When I wired up my 3 car garage 11 years ago I ran everything from the main sub panel for the house as it was located in the garage and had enough space for all of the circuits I needed. Fast forward I got married and now have two boys and the oldest who is nearly 3 year old wants to spend time in the wood shop with me. I am concerned as he gets older and can get into the garage and has friends over I don't want him to be able to turn anything on. So my plan is to install a dedicated sub panel for the garage off of the main and move all of the circuits over to it except for the lights and a couple of outlets for cordless battery chargers and our freezer. In looking for a 100amp+ contactor I had a big sticker shock. I was figuring a $100-$200 but it seems like they are $500+. I wanted to use a keyed 110v switch to turn the contactor on and off near the door to the house instead of a disconnect as that would have to be on the other side of the garage. Does anyone have any good recommendations on a brand and a place to buy to save some money? Thanks
