Wiring question [Detached Garage]

[HenryG]

I figured this would be the case, but when I have the garage build it will cost me $40 just to have a meter on the garage itself. I was hoping the charge would be less since I already pay $40/month for service to the house.

My question is could I just connect it to the power from the house itself? I'm going to speak to the city, and an electrician buddy of mine later to see what options I have.

I don't plan on having any large shop equipment in the garage. Just ordinary power tools, small compressor, and maybe a MIG welder down the road.

 

[lametec]

Yes.

 

[HenryG]

I know this may be different depending on the local laws, but can it be run above ground, or something that needs to be run underground?

 

[Falcon67]

Can be either way, depends on local restrictions and your specific installation, service entrance, etc.

 

[nkachur]

you also have to factor in whether or not the house service is adiqate to supply the sub panel in the garage

 

[gatchel]

That extra $40 a month will add up quick. (5 years is $2400)
If the house service is not big enough, upgrade it and run the garage feed off of the house main panel.

 

[ddawg16]

Ya know....if you put your location in your profile, we might be able to give you a better answer.........

Lacking that information....you can assume your worst case power needs by adding up all the stuff that could be on at the same time...in your case it would be lights, small compressor and mig welder....you do NOT need to add up the current for ALL the tools you have....if your like the rest of us...you can only use one at a time.

For a reference....I have 50A 241Vac going to my garage....I doubt I will EVER use all of it. It's being fed by a 50A breaker in the main panel at my house....

 

[HenryG]

That extra $40 a month will add up quick. (5 years is $2400)
If the house service is not big enough, upgrade it and run the garage feed off of the house main panel.

That's my biggest problem. $40 just seems like a lot of money considering I already pay $40 for the house. You'd think I'd get a small break.

 

[HenryG]

Ya know....if you put your location in your profile, we might be able to give you a better answer.........

Lacking that information....you can assume your worst case power needs by adding up all the stuff that could be on at the same time...in your case it would be lights, small compressor and mig welder....you do NOT need to add up the current for ALL the tools you have....if your like the rest of us...you can only use one at a time.

For a reference....I have 50A 241Vac going to my garage....I doubt I will EVER use all of it. It's being fed by a 50A breaker in the main panel at my house....

My profile has been updated.

I would imagine 50A would be more than enough for my needs as well.

 

[ddawg16]

What size is the service to your house now? How many sq ft is the house? Since your in WA, I'm going to assume gas heating? If so...if you have at least 150A (200A would be better) then a 50A to the garge would work nicely.

 

[cyamaha2007]

i just went through this you will need a service disconect to run to the garage. I would upgrade your house meter base to a 320 amp. That meter is ment to feed two 200 amp panels. Then put a second panel in the shed and be done. The 320amp upgrade was only 300 bucks where i live.

 

[nate379]

Sure, wouldn't be a big deal to run a subpanel in garage. 50 amp should be more than enough for an average garage.

Just have 100 amp service here, feeds house, garage and a shed. Never had a need for more power.

Only thing I noticed is I don't know why but when I run high powered tool (saw, shop vac, etc) in the shed the lights flicker for a second when I start the tool.

 

[cyamaha2007]

between lights,heater,plasma cutter id trip my 60 amp feeder quite often

 

[mrb]

Sure, wouldn't be a big deal to run a subpanel in garage. 50 amp should be more than enough for an average garage.

Just have 100 amp service here, feeds house, garage and a shed. Never had a need for more power.

Only thing I noticed is I don't know why but when I run high powered tool (saw, shop vac, etc) in the shed the lights flicker for a second when I start the tool.

voltage drop due to the inrush when the motor starts.

 

[nate379]

I don't have that issue in the house or garage though. The outlets are on different leg than lights too.

 

[Alchymist]

I don't have that issue in the house or garage though. The outlets are on different leg than lights too.

The voltage drop occurs across the wires feeding the shed. Probably a longer run/lighter wires.

 

[nate379]

About 125 ft from garage panel to shed panel. Ran 10 gauge uf wire.

 

[mrb]

i did a quick calc, and with 125ft of #10 you are probably dropping to about 100 volts when you start a circular saw.

 

[nate379]

I'll check later today when I'm out there. I have 125v at the outlets with no load.

 

[mrb]

I'll check later today when I'm out there. I have 125v at the outlets with no load.

you need a meter that can respond as quick as the lights dim or an old analog one where you will see the needle dip when you start a saw.

 

[Kriilin]

Does your code allow a dual-lug meter socket? That way you run a second panel directly from your meter, removing the lading from the house panel. The wires exiting on the bottom left go to a 100A service in my detached garage.

Forgot to add - My house panel is 200A with a 200A meter socket. Good option if your local code allows.

 

[jvitez]

I assume you mean $40 a month extra? That's expensive for not much gain. Our utility charges $13.70 per month for electricity hook up for my 400 amp service, and an extra $14.00 a month for NG hook up.

Our old house had only 100 amp service despite being a 2600 sq ft 4 bedroom, and we never tripped any breakers. Why? Everything was NG: furnace, water heater, dryer, cooktop. Stove was electric. Even when I put a 4800 W heater in the garage we were fine.

So the big wild card is heating. Do you ever see yourself using electric heat in the garage? If not, 50 or 60 amps would be plenty most likely, but do the actual calculation or you'll be in for an expensive surprise.

Do a proper load calc for your house, then add 100% of the wattage of everything you could foresee using at the same time in the garage. Do you have enough capacity in your house's service panel? If so, just run it from there. Even if you don't, it'd be money well spent to upgrade the whole thing.

 

[jvitez]

That's exactly how the utility did ours. We have two 200 amp 40 circuit load centers being fed from one meter.

This would be an easy option for the OP if the utility allows, and you have enough meter capacity.

Best advice for any electrical planning: do a proper load calc!

 

[mrb]

For stationary equipment you have to consider the connected load when doing a load calc. 'im not going to use it all at once' does not permit you to undersize the service.

 

[nate379]

I have a fairly high end Fluke one somewhere.
I wasn't too worried about a load calc just have 4 lights, 7 outlets and an air compressor. Compressor takes 13 amps so left me with 15 ish for the rest which was plenty.

 

[mrb]

I have a fairly high end Fluke one somewhere.
I wasn't too worried about a load calc just have 4 lights, 7 outlets and an air compressor. Compressor takes 13 amps so left me with 15 ish for the rest which was plenty.

when the compressor starts, it probably draws 60 or 70 amps hence the dimming of the lights. That sort of current through 125ft of #10 will give you quite a bit of voltage drop.

 

[nate379]

Oddly enough the lights don't flicker when the compressor starts. Just noticed when I was running my chop saw the other day.

I put the lights and outlets more at a nicety than anything, have no plans to make the shed a workshop by any means. Just figured it'd be quite praticle to be able to see in there when it's dark or plug in something like a battery charger for teh tractor.