Little help please

[kscharba]

I recently purchased a 60 gallon air compressor that I intend to put in a tool shed. The tag on the compressor says it is 240 volts, 15 amps, and phase 1. So, long story short. I need to run power out to my shed from my main breaker box. I want to put a breaker box in the shed. The shortest distance to my shed from the house is 75 feet. What size breaker should I use to run the power out to the shed? What size wire? And what size breaker should I use to power the compressor? If no-one has an actual answer, a website suggestion would help.

 

[ajaynejr]

The minimum feeder would be a 12-2 cable breakered at 20 amps or a 10-2 cable breakered at 30 amps using a double wide breaker pair providing the 240 volts. No breaker box needed. The compressor instructions will give a maximum circuit rating to be used and also the startup current draw, it is the latter that might force the use of a 30 amp circuit rather than a 20.

Most likely you would want to run a fatter 3 wire cable with ground wire providing both 120 and 240 volts out there, install a breaker box (subpanel), and then you would be able to provide power to lights and other things too. For the main panel breaker serving the box in the shed, a #6 copper cable will give you 60 amps at 240 volts, a #8 cable will give you 40 amps (the compressor will take 15 of those amps). You would use a 20 or 30 amp breaker (see preceding paragraph) for the compressor given its own circuit in the box out in the shed.

 

[CUSTOMMANCAVES.COM]

Go bigger than required, because in a few years you're going to want a larger compressor, welder, etc.