Electrical Needs for garage

[sansert]

In the process of buildinga 24 x 28 garage with full 2nd floor. This will be my wifes art/quilting studio. I plan to install a mini split for heat and air for her. Other than that she wont have a lot of electrical demand up there. Our house has a 100 amp service. Was wondering what size panel to put in garage and breaker to put in house panel. Yes I have room in the house panel. It is about 60 ft total run from house panel to garage panel in 2" PVC.Thanks

 

[sberry]

90A wire, fed by a 60A breaker to a 100A panel.

 

[Kevin Essiambre]

I agree with What they said^^

 

[sansert]

OK Thanks

 

[Don1357]

I was recently recomended 2-2-2-4 service wire. It is used (among other things) for mobile home setups. It can be buried without conduit (check regulations for dept and lead in conduit) and can do 100 amps.

Get at least a 20 slot box. You may think that there is no need for that many but chances are you'll run out of slots before you run out of power, and the difference in cost between say a 12 or 16 is a few bucks.

 

[spudley]

Yep, MHF Al 2-2-2-4. That'll give you 90 amp capability. Run it off a 60 amp breaker for now (cheaper) and up the breaker to a 90 for charging the Tesla your wife gets you for building her studio.

 

[pattenp]

I was recently recomended 2-2-2-4 service wire. It is used (among other things) for mobile home setups. It can be buried without conduit (check regulations for dept and lead in conduit) and can do 100 amps.

As a 3 wire service to a single family dwelling #2Al is okay for 100A, but as a branch feeder such as to an out building it is only to be overcurrent protected to a max of 90A.

 

[75gmck25]

The 2-2-2-4 AL MHF is a very common solution because its readily available as dual rated cable that can be run in conduit or direct buried outside, and can be used indoors if you run it in conduit.

2-2-2-4 MHF is rated for 90 amps, which would be the breaker used in the main panel. However, you can use a 100 amp (or larger) garage sub-panel to get more breaker spaces on the garage end, since the breaker at the main panel limits the amperage.

Bruce

 

[bad_idea]

The 2-2-2-4 AL MHF is a very common solution because its readily available as dual rated cable that can be run in conduit or direct buried outside, and can be used indoors if you run it in conduit.

2-2-2-4 MHF is rated for 90 amps, which would be the breaker used in the main panel. However, you can use a 100 amp (or larger) garage sub-panel to get more breaker spaces on the garage end, since the breaker at the main panel limits the amperage.

Bruce

Exactly what I did. I ran the MHF from my main panel into the garage in conduit. 90 amp breaker in a 100 amp panel in the garage. Fairly painless install. You may have issue with getting approved by the building department though. They may require you to run load calcs to prove you won't trip the main breaker on your main panel. Worth asking them before you get too far into it. You may have to upgrade your main panel to a 200 amp panel.

I'm not an electrician, so definitely fact check what I say. I would suggest you change out the box your power meter is in to a combo box (like this). Then your main panel in the house is now technically a sub panel. This makes it easier to run your sub panel to the garage as you do not have to pull the new cable into the house, just into the box on the back of the house. Again, discuss with your electrician to see what is the most viable/economical solution.

 

[dscheidt]

In the process of buildinga 24 x 28 garage with full 2nd floor. This will be my wifes art/quilting studio. I plan to install a mini split for heat and air for her. Other than that she wont have a lot of electrical demand up there.

Don't skimp on power to that studio. I have a boiler iron that requires a dedicated 20A circuit to run its boiler, and I know quilters lust after them. Plenty of industrial machines around that are 240 V, too (and they often sell cheaply, because people buying them for home use can't plug them in.)

 

[nadogail]

Don't skimp on power to that studio. I have a boiler iron that requires a dedicated 20A circuit to run its boiler, and I know quilters lust after them. Plenty of industrial machines around that are 240 V, too (and they often sell cheaply, because people buying them for home use can't plug them in.)

What he said, do it right and you won't have to revisit the job later.

When you build to the bare minimum standards you usually leave out any room for inevitable growths that always seem to happen.