200A Garage Service

[ELCouz]

Hi,
I am wondering what are my options electrical wise for connecting my soon to be built 2 floors 24x28 garage.
I am living in Quebec city region, it gets pretty cold (-20F) so heating is a must. Like 90% of people here we use electric heating because its cheap.
My house has already a 200A service. It is possible to swap the 200A meter for a 320A one which will save money and space instead of going 400A with CT metering inside the house.

How can I calculate what is needed to give me an idea of the garage main panel sizing?


baseboard heaters with supplemental heating with heat pump
Welder 40A, compressor 7.5HP @240v, plasma cutter , car lift and possibility for future installation of an electric car charger on 240v
6 inch slab will be insulated with foil.

Thanks!

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Hi,
I am wondering what are my options electrical wise for connecting my soon to be built 2 floors 24x28 garage.

I am living in Quebec city region, it gets pretty cold (-20F) so heating is a must. Like 90% of people here we use electric heating because its cheap.

My house has already a 200A service. It is possible to swap the 200A meter for a 320A one which will save money and space instead of going 400A with CT metering inside the house.

How can I calculate what is needed to give me an idea of the garage main panel sizing?

You need to do a load calc. mike holt has a good one on an excel spreadsheet but it may not apply to canada.

Also if you connect to your existing service then the garage panel would be a SUBPANEL not a main panel.

 

[ELCouz]

You need to do a load calc. mike holt has a good one on an excel spreadsheet but it may not apply to canada.

Also if you connect to your existing service then the garage panel would be a SUBPANEL not a main panel.

320A meters base terminals have space for 2x main panel wiring IIRC. No need to do a subpanel.
I was looking for similar opinions on the forum but most of the people are using gas heating.

Mike Holt is reserved for inspectors / electricians. I have some knowledge and purchased the Canadian Electrical Code.
It was just to give a rough estimate for the cost if 200A sizing was right. I will still hire an electrician at the end.

 

[ELCouz]

I am trying to calculate the heating required for the garage. How can you factor in the winter temperature to the garage slab?
I've seen online about 10 watt per sqft. That seems low.

 

[Norcal]

What does the PoCo allow/require?

 

[wyliesdiesels]

320A meters base terminals have space for 2x main panel wiring IIRC. No need to do a subpanel.
I was looking for similar opinions on the forum but most of the people are using gas heating.

Mike Holt is reserved for inspectors / electricians. I have some knowledge and purchased the Canadian Electrical Code.
It was just to give a rough estimate for the cost if 200A sizing was right. I will still hire an electrician at the end.

Sure if the PoCo allows that and you go that route.

If your load calcs dont show you need 320a/400a then the PoCo may not upgrade you.... thats why load calc needs to be done first

In regards to Mile Holt, the load calc sheet isnt reserved to just contractors and inspectors. Thats a silly statement. The load calc sheet is available to everyone, though its based on the NEC

 

[klassenl]

Load calc is perhaps a bit premature at this point.

If it's just a garage for parking, hobbies, and storage you probably won't need to keep the temperature higher than 15 celsius so the heat load isn't huge especially if it's well insulated. If it's a one man shop, one tool at time time operation then again the load isn't particularly significant.

Being a cheap pragmatist myself, and living with me feet firmly planted on the ground I would be running 100 amps out there and that's it.

Edit. 10watts per sq foot is quite close.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Your electric utility may also have a load calculation sheet available, check their website.
Before you get to that, you need to do or get a heat loss calculation done to determine how much power your baseboard heat and heat pump are going to require.
If this is basically a one man shop, remember that you're not going to be running multiple tools at the same time (for instance, the welder and the plasma cutter.)

 

[dcg9381]

Dunno what's possible at your POCO, but I run a 320A meter base that splits lugs out and attaches to the house 200A and then another 200A panel for the shop. Hopefully you'll have a similar option.

What's your price per kWh? I'm surprised that electrical heat is least expensive - perhaps you guys have more efficient (at heating) heat pumps.

 

[u2slow]

Canada normally requires a singular disconnect after the meter; cannot split into two panels until after the disco.

Double check with the utility for what meter cans they allow.