bedroom. I’ve calculated the system power load to be 2,096 Watts. Add to this room lights, clock, etc. and I estimate a demand of 2,176W for that room.
I can’t scope out the actual residence for more detail until December 1st, but I wish to address any power issues ASAP on possession. Hence my preliminary research here. I suspect there is only one 15 Amp circuit going into the bedroom as this is probably standard, correct?

Here is a picture of the breaker panel, provided by the home inspection company, FWIW. Sorry it’s not a close-up. It is described as a 125 Amp 120/240 Volt panel.

Is it possible to determine from this picture how many circuits currently exist?

The inspector also stated in his report that there is room for future upgrades. So my main question basically is…if there is only one circuit currently supplying the bedroom, is it a big job to provide a second circuit to this space?
Does this mean running new wires to this space and installing new receptacles and ripping open walls to carry out this work? …..or can it all somehow be done right at the panel alone (ie: splitting the existing receptacles up)?

Also,….any ideas how much per hour electricians charge these days?

On a side note…..here is a picture of the panel in the apartment I currently reside in:

There are 6 x 15 Amp circuits. I calculate that to be 90 Amps. So why is 70 Amp “Main Lugs” indicated?…..and then to further confuse things there is a 60 Amp notation also. This is just one example of why this stuff is sooooo confusing to me. I just don't get it.


Any help on this would be greatly appreciated and thanx much for your time,