Shop Re-wire

[Wileel]

About to get home from deployment and start my shop project and have a general wiring question. First a little background...
Shop is semi-finished (OSB walls and open ceiling) and is already wired off a 100a service. Bad news is there is no insulation and I hate the OSB walls, so the OSB is coming down so I can insulate and run the wiring for all of the outlets I want/need as well as the lights overhead.

So here is the question, is it best to run the wire up and over the ceiling to the opposite side of the shop/ceiling lights or go thru the walls around the perimeter then straight up? Hope that makes sense

 

[Smoker]

Whatever uses the least amount of wire and makes sense. For the run to the outside lights I went up and over. Power receptacles I went through the walls.

 

[James-W]

I went up an over because in my particular case I felt it was the best way to do it. But I can envision where in some cases it would be best to go thru the walls.

 

[Wileel]

Thanks, simple answers straight to the point.....for some reason (maybe OCD) I was picturing all straight lines and 90deg turns for it to be proper.

 

[Dr Stan]

I used the industrial style of wiring which is surface mounted boxes & conduit. In my case I used PVC.

When (not if) you decide to make changes to your wiring it will be much easier than having to tear into walls. It also makes changes possible that you would not due because of having to tear out walls.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

If I were to do it again, I would insulate my garage, then finish the walls, then surface-mount all the electrical panels, boxes, wiring, etc.

This eliminates air leaks around boxes and penetrations, for a better-sealed building and better performing insulation. Surface-mounting wire in conduit allows for easy future changes/additions, and if you do a nice job running your conduit, it looks good as well.

After getting mine all done, I needed to add a few outlets and another circuit, so I ended up with some surface mounted wiring anyways.

 

[Smoker]

I went in wall to keep the walls clean. I surface mounted my other shop and the conduit etc got in the way of things I wanted to mount on the walls. Each to their own I guess. The tyvek building wrap stops air infiltration so I wasn't worried about air leaks either.

I will be installing the compressed air system on the wall surface but there's only a couple of drops.

 

[grantw]

If I were to do it again, I would insulate my garage, then finish the walls, then surface-mount all the electrical panels, boxes, wiring, etc.

This eliminates air leaks around boxes and penetrations, for a better-sealed building and better performing insulation. Surface-mounting wire in conduit allows for easy future changes/additions, and if you do a nice job running your conduit, it looks good as well.

After getting mine all done, I needed to add a few outlets and another circuit, so I ended up with some surface mounted wiring anyways.

I'm working on this very thing now. Except I'm going a step further by surface mounting everything on unistrut. I figure adding anything (power, air, water, vacuum, etc) in the future is a matter of a few pipe clamps.

 

[ford33]

I surface mounted electrical in EMT and air lines in copper. If done neatly it looks like and makes maintenance and additions so much easier.