Shop wiring advice?

[ProjectBazza]

I’m staring on the wiring out in the “shep” (shed/shop), and while I have some ideas on what I want to do out there, to anyone who has done this before, can you offer up any advice on things you wish you would have done? As in, “I wish I would have pre-wired for ……”.

Thanks.

Jim

 

[Oldmanmopar]

The best advise I can give you is put it on the wall not in it. You'll thank me down the road. Its not a house it a shop. Changing it or adding on is easy Peasy.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Yeah what Steve said is gread advice. Hell, if I ever redo the wiring and plumbing in the house, they'll BOTH be on the wall. LOL

 

[ProjectBazza]

The best advise I can give you is put it on the wall not in it. You'll thank me down the road. Its not a house it a shop. Changing it or adding on is easy Peasy.

I was just coming back to modify my original post to add:

“Or things you messed-up and wish you would have done differently?”

You make a very good point, thank you!

 

[Dicer]

I second that, run conduit with dual duplexes. Also redundant wiring, not to overload the outlets.

 

[ProjectBazza]

The best advise I can give you is put it on the wall not in it. You'll thank me down the road. Its not a house it a shop. Changing it or adding on is easy Peasy.

Yeah what Steve said is gread advice. Hell, if I ever redo the wiring and plumbing in the house, they'll BOTH be on the wall. LOL

I second that, run conduit with dual duplexes. Also redundant wiring, not to overload the outlets.

Thank you, gentlemen!

To be honest, I hadn’t even considered running EMT, as I have a lot of Romex leftover from a few house projects, and I guess I just thought I’d use it up.

But since I don’t know where the air compressor is going to be set yet, nor do I know where I’m going to want to have my welder outlet, this all makes perfect sense!

The ceiling is going to be metal panels, insulated above, so I’ll use that Romex up there and run EMT around the space.

Thanks!

 

[Oldmanmopar]

My shop I built in the 90's the wiring is in the wall. What a pain in the *** remembering where I ran it or adding to it. Hang a shelf and wonder if you going to short something out. Here is that place and there is a man cave upstairs. Bedroom, Bathroom, Kitchen, laundry room, and rec room. All an after thought, What at spaghetti mess it the walls. Never again.

 

[Professor Fate]

The ceiling is going to be metal panels, insulated above, so I’ll use that Romex up there and run EMT around the space.

Whatever you think you'll need for lighting- add more. If you use LEDs the circuit load is negligible.
Depending on the height of your ceilings, consider a couple of good ceiling fans. (Do NOT use ones that have remote controls- remotes get lost in a shop setting, and when you do find them the batteries are always dead!)
You're in MN, so obviously it's going to be heated- but while you're doing the ductwork don't forget to add at least one exhaust fan. Two if you're going to have a dedicated welding area. Three if you've got a painting area. Four if there's an area where you and your buddies hang out drinking beer and eating cheap tacos...
Make sure you've got a 220 outlet on each wall.
If you have a loft, run an extra circuit up there, even if you don't use it right away... we're not getting any younger and the day will come when you wish you had a hoist up there.
Some would consider it a distraction, but make sure you run enough wiring for entertainment- remote speaker wires (don't rely on bluetooth in a shop) and antenna & cable for your stereo and TV. Yes, TV. Outside antenna- a metal shop makes an excellent Faraday cage and an attic antenna wont cut it. Just because you're working in the shop doesn't mean you have to miss the Packer/Viqueens game!

 

[Bodyperson]

Thank you, gentlemen!

To be honest, I hadn’t even considered running EMT, as I have a lot of Romex leftover from a few house projects, and I guess I just thought I’d use it up.

But since I don’t know where the air compressor is going to be set yet, nor do I know where I’m going to want to have my welder outlet, this all makes perfect sense!

The ceiling is going to be metal panels, insulated above, so I’ll use that Romex up there and run EMT around the space.

Thanks!

Does this project run off of the house feed or does it have its own meter?

 

[ProjectBazza]

Does this project run off of the house feed or does it have its own meter?

This building is powered by a 100 amp feed off the main panel in the house (garage). Not much, I know, but since the garage is roughly 150 feet away, and the line runs under the asphalt driveway, I’m not going to upgrade it.

But I did consider doing that! A lot!

 

[Bodyperson]

This building is powered by a 100 amp feed off the main panel in the house (garage). Not much, I know, but since the garage is roughly 150 feet away, and the line runs under the asphalt driveway, I’m not going to upgrade it.

But I did consider doing that! A lot!

I think 100 is enough. I was going to suggest running the compressor before the building and running the air line from there. That's what I did. I used Clear Core about 100 feet under ground with Institights. It has been working great for ten years. Saved me 20 amps at the shop. PLUS I don't have to listen to the thing.

 

[ProjectBazza]

Whatever you think you'll need for lighting- add more. If you use LEDs the circuit load is negligible.
Depending on the height of your ceilings, consider a couple of good ceiling fans. (Do NOT use ones that have remote controls- remotes get lost in a shop setting, and when you do find them the batteries are always dead!)
You're in MN, so obviously it's going to be heated- but while you're doing the ductwork don't forget to add at least one exhaust fan. Two if you're going to have a dedicated welding area. Three if you've got a painting area. Four if there's an area where you and your buddies hang out drinking beer and eating cheap tacos...
Make sure you've got a 220 outlet on each wall.
If you have a loft, run an extra circuit up there, even if you don't use it right away... we're not getting any younger and the day will come when you wish you had a hoist up there.
Some would consider it a distraction, but make sure you run enough wiring for entertainment- remote speaker wires (don't rely on bluetooth in a shop) and antenna & cable for your stereo and TV. Yes, TV. Outside antenna- a metal shop makes an excellent Faraday cage and an attic antenna wont cut it. Just because you're working in the shop doesn't mean you have to miss the Packer/Viqueens game!

You know…..If I was still a Vikings fan, I might have been offended there!

But I’m not (a fan), and I wasn’t (offended). Plus, I have to consider the source, and where said source lives (ya cheesehead)!

The building is only 24 x 42, with 10 foot ceilings, so no possibility of ever having a loft. As for lights, I'm laying them out right now on some graph paper, and I think I’ve got a nice mix of 8’ lights, 4 footers, and some task lights over the bench. All will be LED.

Funny you should mention the Faraday cage, as that’s exactly what I have here, and I can’t pull an FM station in here for “crap”! Fortunately I’m going to bury some Cat-5 (or is it Cat-6 now?) cable for internet when I have the gas line installed, and I have a 30’ pole with another 10’ stick of EMT to mount an old Fanfare FM-2G antenna onto. Hopefully I’ll be able to at least pick up some of the stations in The Cities…

As for heat, I’m a commercial HVAC guy, so this little pole barn is getting a furnace, A/C, and an air-air heat exchanger. (Hell! It’s probably tighter than the house!)

 

[ProjectBazza]

I think 100 is enough. I was going to suggest running the compressor before the building and running the air line from there. That's what I did. I used Clear Core about 100 feet under ground with Institights. It has been working great for ten years. Saved me 20 amps at the shop. PLUS I don't have to listen to the thing.

I’ve never heard of that, but I LIKE it!

I wonder how that would work in the winter though…..Would need a REALLY good moisture eliminator, I would think.

I’m going to ponder that one, as it would be pretty simple to lay that in with the gas line, I would think.

Thanks!

 

[Bodyperson]

You know…..If I was still a Vikings fan, I might have been offended there!

But I’m not (a fan), and I wasn’t (offended). Plus, I have to consider the source, and where said source lives (ya cheesehead)!

The building is only 24 x 42, with 10 foot ceilings, so no possibility of ever having a loft. As for lights, I'm laying them out right now on some graph paper, and I think I’ve got a nice mix of 8’ lights, 4 footers, and some task lights over the bench. All will be LED.

Funny you should mention the Faraday cage, as that’s exactly what I have here, and I can’t pull an FM station in here for “crap”! Fortunately I’m going to bury some Cat-5 (or is it Cat-6 now?) cable for internet when I have the gas line installed, and I have a 40’ pole with another 10’ stick of EMT to mount an old Fanfare FM-2G antenna onto. Hopefully I’ll be able to at least pick up some the stations in The Cities…

As for heat, I’m a commercial HVAC guy, so this little pole barn is getting a furnace, A/C, and an air-air heat exchanger. (Hell! It’s probably tighter than the house!)

CAT? I'm all wi-fi.

 

[Bodyperson]

I’ve never heard of that, but I LIKE it!

I wonder how that would work in the winter though…..Would need a REALLY good moisture eliminator, I would think.

I’m going to ponder that one, as it would be pretty simple to lay that in with the gas line, I would think.

Thanks!

I do freeze up once in a while. I put foam board on top of the line. It's only 18 inches in the ground. I have a very good, passive moisture eliminator. I never see moisture at the shop trap.

 

[Murray]

Yes, lots of lighting. If a longer shop, have 220amp outlets at both ends.

 

[ProjectBazza]

CAT? I'm all wi-fi.

See the response above regarding Faraday cages. I have a pretty good signal outside the building, but damn near nothing inside the building.

And the Mesh system I installed doesn’t offer an outdoor node, so I’m going to buy another indoor node for the “shep”, run the Cat cable, and put RS-485
connectors on each end (I think that’s the right terminology), one end plugged into a node in the house, the other end plugged into the new node out here.

 

[Oldmanmopar]

All we have at my place is 100 amp off the house and we ran a whole machine shop. Large Dayton compressor that ran two blast cabinets at once. Plus a hot water heater and a washer dryer upstairs. The only issue we had was tig welding thick aluminum. Everything else had to be turned off. Mills and lathes ran off of a roto phase converter. More lights then needed always on. Shop is 150 feet from the house

 

[fishmens67]

he best advise I can give you is put it on the wall not in it.

This is probably the best advice you've given, not to put down any other advice you have given in the past.

 

[1MeanA]

I ran a ton of wiring in my 24x26 garage with a loft back in '09. The best thing to do is plan the layout. I put in lots of outlets down low and about 4 feet up. If you are putting in outlets for a lift or welder plan where they will need to be. Yes you will need lots of lighting. I put in fluorescents which had built in junction boxes which was a royal pia when they started crapping out and I couldn't easily replace them without cutting in junction boxes. Lighting on the wall might even be good in some cases. I'd probably put in a big exhaust fan if I had to do it again. A built in vac isn't a bad idea either.

 

[Bodyperson]

If you have a lot of wire and are using a lot of power, running receptacles on the same wall with separate circuits can be beneficial.

 

[Oldmanmopar]

This is probably the best advice you've given, not to put down any other advice you have given in the past.

You can call me what ever you want. Just don't ever call me late for dinner. I side picture of me will prove you wrong.

 

[Oldmanmopar]

With fluorescents my meter spun so fast I could have put a fan blade on it t cool the shop . LED's with pull strings. Get the type that look like fluorescents with pull strings. The type with the little LEDs don't last. Box of 6 is like $100 on line.

 

[JDMopar]

I ran mine all in EMT, on the walls since it's a concrete block wall building. I only ran #12 wire to my plugs. If I had it to do over again, I would run at least a 30 amp plug to my back room to plug the wire welder into. My welder is 120V mig with a bottle. It overheats the 20 amp breaker and kicks it if I weld continuously for a while. I've just learned to stop for a bit. Only thing else for advice is the black wire goes on the gold screw, white wire goes on the silver screw and the bare wire goes on the green screw! LOL. If we didn't live a million miles apart, I'd help you wire if you'd help me get my gas furnace going in my shop. All I like is plumbing the gas line, installing the condensate drain and hooking up the thermostat.

 

[halfafish]

I was in your spot a few years ago. I wish I'd have put in an outlet every 8-10 feet or so, along with the same for air compressor outlets. Lots of overhead lighting wiring, pre-run wires for the stereo and TV, and wires for the two huge ceiling fans including a line to reverse the fan direction.

I agree with the others, run surface mounts so you can modify at will. In a rare fit of neatness I put all mine inside the walls and now I am stuck with the design.