Brand New Shop

[debgreene]

Hey All,

I've gone through the threads under workshop, and I've gotten some good ideas, but I would like some more, especially any advice about wiring the shop.

It's inside the house, its roughly 15' x 30' divided into a machine room and a bench room. I just upgraded the electrical service to 200A, and I have a 100 A subpanel that supplies most of the house. So I can essentially run the equivalent of a 100A panel for every thing else, which will probably include 2 mini splits (for AC upstairs and down, there's gas heat downstairs and I'll install pellet stoves upstairs) and the shop.

So how many 240V circuits?, assuming I'll need at least one for dust control?

I have no 240 V machines right now, but figure I'll get a 240 V band saw and table saw, though no reason not to get a joiner and planer also, except it might be overkill. Basically anyone who has wired a shop and wish they had done something differently, please chime in.

Deb

 

[Bas]

Hey All,

I've gone through the threads under workshop, and I've gotten some good ideas, but I would like some more, especially any advice about wiring the shop.

It's inside the house, its roughly 15' x 30' divided into a machine room and a bench room. I just upgraded the electrical service to 200A, and I have a 100 A subpanel that supplies most of the house. So I can essentially run the equivalent of a 100A panel for every thing else, which will probably include 2 mini splits (for AC upstairs and down, there's gas heat downstairs and I'll install pellet stoves upstairs) and the shop.

So how many 240V circuits?, assuming I'll need at least one for dust control?

I have no 240 V machines right now, but figure I'll get a 240 V band saw and table saw, though no reason not to get a joiner and planer also, except it might be overkill. Basically anyone who has wired a shop and wish they had done something differently, please chime in.

Deb

When I wired my basement shop, I went for the max. A block of 4 120V outlets every 4 feet, two per circuit. That way, you can plug a router and shopvac into one block without worrying about tripping the breaker. I ran a dedicated 30A 240V circuit for the dust collector, and four 20A 240V circuits: one for my jointer/ planer, one for the table saw, one for my future bandsaw upgrade, and a dual-purpose circuit for my compressor. Right now, I have a 120V compressor, but if I ever go to a large 240V unit, it's all set to go. In total I have 42 outlets (yes, that's what that number means). And I've never wished for more. But I probably went overboard a little.

When I upgraded my table saw, I had to replace the 12 gauge wire with 10 gauge, since the new table saw was 5HP That's the nice thing about surface mounted conduit, it's easy to change.

If you're using conduit, don't sweat the exact location of your 240V outlets. If it's going to be behind drywall, run an extra line or two. If you run everything 10 gauge you have maximum flexibility, but that can get expensive. Plus, 10 gauge is a little harder to pull than 12 gauge. A good compromise would be to use 12 gauge for all your 120V circuits, and 10 gauge for your 240V circuits.

 

[chris_goris]

Once you go to 220v single phase machines youll never go back! My tablesaw,shaper,jointer,DC,Planer,Lathe,Bandsaw,disc sander and Spindle sander are all 220v machines. If youre thinking about it, and plan on staying in this space, I would put in as many 220v outlets as possible.

 

[Jeff]

Before wiring consider what's going to fit in the available space and where. That'll dictate what you want the electrician to do.

Two cubicles about 15' x 15' or how else would you like to divide it?

1. Machine room dimensions? Include 240 v upgrade, 120 v receptacles and overhead lighting.

2. Bench room dimensions? Mostly 120 v?

3. Dust collector? Where's that going to be located?

 

[KenOfCary]

I have 4 machines that are 240V (table saw, planer, jointer and Lathe.) My DC is 120V currently but will likely be 240 in a new shop unless I end up with multiple DC motors blowing outside similar to Charlie's setup. I share one of the 240 circuits between the Jointer and the Lathe since I'm never using both at the same time. I also share one of the outlets between the Table Saw and Planer (have to unplug one to plug in the other.) If I had more room in the service box I'd have made more 240 circuits available. My next shop will have more 240 and 120 circuits.

There is also a battery powered emergency light wired into the 120 outlets. It goes on if the lights go out. Something to think about. Also several of the machines have adapters that won't let them turn back on unless reset if the power failed and comes back. This is built into the SawStop, but there are add-on devices to prevent this. Think what might happen if the power went out, 2 minutes later comes back on and the piece of wood is still in contact with the blade but not being guided by human intervention anymore.

Good luck with the shop - sounds like you're off to a good start.

 

[JohnW]

I put 110VAC duplex outlets along each wall about every 6' except the wall where I know my work bench would be located in which case they were duplex spaced every 4', with one quad outlet.
Also put several 110VAC outlets in the ceiling. I have power chords hanging down (supported) from them which works out great for powering hand tools. Keeps me from tripping over chords and, accessing my work with say...an ROS is nice when you can walk all the way around the project without dragging a tangled chord behind you. The outlet centered over my assembly/out-feed table is the smartest outlet location I have. Highly recommend this.

For 220VAC I located the single outlets near where I knew my 220 equip would be located, and added a couple more for "future" use. It's now the future and I wish I had put in more.

You can never have too many clamps, outlets or lights. And you should never say never.

 

[Mike Davis]

I'm almost ready to run a conduit up the wall, across the ceiling, and down the opposite wall. Tired of dragging a cord. May even put in two circuits.

 

[JimD]

I'm way on the other end of things but it works for me. I do not have and probably will never have any 220V tools. I've been making sawdust for about 40 years now and I'm working on my second dedicated shop. Both have had one 20A 110V circuit for tools and one 15A 120V circuit for lights and a couple outlets. I only work in the shops by myself so only one tool is used at once. When I used my little 1hp DC it ran off the light circuit. These days, I am using a shop vac (with a cyclone) and run both off the 20A circuit. My biggest motor is a 15A universal motor on my Ryobi BT3100 table saw. Everything else is smaller and the BT3100 works fine on the same circuit as the shop vac - but that maxes it out.

Unless you are very confident what tools you will use in your shop, I would put in at least one 220V circuit. I can't really see a use for more than 2 (1 for a big DC and one for tools) but I also accept others work differently than I do.

I have a 110V outlet about every 4-6 feet around the room. I don't have any in the ceiling but I can see where those would be a good idea. I don't use most of the outlets much because I like plugging the tool into an autoswitch on my shop vacuum so it switches on and off automatically. The shop vacuum has a large extension cord (in wire size and length) so it can go anywhere in the shop.

My outlets are almost all about 4 feet off the floor. They don't get hidden by tools nearly as easily that way.

 

[CDPeters]

My outlets are almost all about 4 feet off the floor. They don't get hidden by tools nearly as easily that way.

+1 on this one! I don't have a single outlet at "standard" 16" height, all at 4'. This way no matter where I decide to put a bench or counters, the outlets are above the top and easily reachable.

I currently have 2 220v lines, one to the 5HP tablesaw and the other to a 5 HP dust collector, both are #10 wire. My shop is up on a crawl so it pretty easy to move/add a line under the floor if I decide to move a machine.

 

[mkepke]

In your workshop, you should have at least two 240V circuits: one for a dust collector, one for typical power-tools (bandsaw, tablesaw, planer, jointer, shaper, ... can share a circuit)

If you plan to have a big 60-80 gal air-compressor, include another 240V circuit: a big air compressor can be expected to start and stop running on its own schedule.

So you need 2, maybe three, 240V circuits. What you really want next are a bunch of receptacles on each of these circuits to maximize your ability to get 240V power where you need it with a minimum of cordage. Locate the receptacles based on your current best-guesses of where the tools will be. For any 240V tools that get plugged/unplugged regularly I like twist-lock plugs & receptacles but they are spendy.

Like Bas, I run all my 120V circuits in 12ga and all my 240 circuits in 10 gauge. 10 gauge 240V circuits will support a 5HP tool, which is typically the largest electric motor you'll find in single-phase workshop machinery.

I also recommend putting all outlets more than 4' above the floor..about 52" is good. High enough that you can lean a sheet of plywood against the wall and not block the receptacle.

-Mark

 

[jlwest]

I agree with what everyone has said. One thing I did was place all my plugs about 3ft above the floor to make my life easier.

 

[Rwe2156]

If you use all clad or conduit, you don't need to worry about it just add/extend/alter circuits at will as you figure out where to put machines.

Cost is not much more than romex. If you do a neat job it doesn't look bad.
Something to consider.