Overkill perhaps?

[Boyd Who]

Well, I had a talk with the local electrician about rewiring my little garage. (See my two circuits/1 wire thread).

After determining what I actually needed for power, he suggested simply upping the current breaker from a 15-amp to a 20, adding a couple of new outlets (there's only 2 now), and some more lights. I'm not running any seriously power-hungry tools in there, just a small compressor and a 110-volt mig.

Lights. I love light.
I hate having shadows and dark spots in the garage. With that in mind I set out yesterday to install some 4' T-8 2-bulb fixtures. Seven of them, in fact. WAY more light than anyone really needs in a 12 x 20 space, but then I like lots of light. Midnight surgeries, anyone?

I have 2 lights mounted on the "angle" portion of each long wall, just under the ceiling, plus 3 more running down the center of the garage on the joists. The 4 on the walls will be on one switch, the three down the center will be on another switch, plus I'll have 3, 100-watt "bare bulb" incandescent fixtures in the garage on a third switch. Those are for extreme cold weather as I doubt the T-8's will fire up in -20 to -40 temps.

The garage will be used mainly for storage during the cold months of the winter as it's not insulated or heated.

Once they get wired in I'll get some pics. Wonder if I'll need a flash on the camera?

 

[Tech Guy]

Just a question Boyd-If he tells you to up the breaker to a 20 amp, is your existing wiring rated for 20 amps ? If not you risk melting the romex rated at 15 amp should you start overloading.

 

[Boyd Who]

Yes. He had a look at the setup before giving me the advice. Good point, though.

 

[Gary S]

Most 110v MIG welders and many 110v compressors want/need a full 20 amp circuit dedicated to them. If yours need most of the 20amp circuit, you might not have enough power available for lighting.

 

[Boyd Who]

Most 110v MIG welders and many 110v compressors want/need a full 20 amp circuit dedicated to them. If yours need most of the 20amp circuit, you might not have enough power available for lighting.

Both have worked fairly well on a shared 15-amp circuit (lights, radio) so far. The compressor will kick the breaker off if it's really cold out (sub-0 F temps)and I try to start it, but in normal operation it worked fine. The welder has only kicked the 15 amp breaker once when I was doing some practice welds on some 1/4" material and had both the speed and the amps cranked to full. Otherwise its been fine as well.

We're going to set this up and see how it works. If I need more power I'll have to dig another small trench under my driveway and run a bigger line out.

 

[Boyd Who]

The electricians just left, they did a nice job! Pics will be posted in the gallery section.