Why Install The Main Panel In the Garage?

[Teken]

Just like the title states: Why do some builders install the main electrical panel in the garage? Is it preference, better access, just where the POCO ran the wire, thus causing the electrician to install it in the said place?

Why??

Teken . . .

 

[moserjj]

With my new house currently under construction, the garage was as close as we could get the POCO to put the meter socket. We put in a 200 amp pass through and fed a 200 amp main panel in the house though. My sister has a main panel in her garage and the builder said it was the best central location for it in her particular house plan

 

[Gregishome]

Service attachment point and to keep them out of sight. The lady of the house doesnt want to have to buy a fugly picture just to hang over a breakerbox, as they cannot be put just anywhere inside the home.

 

[PRH44]

Thats a great comment gregishome. How may different interesting objects have we all seen covering the electrical panel

 

[pattenp]

Due to NEC access and clearance requirements around the panel box, if there's a garage, it's usually the easiest and best place to put the main panel box.

 

[Teken]

With my new house currently under construction, the garage was as close as we could get the POCO to put the meter socket. We put in a 200 amp pass through and fed a 200 amp main panel in the house though. My sister has a main panel in her garage and the builder said it was the best central location for it in her particular house plan

So, in your situation they had to install it in the garage. Yet, in the same breath you also had to have an actual breaker panel installed in the home??


Pictures?

Teken . . .

 

[moserjj]

Yes the meter socket is on the side of the garage and goes straight through wall into a pass-through panel inside the garage. from there, it goes to a 40 space 200 amp panel in the basement as i didn't want my main house panel in the garage. For my house plan which isn't anything fancy, the panel location in the garage would have been far from centrally located and would have required way too much extra wire. My garage circuits are in the garage panel, house circuits in the house panel. worked out good in the end

 

[twocoda]

there are pros and cons for putting panels in the garage...you can still do it at this point in time in Canada but ESA is leaning towards eliminating it due to uncontrolled enviroment temperatures causing condensation and rust within the panel....the last two houses i built were identical with the exception of the garages....one had the panel in the garage and one had the panel in the basement utility room @ the back of the house....the savings in Homerun wires from the basement was around 1000.00 overall for this paticular layout....so you wonder why anyone would want the panel in the garage...well if someone doesnt have the money at the time to install a gennie panel...they can easiely add it later on and most generators are stored inside the garage...simply crack a door ...fire up the genie and throw the switch...

 

[Burn1]

Security is another consideration. Some would rather have the main house power panel locked up inside the garage interior vs. outside the house wall where a smash/grab invader can more easily kill power to the home before breaking into it. I choose to have my main panel put inside the garage for this specific reason. Second, I find it easier to yell to my wife for confirmation when shutting off a specific circuit inside the house for home improvement projects..

 

[Stuart in MN]

Security is another consideration. Some would rather have the main house power panel locked up inside the garage interior vs. outside the house wall.

Locating the main panel on the outside of the house is a Southern/Southwest thing, you don't see it done very often in the rest of the country.

As to the original question, the thing about electrical work is there isn't necessarily one correct method - it can depend on personal preference, local regulations, the proximity of the house and garage to the closest service point, or any other number of reasons.

 

[Falcon67]

Most new construction down hee-ya places the breaker panel in the garage. Easy access. Hard to get to in a small closet with lots of clothes in the way. Ugly on the wall anywhere in the house. Power comes underground from the pole so it's easy to put it in the garage without much regard to the house layout. Old stuff - could be anywhere, and or in several places. One of our houses had them in the back bathroom.

 

[Provincial]

The panel also has to have access unobstructed for three feet in front and also a lesser distance to the sides and above. These requirements make the garage a good location, in addition to the point made by Gregishome.

the 200 amp panels in most new homes is pretty large.

 

[Norcal]

This is a typical CA install except that all the branch circuits are not fed from it,normally they are.

For around $120 there is no way to assemble the parts & pieces for a 200A service, not including pipe & wire for less, IMHO.

 

[browntown]

Thinking back, the last three homes I've lived in had the panel in the garage, even when I lived in a duplex as a bachelor it was in the garage. That was a pain, as the garage was a vault style with no access beyond the garage door. If the main panel tripped, I would have had to break the automatic garage door to get to the panel. Ended up installing a emergency key cable release just in case...... then moved.

 

[jvitez]

Also, the propensity for garage panels in the US comes from many houses being slab on grade. Who really wants a panel in the interior of their main floor?

When we built our house, we could have chosen a main panel in the garage. It would have been a bit cheaper, as the POCO would have needed to run less cable from the pole drop to where it goes underground at the edge of our property. But I wanted everything mechanical in a dedicated mechanical room, and I just felt better about having it in a climate controlled space.

 

[rwreuter]

some power companies require the meter to be in certain locations for access reasons and for money....it cost more to run the secondary to a meter around to the back of the house.

i know in pierce county, king and several other counties in washington they required it to be in the first third of the house....looking at the house from the street. so, most people don't a panel in their living room, so they put them in the garage.

 

[rct]

Around northern Amherst, NY, many new homes are built with the panel in the garage for 100-yr flood zone compliance. All utilities have to be above the 100 year flood level for fema compliance. They also hang furnances from the basement ceiling to keep them above the line.

 

[Teken]

Around northern Amherst, NY, many new homes are built with the panel in the garage for 100-yr flood zone compliance. All utilities have to be above the 100 year flood level for fema compliance. They also hang furnances from the basement ceiling to keep them above the line.

That is the second time I have heard this.

Teken . . .

 

[browntown]

Well we just had our 100year flood, so it does happen. And as far as the front 1/3 of the house... I wonder if those codes are going to change now that more meters are wireless. Smart meters seem to be all the rage.

 

[KenC]

Don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet, but the closet locations are not NEC approved. Just tried to get my local guy to approve one for a remodel. Nogo.

 

[rwreuter]

the closet thing on load centers has been a nogo for a LONG time....i have seen it though...on remodels

 

[Jim Richards]

Locating the main panel on the outside of the house is a Southern/Southwest thing, you don't see it done very often in the rest of the country.

My house in SoCal has the main panel located on the outside (back) wall of the garage. I hope to have the panel upgraded and moved to the inside of the garage in the coming months.

 

[smike]

I just bought a 15 year old house. The panel is in the garage even though I have a full basment. I know in my case it was cheaper to put it in the garage and have an overhead service.
I hate it. Makes it real hard to add circits if the garage is sheetrocked.
In the near future I will be putting an underground service into the basement. Transfer my larger loads to the basement panel. Then backfeed the exsiting panel through a transfer switch for generator back up.


To answer your question, it's usally cheaper