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Planning electrical, could use some input

kyle242gt

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Jan 5, 2010
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99
Location
Norcal
Hi all - my shop is basically done, except for electrical and garage doors.

Doors on Friday, electrical is my department.

Shown is a simplified image of the new shop. Build thread is here.

12' ceilings except in the angled section, approx 10.5'. This will be workspace.
Three 2x4 skylights, shown with simple rectangles.
Two post lift (top feed 220) gets installed inline with the skylights (in between 10x9 front and 9x8 back garage doors)
The left section of the garage, with the 16x7 door and two windows, will be storage (mostly).

I have an electrical sub panel in the old garage as shown, along with 220V outlets. I may just leave my compressor there, run air through the wall. Then again, my wife has a 220V pottery kiln she's been anxious to use since we moved in. There may be space for both.

My welder is 120V, no issues, no plans to upgrade, but you know how that goes. No other 220V tools.

Planning on 2x4' T8's as needed. We get sun in the early day on the skylight side, then shade from midafternoon on.

I'm leaning toward OSB walls up to 4', then standard pegboard to 8', then more OSB to the ceiling. Shelves aplenty, possibly cabinets if I can find them. Pegboard may only be in the wall between the 9x8 back garage door and man door next to it. Planning for in-wall romex as much as possible, with the pegboard and or OSB cut/screwed in for a raceway.

Questions:
1) how many lights? Shop is general wrenching, probably some metalworking/fabrication, and (shudder) body work as well.
2) I'm tempted to put another 220V (or two) across the wall from the old garage, and the drop from the ceiling for the lift, and call it good. I figure I could always tap into the top feed and run across the rafters later if I need 220 by the 16x7 door. Sound reasonable?
3) Not planning on any outlets on the 22'6" wall next to the 16x7 door. Probably put one in between the two front doors, and a few along the wall with the windows. I'm figuring on floor-to-ceiling shelving there, don't see a need for an outlet. Think I'll regret it? Again, easy enough to run across the rafters later if I reconsider.

Many thanks for any guidance.

Oh yeah, what program do you nice people suggest for laying out the wiring? Sketchup doesn't seem to be quite right.
 

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pattenp

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Jun 4, 2008
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Virginia - USA
Any open wall space 2' and larger should have at least one outlet. Place an outlet at least every 12' for general use. Place outlets at least every 6' along work area/bench wall. A lot of folks go by the general rule of thumb of 1.5 watts of florescent lighting per square foot. I like to use lumens myself at 125 - 150lux per sqft.
 
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kyle242gt

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Jan 5, 2010
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99
Location
Norcal
970x1.5=1455/(32x2)=23 2x4' fixtures
970x150=145500/(2750x2/9=26 2x4' fixtures

WOW.

So I managed to cram 19 in there. Looks like the workspace is well illuminated.

What do you think of this?

Next issue is switching and so forth. I kinda like the idea of locating a switch near each bank of lights, that way I can use what I want without needlessly lighting the place up.

And now that I look at it, the lights near the shelving seem way overkill. I don't have any plans to do much on that side of the garage, just need enough light to see what's on the shelves...

Second image shows a few changes.

Thanks much for any input.
 

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Falcon67

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Merkel, TX
Just as a ruff cut for thinking - If it was my layout I'd be thinking to do one switch for each bench area, one for the area in between the benches (might need a different fixture layout), one for the center "block" and one for the shelving area. 4 by the entry door(s) and one in the shelving area. one of the 4 could be a three way, letting you control the center block from the man door area or from next to the overhead door.
 
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vgarage

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Oct 24, 2011
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Oh yeah, what program do you nice people suggest for laying out the wiring? Sketchup doesn't seem to be quite right.

I like visio for this kind of thing because its easy to use. Autocad is for more serious drawings, much more expensive and steeper learning curve
 
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Provincial

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Sep 21, 2011
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Near Salem, OR
For the "walk-through" lights in my shop I am putting incandescent floods on swivel heads in four places. They will illuminate the travel area and enough of the workbench to walk in and get a tool after dark, without dealing with the flourescent main lighting. I am going to try 65w bulbs first. I am guessing that LED's will become practical to replace them in a few years.

I have an existing 30x36 shop that I put all flourescent lights in. Eight foot fixtures in the main area and 2-bulb four footers in the workbench area. It has good lighting when I am working, but to duck in and get a tool after dark I have to turn on the main fixtures, which is hard on the flourescents, as they burn out much quicker when you short-cycle them.
 
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kyle242gt

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Jan 5, 2010
Messages
99
Location
Norcal
Thanks for the feedback!

As far as walk-through goes, got an unexpected bonus from my garage door openers - they have motion sensors on them, so the place lights up automatically. Nice.

I could also run a separate bulb or two from the old garage's existing light circuit.

Here's what I'm thinking now... would like to make the outlets for the ones in the middle of the lift dual-circuit, so if I decide I'd rather they be on the green circuit, I can just swap plugs.

Three way circuit for the blue lights, I'll have to read up on the wiring, but I don't think it's a serious complication.

17x64w=1088w/110=10A. Can I run all of this off one 15A breaker? From the panel to the pink switch to the other four switches?
 

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ddawg16

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Jul 11, 2008
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21,005
Location
S. California
My lights are in 3 sections.....front, rear East, rear West.....

Outlets....I have them on 2 breakers....East, West.....in retrospect, I wish I had staggered them.....in other words, alternate the source on each outlet.....

Case in point....I typically use my shop vac hooked up to the table saw to pull off the saw dust....if I have them plugged into the same ckt....you can tell the difference in RPM....but if I plug one in on one side and the other item on the other....RPM's are fine...

Yea....I know....I need a dust collector......on it's own ckt.
 
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