Basement wiring, best outlet box to use?

[weatherby460]

What is the best electrical box to use for new construction framed walls in a basement that can be purchased at a big box store?

Also, how high should they be placed off the floor, and how many outlets are recommended on a circuit? I'm using 20A wire and outlets.

Thanks

 

[BB Sig]

What are you using the space for? Flooding a potential?

Without knowing more....

48" high in new construction boxes.

Barry
North Florida

 

[BB Sig]

Oh yeah... every 6 feet or so depending upon what you are doing in the basement.

Barry
North Florida

 

[Higgins]

Use 4x4 nail on box. Then install the appropriate sized mud ring. That way you have plenty of space for wiring!

 

[TractorJeff]

Southern Wisconsin? That's a pretty broad assumption! Could be on a Flood Plain or not? Could be eventually a Chicago weekend home or not?
I would recommend putting them up at 48 inches if I knew it was only ever going to be a work shop / storage space. If it is going to someday be a finished basement, then I would recommend putting them at the same height as the rest of your house.

 

[weatherby460]

No moisture ever in basement, no chance,,,im on a hill.

 

[teamextreme]

Need more info. Finished basement? Storage area? Workshop? What is the intended use? Generally speaking, for finished areas, to be covered in drywall, I would install at aprox. 12" above finished floor and use a plastic 1-gang nail-on box (the blue ones). Spacing requirements for general-use rooms is no point on a wall further than 6 ft from a receptacle, so roughly every 12 ft. I usually space them a little closer than that. There is no code for max number of outlets on a circuit, but a commonly used rule of thumb that would be a safe bet, is 8 on a 15amp and 10 on a 20amp.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Nothing wrong with "new work" plastic boxes with the two nail. I am a lousy carpenter. If I had a lot of them to do I would buy a



Or get the ones with tabs and screw them to the studs.

 

[Jim greengo]

Use 4x4 nail on box. Then install the appropriate sized mud ring. That way you have plenty of space for wiring!

That works,but a little on the expensive side.
I like the allied 1098 single gang fiberglass boxes for most general purpose stuff myself.
Home depot carrys them still,I'm not a fan of most of the blue boxes.

 

[MoonRise]

Double-check with your AHJ on the Code minimum requirements for this wiring project.

At a minimum, in a "basement", ALL of the outlets must be GFCI protected (with only certain limited exceptions). Code rationale is that a basement is a 'damp' place, same as a garage or an outdoor outlet. Some locales change the GFCI requirement for finished basements though, because somehow drywall magically makes the basement 'dry' because of the name.

All outlets will have to be tamper-resistant, and also AFCI protected. General Code requirement for almost all outlets in a house.

Note that the required HARDWIRED (and interconnected and battery back-up) smoke detector(s) in the basement have to be on an AFCI protected circuit as well.

Open space, still as a "basement"? Once you meet the minimum number of required outlets, you can put as many as you want/desire.

Framed walls and turn that basement space into a 'finished' room/space? Now you most likely have to meet the minimum Code requirement of no distance along a wall can be more than 6 ft from an outlet (doorways can 'reset' the space requirement somewhat). Code rationale is so that you don't have to run extension cords around for 'common' usage scenarios (plugging in a light or a vacuum or TV, or whatever).

Example write up summary from a very perfunctory Google search, happens to be from the town of Parker, Colorado:

http://www.parkeronline.org/DocumentCenter/View/735/Basement-Finish-Electrical-Handout?bidId=

Another summary:

https://www.weldgov.com/UserFiles/S...ion/Residential/Basic Wiring Requirements.pdf

 

[dscheidt]

That works,but a little on the expensive side.
I like the allied 1098 single gang fiberglass boxes for most general purpose stuff myself.
Home depot carrys them still,I'm not a fan of most of the blue boxes.

It's going to add 30 bucks to the cost of wiring the house. If it saves you 15 minutes ever, it pays for itself.

 

[Jim greengo]

It's going to add 30 bucks to the cost of wiring the house. If it saves you 15 minutes ever, it pays for itself.

Just depends on how many wires you're running into the box.
If it's just a piece of 14/2 coming in and another going to next box with an outlet a 1098 is plenty .
More than that and the 2 gang with plaster ring makes sense.
Although if I'm going to burn up a 2 gang box for fill I tend to lean towards making it a 2 gang period.

 

[Jim greengo]

My usual go to general purpose boxes.

 

[sparky 1971]

I like the Slater boxes. In WI, you should be able to get them at Menards. I prefer to use the deep (22 cu in?) single gangs. If it's a finished room, receptacles go at the same height as my hammer. Set the hammer head on the floor and set the box on top of the handle. I use 48" to the bottom of switch boxes and 44" to the bottom of receptacle boxes in the unfinished rooms or above counter tops.
As far as how many to a circuit, that's really up to you. With 20 amp circuits I would put a whole room to a circuit. If there is a bathroom involved, that receptacle(s) has to be a dedicated circuit or connected to an existing bath (probably easier to run a separate circuit). You can do what you want, but I am going to suggest using 14 gauge wire on 15 amp circuits for the lighting. 12 is a pain to shove into can lights and exhaust fans. With led technology, you could probably put all of the lights on one circuit.

 

[Jim greengo]

I like the Slater boxes. In WI, you should be able to get them at Menards. I prefer to use the deep (22 cu in?) single gangs. If it's a finished room, receptacles go at the same height as my hammer. Set the hammer head on the floor and set the box on top of the handle. I use 48" to the bottom of switch boxes and 44" to the bottom of receptacle boxes in the unfinished rooms or above counter tops.
As far as how many to a circuit, that's really up to you. With 20 amp circuits I would put a whole room to a circuit. If there is a bathroom involved, that receptacle(s) has to be a dedicated circuit or connected to an existing bath (probably easier to run a separate circuit). You can do what you want, but I am going to suggest using 14 gauge wire on 15 amp circuits for the lighting. 12 is a pain to shove into can lights and exhaust fans. With led technology, you could probably put all of the lights on one circuit.

Depends on what brand of hammer you have.
I normally set recept boxes in rooms at 16" to bottom,switch boxes at 48" to top.
Most drywallers I've dealt with dont have a problem with the 48".

 

[sparky 1971]

Depends on what brand of hammer you have.
I normally set recept boxes in rooms at 16" to bottom,switch boxes at 48" to top.
Most drywallers I've dealt with dont have a problem with the 48".

Make sure the same hammer gets used to nail on all the receptacle boxes.

 

[weatherby460]

I ended up buying the heavy duty blue boxes at menards. They are very nice, only like .75 cents a piece.

 

[Jim greengo]

Make sure the same hammer gets used to nail on all the receptacle boxes.

Exactly,the problem arises when you have multiple hammers on the project.