garage voltage

[Doct0rnic]

I recently bought a house and it has a detached garage that is fairly new, I just found the breaker and it is a 20 amp breaker, what I am wondering is what is a good current for a typical garage, my plan is to add more outlets and outdoor lights, a 115v 75,000 btu forced air heater and more lights and outlets inside,

 

[bczygan]

Electricians on here will give you a more complete answer but in general you make a list of your loads and add up the amps to get a total load. When you make your list it's a good idea to keep power and lighting separate. This is if you are going to use your garage for more than just storing a car. A single 20 Amp circuit will handle 1,920 Watts Add up the wattages of all the devices that will be on the circuit.

Amps x Volts = Watts
20 x 120 = 2400 x 80% = 1920

Watts / Volts = Amps

Watts / Amps = Volts

If your garage will get minimal use a single circuit may do. Add more items and another circuit may be needed. Much more than that and a sub panel may be a good idea. If I had to run a new circuit (And trench to do it), I would run conduits big enough for any future needs for power, communications and security.

 

[b-body-bob]

I'd have someone install a separate meter and breaker box so everything's controlled in one place.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Is that 20 amp breaker single pole (120vac) or two pole (240vac)?

To elaborate on the previous answer, you need to look at how much you intend on operating at any given time, not necessarily the entire load of everything possible. It's not likely that you'll have every light in the place turned on and something plugged into every receptacle running at the same time.

edit: by the way, welcome to the forum as I see this is your first post. I would suggest looking around a bit, and trying out the search function, as this subject comes up about three times a week...there have been plenty of similar discussions that you can get information from.

 

[ForceFed70]

I would reccomend you put a 50A subpanel in your garage. Larger if you plan to use 240V welder or compressor.