Question about 220 sub panel

[Threadkiller]

Hi all, I just bought my first house and I am new to the whole home improvement thing. I just bought a 220 60 gallon compressor and I have a plasma cutter that also runs on 220 and I plan on eventually getting a TIG welder. Here is my question

My electric panel is on the extreme right side of my house and the garage is literally on the extreme left side of my house. The basement (if you could call it that, its more like a den) is all finished and Id say theres probably 30 feet between where I want to get the sub panel in from the box. I am debating hiring an electrician to do the work but money is a little tight right now. I know I could install the breaker if I was just putting an outlet in the same room or something. Do I A, just hire someone to do the whole thing from start to finish and how much should this cost me (i know there are variables...roughly), B run the conduits outside the house and have him do the sub panel and the box wiring, or C just do the whole thing myself? I am pretty mechanical and capable with tools ....what would you all do? Thanks for the input

 

[Mossmilo]

I would run it outside if it does not have easy access in the house. What size panel do you have on your house ?

 

[pattenp]

Not knowing your comfort level and electrical knowledge it's hard to say do it yourself. But if you're willing to do the research and take your time getting your plan worked out then I'd say go for it and do it yourself. That's my approach on most things.

 

[miner]

I have done this sort of thing myself. Electrical is fairly easy once you understand a few basics. Of course, the electrical code is not simple so you want to make sure you research what codes apply to your situation. Pretty soon you will be making your own phase converter!

 

[Threadkiller]

I would run it outside if it does not have easy access in the house. What size panel do you have on your house ?

I actually have no idea? Lol When you say that do you mean like physical size? Breaker slots? I dont really know how that goes. I havent done much reading on electrical yet.

Not knowing your comfort level and electrical knowledge it's hard to say do it yourself. But if you're willing to do the research and take your time getting your plan worked out then I'd say go for it and do it yourself. That's my approach on most things.

I am definitely willing to do the research and learn. I love learning how to do things myself. I taught myself basically all the way around cars to where ive actually been in the engine myself doing head and cam swaps on my Camaro. However at the current time I really do not know much about electrical, I have watched a bunch of Youtube vids and read some things. If I decide to start doing stuff like this I will definitely get more into it.

I have done this sort of thing myself. Electrical is fairly easy once you understand a few basics. Of course, the electrical code is not simple so you want to make sure you research what codes apply to your situation. Pretty soon you will be making your own phase converter!

Haha! Thanks for the input and confidence for a fellow do it yourselfer. I am going to get on some reading.

Thanks for the input guys, I really appreciate it.

 

[Mossmilo]

I would look at your breaker panel and see what the Main breaker says on top 100amp? 200amp? Then I would do what the call a sub panel out in the garage. If you have Atleast a 100 or 200 amp panel in the house you could easily run a 100 amp sub panel out to the garage and ten you would have the option to be able to add whatever you would want to out there. Instead of just having 1 line of 220 for a plug or two you would have the options to be able to add many 220 lines or even regular 120 outlets and so on. It would only cost a little bit more for the extra sub panel ( they are cheap ). Not sure on how your house is setup or how far you will have to go but you can buy aluminum wire that is direct burial so you don't have to run conduit the whole way or you can if you want to its just an option. Read up on it because its really not all that difficult, once you realize how simple t is you'll say that's all there is to it. You do have to be very careful Though when working with electric making sure the power is OFF when handling

 

[little d]

Killer,
first off and for most, I am not a licensed electrician but, with that said, if your willing to read up and work carefully, ya if I was you I would do it myself, in fact I do do my own electrical work.

Ok, here are some things your gona have to take into acount;
Amp rating of main breaker. To power your house and shop, your gona need a 200 amp main ( an old electrician told me once to stay below 80% of the main to have a trouble free system), this will give ya 160 amps to play with. Depending on what ya have in the house (furnace, water heater, stove, etc...) you should have about 80 to 100 amps free for the shop.

Room in the box, your gona need space to put in a 220 breaker and the wires to power the sub panel.

Size of the wire, ya take the distance and draw (amps) to figure this out. Mine is 75', 100 amp's so I went with 00 size wire.

One other thing ya have to keep in the back of your mind, unless ya have the meter pulled, even if the main is shut off, the leads coming into the box are still HOT!!!! You can not be too careful, generally speaking, ya don't get a do over with electricity.