Wiring up my garage here soon and am going with a subpanel. I don't know enough about the differences between brands and lines to make a decision other than choosing amperage. I have a Siemens main panel and one think I like is the ability to use skinny breakers. If my subpanel is say 100 amp and only has 6 spaces, that allows me to have 12 circuit.
I'm going to require:
(4) 120V, 20A circuits (I could get away with 3 but I want 4)
(1) 240V 20 A circuit (dust collector)
(1) 240V, 20 A circuit (welder)
(2) 240V 15 A circuits (overhead radiant tube heaters)
So that's 11 "spaces" of regular sized breakers or 7 spaces if utilizing minis for the 240v circuits, the regular for the 120V circuits.
I was eyeballing the Square D or Eaton 100 or 125 Amp panels as they're pretty affordable at the Depot. I would prefer copper bus but if the other ones don't have issues then I'm fine with it.
Now...I know you're going to look at that list and say 'well geez you can combine circuits for some things'. I chose 3 or 4 120V circuits for a reason. One circuit will power one half the garage, two will be on the other half where most tools are, and one will be a retractable ceiling mount for my table saw which I mainly use in the middle. Most things are on caster so they move around. The DC and the welder don't draw over 15 amps so in theory they could share a circuit. the overhead heaters for sure need separate circuits. I plan on maybe even using one at a time if I'm just on one side of the garage.
So if I took out one 120V circuit and mixed the DC and welder, then I could use just 9 spaces, or 5 if I use minis.
As a homeowner and not a professional shop, is there a reason for me to pick one brand over the others? I see that GE has the skinny Q line breakers, so I could save panel space that way, as does Siemens. Square D is easily available but I don't see skinny breakers.
I did my NEC load calculation to 16,590 Watts, leading me to NEED officially a 70 amp panel, but those don't have enough space so I'm looking into the 100 it 125 amps and just use a smaller breaker. Or I guess I could use a 100 amp breaker and not technically need it. But I could probably get away with just feeding the panel with say 50 amps. the most I can see on at one time would be:
2 heaters in the winter at full blast, 6000 watts, 25 amps
table Saw 13 amps
dust collector 12 amps
Lights and radio are on separate house circuit so 0 there
Maybe someone helping with the miter saw? 13 amps.
so that's 63 Amps and that's peak draw.
Am I overthinking this and don't actually need the power I'm thinking?
It's a roughly 400 sq ft garage
I'm going to require:
(4) 120V, 20A circuits (I could get away with 3 but I want 4)
(1) 240V 20 A circuit (dust collector)
(1) 240V, 20 A circuit (welder)
(2) 240V 15 A circuits (overhead radiant tube heaters)
So that's 11 "spaces" of regular sized breakers or 7 spaces if utilizing minis for the 240v circuits, the regular for the 120V circuits.
I was eyeballing the Square D or Eaton 100 or 125 Amp panels as they're pretty affordable at the Depot. I would prefer copper bus but if the other ones don't have issues then I'm fine with it.
Now...I know you're going to look at that list and say 'well geez you can combine circuits for some things'. I chose 3 or 4 120V circuits for a reason. One circuit will power one half the garage, two will be on the other half where most tools are, and one will be a retractable ceiling mount for my table saw which I mainly use in the middle. Most things are on caster so they move around. The DC and the welder don't draw over 15 amps so in theory they could share a circuit. the overhead heaters for sure need separate circuits. I plan on maybe even using one at a time if I'm just on one side of the garage.
So if I took out one 120V circuit and mixed the DC and welder, then I could use just 9 spaces, or 5 if I use minis.
As a homeowner and not a professional shop, is there a reason for me to pick one brand over the others? I see that GE has the skinny Q line breakers, so I could save panel space that way, as does Siemens. Square D is easily available but I don't see skinny breakers.
I did my NEC load calculation to 16,590 Watts, leading me to NEED officially a 70 amp panel, but those don't have enough space so I'm looking into the 100 it 125 amps and just use a smaller breaker. Or I guess I could use a 100 amp breaker and not technically need it. But I could probably get away with just feeding the panel with say 50 amps. the most I can see on at one time would be:
2 heaters in the winter at full blast, 6000 watts, 25 amps
table Saw 13 amps
dust collector 12 amps
Lights and radio are on separate house circuit so 0 there
Maybe someone helping with the miter saw? 13 amps.
so that's 63 Amps and that's peak draw.
Am I overthinking this and don't actually need the power I'm thinking?
It's a roughly 400 sq ft garage
