David Conwill
Active member
Okay, here’s the story: About a month ago I bought my first house. It came with a good size (about 14' wide x 20' deep) circa 1920 garage (the house was one of the nicer ones in town at the time it was built, and the folks evidently drove some pretty large cars; Packards or Locomobiles or something). I intend to keep the garage original on the exterior, but I’d like to upgrade the inside to help as I rehabilitate the house, and eventually to allow me to tinker on old cars.
Currently there’s a two-fuse electrical service in the garage coming in from a single circuit in the house. There’s a single outlet on the West wall and two bare bulbs suspended from the ceiling - neither of the lights work for reasons I’ve yet to determine. The outlet is controlled by an old rotary switch near the west vehicle door, and all of the wiring is knob and tube.
I’m planning to start over on the wiring, but I don’t want to do anything with the house electrical service at the moment. Ultimately I’d like to have two outlets on each wall for a total of six, two functional incandescent lamps in the current position, and probably two or three fluorescent fixtures along the back wall to illuminate a workbench area. (Way down the line I’d love to add 220 to possibly run a welder; sufficient service to run an air compressor; etc., but a few more outlets and some lighting will suffice for now.)
I’m confident in my ability to wire, but I’ve never planned a wiring project from scratch, so I’d appreciate a little help planning within the current constraints but with an eye to the future.
I do understand a few of the basics, of course, like all the horizontal runs have to be in the attic of the garage so nobody is tempted to hang things from them, etc.
-Dave
Currently there’s a two-fuse electrical service in the garage coming in from a single circuit in the house. There’s a single outlet on the West wall and two bare bulbs suspended from the ceiling - neither of the lights work for reasons I’ve yet to determine. The outlet is controlled by an old rotary switch near the west vehicle door, and all of the wiring is knob and tube.
I’m planning to start over on the wiring, but I don’t want to do anything with the house electrical service at the moment. Ultimately I’d like to have two outlets on each wall for a total of six, two functional incandescent lamps in the current position, and probably two or three fluorescent fixtures along the back wall to illuminate a workbench area. (Way down the line I’d love to add 220 to possibly run a welder; sufficient service to run an air compressor; etc., but a few more outlets and some lighting will suffice for now.)
I’m confident in my ability to wire, but I’ve never planned a wiring project from scratch, so I’d appreciate a little help planning within the current constraints but with an eye to the future.
I do understand a few of the basics, of course, like all the horizontal runs have to be in the attic of the garage so nobody is tempted to hang things from them, etc.
-Dave
