Running Conduit - How Many?

[Spudland_Dave]

While I got the trench open, I'm going to run additional conduit. Back when we built the house I had speced 3....a 2.5" for Power, and 2, 1.5" "Spares" for Low Voltage...its been 6 years and the only cable I've ever run is a single coax in one of them. I was going to do the same to the garage, but now I'm thinkin of just a single 2" and a single 1"
Power is a given
and the only other cable I can think of running is a CAT-5 for network....even if I need a coax, should be no problem running it with my CAT-5.

How many conduits do most people run?

 

[nehog]

Two: one high (line) voltage, one low (cable/network/phone/security/video) both are usually 2 or 2 1/2 inch size.

 

[Angelfire]

My power feed is underground cable so no conduit. I ran a 1 1/2" conduit for future low voltage stuff. I figure I can put coax and network cables in there without issue.

Oh, and consider using Cat 6 vs the Cat 5....might as well future proof it as much as you can. Cat 6 prices aren't bad either compared to what they were.

 

[rburke65]

I ran my power, air and water from an existing pole building to the new shop, approx. 50' away. But I ran an extra water line....3/4" plastic.....an extra air line....3/4" pex......an extra 2" PVC conduit. I had a neighbor offer me some 2" pvc drain pipe, 20' lengths, for free, and I ran 2 of these. So I think I'm covered.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

My power feed is underground cable so no conduit. I ran a 1 1/2" conduit for future low voltage stuff. I figure I can put coax and network cables in there without issue.

Oh, and consider using Cat 6 vs the Cat 5....might as well future proof it as much as you can. Cat 6 prices aren't bad either compared to what they were.

I agree on the 6....I dont know what I'll be using in terms of CAT 5 or 6...long story short I am a "Techie" by trade so after talkin to a buddy of mine, he saved me 150' off a roll....I just gotta swing by and grab it (this reminds me I should do that today)

So sounds like I should be covered by a 2" for Power and a 1.5" for Low Volt.
I will be pulling water in a seperate trench in the future.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

I agree on the 6....I dont know what I'll be using in terms of CAT 5 or 6...long story short I am a "Techie" by trade so after talkin to a buddy of mine, he saved me 150' off a roll....I just gotta swing by and grab it (this reminds me I should do that today)

So sounds like I should be covered by a 2" for Power and a 1.5" for Low Volt.
I will be pulling water in a seperate trench in the future.

1.5" should work just fine for a communication cabling conduit. And if u only pull a CAT5 now and need a phone line in the future, u can just use one of the pairs in the CAT5 for phone instead of pulling another cable for phone. But you're a cable tech, so I'm sure you already know this!

 

[bjcouche]

I think your 1.5" conduit should work just fine. I am finishing up my garage build now and I ran a conduit for power and two 1" conduits for low voltage. I originally was just going to run one 1" but I had extra conduit and just tossed a second one win the trench when it was open.

I saved myself some trenching by burying my water and drain line at 4', covering the trench to 2' then placing the electrical in the same trench. This way I only have 1 trench and also if I ever start digging in the yard I'll find the power line in conduit before the water line. Also the power line can be located with the proper equipment and if the power company guys locate my power wires, they've also automatically located my water and drain lines for me at the same time. It's much easier to locate a power line than a plastic water and plastic drain pipe.
If you have your water line in a separate trench, and it's plastic line, I'd recommend burying a copper wire, any size will do, maybe 1' above the water line. That way 1: you'll find that first if you start digging, and 2: if you leave the wire assessable at one end the guy can locate your water line by clamping on to the copper wire and locate the wire. You never know where the wife will want a flower garden in the future.

Brian

 

[bjcouche]

I forgot to add:

If he is a "techie" then he can't use the unused wires in the CAT6 for phone because He'll not be running 100Mb ethernet he'll be running 1000MB or gigabit. Gigabit ethernet uses ALL of the pairs.

What better idea to have your automatic backups back up to a NAS that is located 200' away from your house in your DETACHED garage. In the unlikely event that your house burns down, your metal garage would likely survive with all your irreplaceable data, pictures, tax documents, etc. If the garage burns down then you would still have your data backed up in the second NAS in your house.... Sort of an off site backup... Now if both your garage and house are below the flood level, you're out of luck.

Brian

 

[Spudland_Dave]

I forgot to add:

If he is a "techie" then he can't use the unused wires in the CAT6 for phone because He'll not be running 100Mb ethernet he'll be running 1000MB or gigabit. Gigabit ethernet uses ALL of the pairs.

What better idea to have your automatic backups back up to a NAS that is located 200' away from your house in your DETACHED garage. In the unlikely event that your house burns down, your metal garage would likely survive with all your irreplaceable data, pictures, tax documents, etc. If the garage burns down then you would still have your data backed up in the second NAS in your house.... Sort of an off site backup... Now if both your garage and house are below the flood level, you're out of luck.

Brian

You are 100% Correct Brian, BUT, the problem with being a techie is by the time I get home its the LAST Thing I want to do. So my house is in "technical shambles"...ROFL...(not really that bad, but you get the idea) When I get home I'd rather tinker on my tractors, cut, grind or weld steel...etc.
100mb connection will probably be fine, WAN connection (Internet) will still be the bottleneck...I dont envision too much local traffic other then printing pages of service manuals. I think Pandora will be the most used app in the garage..LOL.
OH, and I dont catch my WiFi in the garage so I'd like to extend the WiFi range in there using the CAT5, so my phone stays on the LAN as much as possible.

Speaking of Cat5 and 6....about oh, 5 years ago here, Cat6 was speced for everything...new construction, new drops, new patch cords, etc.. couple years back that all went the way of the DoDo and we're back to 5e on everything.
SOOOO, even if I were to have bought the cable, I probably would have went with 5e as well. Lookin more and more like Cat6 is like Firewire...

 

[wyliesdiesels]

I forgot to add:

If he is a "techie" then he can't use the unused wires in the CAT6 for phone because He'll not be running 100Mb ethernet he'll be running 1000MB or gigabit. Gigabit ethernet uses ALL of the pairs.

What better idea to have your automatic backups back up to a NAS that is located 200' away from your house in your DETACHED garage. In the unlikely event that your house burns down, your metal garage would likely survive with all your irreplaceable data, pictures, tax documents, etc. If the garage burns down then you would still have your data backed up in the second NAS in your house.... Sort of an off site backup... Now if both your garage and house are below the flood level, you're out of luck.

Brian

That's why I said CAT5! And most people don't need a high bandwidth LAN in their house to necessitate or justify buying gigabit equipment! Even if someone did move a lot of data on their network, it wouldn't be for a long sustained amount of time. I have a NAS and push several gigabits to it @ once, but then it sits there for weeks not receiving any data- I use it for backup. The bottleneck on most people's home network is on the WAN side- ie. their ISP connection! Mine is 15mbps cable internet!

 

[jeffmoss26]

I always recommend proper lightning protection and grounding when going between buildings.
http://itwlinx.com/wp-content/uploads/CAT5-LAN_new.pdf

 

[Spudland_Dave]

I always recommend proper lightning protection and grounding when going between buildings.
http://itwlinx.com/wp-content/uploads/CAT5-LAN_new.pdf

Why?
My Stand on it is this....Like mentioned i'm a techie...
A) Network Surge stuff is expensive...I see the one you posted is ~100.00
B) The price of the network gear does not exceed 100.00....

Case in point, a year ago I lost our Wireless Router...was an old Linksys b, it didnt hurt my feeling to upgrade anyways. So you can look at it as I upgraded or replaced... Either way, 50 bucks on a Shiny new .N setup and I got much better range & speed.
I dont have any wired connections...the run to the garage will be solely for a range extender...

Lost a TV a month ago...but again, having my wife twist my arm to go get a replacement for our 1st generation LCD in the bedroom wasnt a bad thing. Got a shiny new LED TV To replace it.

Tech stuff gets old by virtue of the calendar...So I'm not a hot proponent on protecting them....Reminds me of those Dust covers they used to sell for VCR's...good thing soo many people took such good care of em huh?

 

[wyliesdiesels]

I actually have several APC AVRs throughout my house as well as an APC UPS with AVR. I believe in protecting electronics because I'm not as blessed and don't usually have the money to buy new ones if when they die. The AVRs actually saved all my stuff recently when the main breaker feeding my house burnt up and caused a surge! I only rent and my landlord is getting foreclosed on, so she doesn't care to keep the electrical in order!(Someone replaced the breaker a few years ago, but didn't torq the lugs nor use anti-ox, so the connection corroded!)