Wiring a small garage/shop?

[dragoneggs]

I hope to expand my two car detached garage to make room for a more permanent dedicated shop. As it is now I have most all of my wood/metal working tools on casters. I can still get the wife's car in the garage but it would sweet to have the best of both worlds. I now only have 110v hard wired with limited outlets. I am running a long heavy extension cord from the dryer outlet to serve 220v for my compressor and table saw. I have a 110v/220v welder that needs more juice and appropriate plugs... so....

What do you all recommend for power into a small shop? Will a 50amp aux service panel be enough? Already have one for my hot tub. What is code for amount of circuit breaker total amp vs. service panel capacity? My service panel is 200amp. Can I exceed that with individual breakers added up?

 

[Mendonsy]

Yes you can but ......
Each breaker protects an individual circuit and the associated wiring. The total amp rating of the individual breakers doesn't matter until your total load exceeds the rating of the main breaker. When that happens your main breaker will trip and the whole house will go out. That is not very likely to happen, but it is possible.

 

[flusher]

I have 200 amp service to my main service distribution panel that's located outdoor in my back yard (I have a 10 acre mini-ranch). My shop has 100 amp service pulled off the main panel. Three of the sheds scattered around the place each have 30 amp service from that main panel.

The wall height of my 24x42 ft shop is 12 feet. I removed the 8-ft tubular fluorescents and replace them with 60W compact screw-in fluorescent floodlights. Got tired of replacing the ballasts in the tubulars every few years.

Good luck.

Good luck.

 

[newbury]

<snip>

What do you all recommend for power into a small shop? Will a 50amp aux service panel be enough? Already have one for my hot tub. What is code for amount of circuit breaker total amp vs. service panel capacity? My service panel is 200amp. Can I exceed that with individual breakers added up?

At least a 100 amp. My $260 Powerarc 300 can suck up 60 amps (rated in-rush) add a smoke remover some fans and lights, 50 amps wouldn't suffice.

 

[BobRip]

I have a 24 x 48 garage. I put a 200 amp panel, but it is fed by a 100 amp breaker. This works very well. I have a lot of equipment, but there is only one of me and I only run one or two things at a time. What is your heating going to be? That could be your biggest load.

 

[BethelHntr]

Do it right with a 200A service with the largest breaker box you could afford. My dad had his house upgraded from knob tube to a modern service but went with a small panel. It worked great until the remodel, Modern appliances starts to shrink panel room fast when adding more and more or in your case more tools.

 

[dstig1]

For a 1 man hobby shop, 100A is pretty good. For the most part at any one time, the most you would see running is the compressor, lights, a dust collector and one other tool. Maybe a heater or AC too, depending on season/climate. To my knowledge there is no code specified limit to the size of a subpanel you can feed from a main panel, but logic dictates that you shouldn't put in anything bigger than a 200A subpanel breaker into a 200A panel...as it will trip the main along with or instead of your subpanel. Therefore 150A would be the logical upper limit I would do. Either 100 or 150 would serve you quite well, I'd bet.

At my place, we brought in 320A service (max they would do without getting expensive) and then I split that into 2x 200A panels - one house, one shop. I will never max out load from either of those, and certainly not the 320A full service. But that was starting from scratch. As a remodel, you have to consider accessibility. Pulling big wire is a major PITA, so consider that as a counterbalance to going bigger with the sub panel.

Good luck, and enjoy the upgrades!

 

[MossRoad]

I ran a 50amp 220v circuit from the main panel in my house out to a 60 amp disconnect in the garage (why 60 amp? because I had one).
From the 60 amp disconnect I installed a sub panel.
The nice thing about a disconnect seperate from the sub panel is I can kill it and work in the panel safely without having to go to the house.
In the sub pannel I have a 30 amp 220v breaker for my arc welder.
A 20 amp GFCI for my swimming pool.
A 20 amp GFCI for the 110v outlets in the garage.
A 20 amp GFCI for the 110v outlets and lights in a small shed.
A 20 amp circuit for the lights in the garage.
A 15 amp 220V outlet for any 220V appliances I may want to run in the future.
That may sound like an overload, however, the pool runs during the day when I am not home and only 3-4 months per year. There are only two 100 watt lights and a couple 40 watt shop lights. Saws, grinders, etc... only run one at a time. Air compressor can run anytime any other appliance or welder is running. It works out well. Any overload would pop the 50 amp 220v breaker in the house. It has never happened. 50 amp 220v is a lot to pull in a small shop at one time.
Anyhow, it works for my needs. Good luck with your project. :thumbsup:

 

[ultrarunner]

Never had an issue yet with 125 amp main and 60 to the shop... runs compressor, welder, saws, lights, drill press and my Bridgeport... shop has a ceiling mounted gas furnace that I never use and no A/C in this part of California.

Like BobRip said there is only one of me...

Place in WA State has a 400 amp service and is all electric... shop has 125 panel with no tools to speak of.

 

[JimS]

It really depends on what you plan to do. But unless you have multiple people working and some serious equipment I would think 50 or 60A would be fine. If you have electric heat or AC that may add quite a bit of load. 150A is a lot to pull from a 200A panel. I wouldn't go over 100A but that's just me.