Basement shop with receptacles in the ceiling only

[Andy Fox]

Anyone use only (or mostly) ceiling receptacles in their basement shop? How is it working out?

I'm thinking of doing this in my new basement shop to keep things as simple as possible and keep costs and effort down to a bare minimum. This is contrary to my usual approach of over-thinking, over-engineering, and over-doing. :) I'll have a few sections of conventional wall framing to put receptacles in, and I'll probably drop a few receptacles down the concrete walls in EMT conduit at a few places, such as near the workbench.


More details:

My basement is poured concrete with a sheet of white vinyl-covered builder's insulation on the top half of the wall. I don't really see the need to insulate further or finish the walls for a workshop. I could run EMT conduit on the wall, but even that seems like overkill given my goal of simplicity. My shop has ceiling slightly under 8', and it's L-shaped, roughly 20' x 25' (with a 10'x5' corner cut out). I need a small step stool to reach the ceiling, which is open joists. I'm finishing up building a 15' partition wall (24" oc wood studs) to separate the shop from the rest of the basement. I'll put receptacles inside this wall, and in the 5' long unfinished wall on the opposite side of the shop which contains the electrical panels.

The main service panel is in the shop, and I'll be installing a 100A subpanel beside it for the shop wiring. I'll be adding these 5 circuits:

120V 15A lighting
120V 20A tools (2 circuits with each circuit serving half of quad receptacles)
220V 30A dust collection
220V 20A tools (2-4 receptacles carefully located)

[David Hostetler]

You are already running EMT for a few, why not just finish the runs with EMT? Yeah it's a few more bucks, but worth the extra to not have the hassle of getting to the sockets. I have 4 ceiling outlets (10 total sockets) for lighting and air fliter. I wouldn't think of plugging my tools into them due to having to climb a ladder to get to them.

Mind you, I'm not in a basement, but rather a garage, my ceiling circuit is the former garage door opener circuit (lower amp draw than the opener ever thought of), and all my power is along the walls now. Plus I added an HVAC circuit to have heat / AC in my shop.

[Dan Hintz]

In a basement, myself... I just made sure all outlets were a bit above 4' in height so I could lean a 4'x'8 plywood sheet against the wall without getting in the way.

[Andy Fox]

Thanks David, good points. To me, doing three 3' vertical drops of Romex down the wall in conduit is a much different project than running everything in conduit around the entire perimeter of the shop. I can reach the ceiling with a simple and light plastic 10" high stepstool.

Something I should've mentioned is that I've worked out my initial test layout so that my tablesaw, router table, jointer, planer, and bandsaw will be plugged into a conventional wall receptacle. The miter saw will probably be one of those places I do a wall drop in conduit. The tools I'll need to unplug most often for blade and setup changes will be plugged into the wall.


Dan: Thanks, I'll definitely take that advice for the wall outlets.

[David Hostetler]

Thanks David, good points. To me, doing three 3' vertical drops of Romex down the wall in conduit is a much different project than running everything in conduit around the entire perimeter of the shop. I can reach the ceiling with a simple and light plastic 10" high stepstool.

Something I should've mentioned is that I've worked out my initial test layout so that my tablesaw, router table, jointer, planer, and bandsaw will be plugged into a conventional wall receptacle. The miter saw will probably be one of those places I do a wall drop in conduit. The tools I'll need to unplug most often for blade and setup changes will be plugged into the wall.


Dan: Thanks, I'll definitely take that advice for the wall outlets.

Yeah, that's info that would have helped. I still think drops that are easily accessible are safer. Just IMHO though.

FWIW, I don't have any power on my lumber storage wall. I have a wall that is just storage, lumber, clamps, and bench top tools etc... This was done for work flow, and simplicity sake. 1 wall has a single (pre-existing) outlet shared by the freezer, and the miter saw. I have an outlet shared by compressor / dust collector (110V, although I also have 220V run into the same area for future DC), it's on a short wall to the wierd cubby area where laundry would be if my house didn't have a utility room. I ran a mess of outlets in 2 separate circuits along what I call my "power wall" where all the big toys reside. It's close enough to the bench that I have a multi outlet strip with a long cord strapped to my lower DC run that goes from wall to bench to provide power. The space between the garage doors also has power for the A/C and heat. None of those areas are ever going to see lumber up against them. My outlets are typically at 36" from the floor, or that was the idea anyway... The electrician got them off, by quite a bit in a couple of instances...

[Carl Beckett]

In one of my shop areas its a low ceiling garage, with limited outlets. One of the ones I use most frequently is above the table saw (not above the blade area) - but given my table saw top gets used for assembly and workbench duties more than I would like to admit, its been a nice place to have an outlet.

I can reach it without standing on tip toes or needing a stool. Obviously dont use the table saw when anything is plugged into it.

In general, my experience is that the ceiling is a fine place for outlets.

[Jeff Heil]

I also put my outlets 52" above the floor in my basement shop. My thought was the same as Dan's to allow sheet good storage below the outlets. I have found the height is also more convenient to plug tools in than bending over to reach traditional height outlets. My larger tools are all on wheels so I am constantly plugging and unplugging them as I switch operations and pull tools out from their "parking" areas against the back wall of the shop.

[ian maybury]

I have a couple of electrical sockets (as we call them) mounted on pieces of vertically placed flat timber that are attached to ceiling joists so that they are comfortably within reach at maybe 6ft 6in - low enough to reach, but high enough to avoid banging my head. I used the same pieces to mount ducting drops. Only where power and dust collection are needed well out in the floor area - to service e.g. the table saw. It seemed like a better idea than having cables and hoses lying across walkways and the like.

Where machines and requirements are close to a wall (so that the cable is in a fairly dead area behind the machine) there's wall sockets at roughly mid height to avoid bending/their getting wiped off the wall when moving stuff/tying up wall space.

ian

[Ole Anderson]

For serveral years I had a short 12 ga extension cord that just hung from the middle of the ceiling above head height but within easy reach. Used it primarily to power my lunchbox planer on wheels. No big deal if you hit it with a board, no damage done.

[Phil Thien]

I have a basement shop, and all my receptacles are mounted up in the joists above me. My planer, drill press, and dust collection are all connected to these ceiling-mounted boxes.

Then I have a few double duplex boxes I have attached to things that can move, and they simply plug into ceiling receptacles as well. So my bench has two double duplex boxes mounted to it, my table saw has one double duplex (powers the table saw and router in the extension wing), and my bandsaw bench (which holds two bandsaws) has another box.

I'm including a picture of my bandsaw bench. You can see the double-duplex box mounted to it. I use one of the boxes that has the mounting bracket attached to it, and a couple of 5/16-18 bolts/nuts to hold it to the bench. Same thing on my regular workbench and my table saw.

Works very well, very flexible.

[Jim Becker]

There's no issue with doing ceiling outlets, but as a best-practice, it's a good idea to consider how your drops are configured. Stationary machinery should likely use twist locks to insure that things stay plugged in. For portable devices, it may still be a good idea to make up a drop cable (a short extension cord) with twist locks at the ceiling rather than plug the tool in directly and insecurely. I don't believe any of this is "required" but I sure would be more comfortable that way. (I use twist locks for all my 240v machinery anyway, even though my boxes are down on the wall)

[Phil Thien]

There's no issue with doing ceiling outlets, but as a best-practice, it's a good idea to consider how your drops are configured. Stationary machinery should likely use twist locks to insure that things stay plugged in. For portable devices, it may still be a good idea to make up a drop cable (a short extension cord) with twist locks at the ceiling rather than plug the tool in directly and insecurely. I don't believe any of this is "required" but I sure would be more comfortable that way. (I use twist locks for all my 240v machinery anyway, even though my boxes are down on the wall)

That is a good point. I mounted nylon cable tie mounts just under all my ceiling-mounted receptacles. This allows me to cable tie the cord to the joist, to take strain off. There is still plenty of slack for me to unplug a cord if need be.

[Ryan Mooney]

That is a good point. I mounted nylon cable tie mounts just under all my ceiling-mounted receptacles. This allows me to cable tie the cord to the joist, to take strain off. There is still plenty of slack for me to unplug a cord if need be.

I use whips (cough extension cords) from the ceiling as well for the heavier 220 cords I just wrap a short bungee cord around them and hook them onto some J hooks screwed in next to them for strain relief. I like that slightly better than cable ties since they are easier to move/remove if needed.

[John Meade]

I use 120v quad outlets spaced 6' apart,(two circuits) 40" above the floor along the perimeter of my 24' x 15' basement shop. I also have two 240 outlets along each of the long walls, (4 total on two circuits) 44" above the floor.

BUT, I also have two 120 duplex outlets in the ceiling spaced 8' apart, each has a spring loaded extension cord reel, each with 4 outlets hanging about 7' above the floor (within reach of my short arms). Each of these is on one of the two 120v circuits that feed the wall mounted quads, These are perfect for hand power tools used in the middle of the floor or on my table saw extension, or on my bench when I don't want cords running across it. Also handy for extra lighting, hot glue guns, wood burning tools, dremmel, but more than anything, hand drills and drivers. Also one ceiling outlet is used for dust filter. These are extremely handy. Ceiling lights (six 8' dual bulb fluorescent fixtures) are on a their own separate circuit in case a tool flips a circuit.

[Peter Kelly]

I use whips (cough extension cords) from the ceiling as well for the heavier 220 cords I just wrap a short bungee cord around them and hook them onto some J hooks screwed in next to them for strain relief. I like that slightly better than cable ties since they are easier to move/remove if needed.

I have a similar arrangement over my workbench:

http://peterakelly.com/media/plug.jpeg

[Deb Malloy]

Can you post a picture, so I can better explain this to my electrician ?

Thanks

[Andy Fox]

Finally did a first draft of my shop layout.



The wall from the door to the lumber rack is wood studs covered with drywall. The remaining part of that wall and the other walls are concrete.
The photo is taken from where the door will be. The boxes of stuff in the photo are just on the other side of where the new partition wall will be.
Ceiling outlets are shown as a square with a circle and two lines.
Junction boxes as a J inside a box.
220V tool circuit shown in red
220V dust circuit shown in brown
The light blue UFO shown hovering over the bandsaw is a ventilation fan.
Lathe, scroll saw, spindle sander are tools I'm planning for in the future.
I do plan to relocate the roller coaster. :D


The junction boxes in the ceiling are needed because my understanding is that code allows only one receptacle when Romex cable is installed inside conduit. (I still need to ask the inspector about this.)


I'm more seriously considering just running EMT all along the wall though.

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246594

[Art Mulder]

My basement is poured concrete with a sheet of white vinyl-covered builder's insulation on the top half of the wall. I don't really see the need to insulate further or finish the walls for a workshop.

Andy,

I have no experience with ceiling receptacles.

However, I would strongly urge you to rethink your original premise, especially now that I've seen a photo of your space.

First, you have a gorgeous wide open space. I wish my basement shop was like that. You have tons of open joist space, so you can run wiring, and Dust collection way up out of the way. You also could consider insulating the ceiling if sound transmission is an option. You also could consider doing something about the floor before you move in -- great time to slap down some foam and cheap laminate (for example) to give you a more forgiving surface underfoot than bare concrete.

However, the main point I would address your comment about "not really seeing the need to finish the walls". I have to strongly disagree with that. No, the wall doesn't need to be finished, but I think you definitely want to have a wall. From that photo you have either bare concrete, or what looks like some soft plastic/vinyl thing. You can't hang anything on that!!!! I think you will definitely want to build some walls so you can hang cabinets or shelves. Everybody needs the ability to have storage space in their shop.

I also note the presence of pegboard in your plan. I know that lots of people have and like pegboard... I tried it, and I hated the stuff. Actually, after 15+ years in the hobby I have come to dislike most all open storage in a shop. A shop WILL get dusty, and that dust settles on everything. I want to have as much as possible either in drawers or behind cabinet doors.

best wishes,
post photos!
...art

[Ben Hatcher]

I think that in terms of "future proofing" your space, you're best off running conduit drops. If/when you decide to put up walls you would only need to remove the conduit anchors and attach your boxes to the framing.

[Phil Thien]

Actually, after 15+ years in the hobby I have come to dislike most all open storage in a shop.

Funny how we're all different, because I cannot stand concealed storage. Everything I've got is out in the open, within easy reach, and easy to put away again. It is nicely organized, but open.

[Roger Feeley]

All my outlets are nailed to the joists facing down. But I'm a tall guy and reaching up to an outlet that's 8' off the floor is no big deal. I have a bunch of short extension cords for power tools when I want them.

[Andy Fox]

Many great ideas and thoughts posted here! I think I'm going to incorporate nearly everything into my shop in some way, although some of it will have to wait.

Art, that's a good and challenging point about not having wall storage. I do hope to do some wall storage somehow. It might even involve building a 4-8 foot section of wall or two. If I build walls around the entire perimeter, then I'll likely have to install new insulation, which might get a bit more expensive and complicated. (Work will be inspected. My challenge is that I might be required to use foam panels, which need to go in before the walls, and they need to be drywalled due to igniting easily. That turns my simple bare bones "just get into the shop" project into a complete finishing remodel. :D) By the way, I don't like pegboard either. That was just a Visio stencil I grabbed to represent where my tools would go, and I forgot to rename it.

Here's one nice shop (http://www.panofish.net/2009-01-25_Woodshop_Tour/index.html) I found with mostly ceiling outlets and concrete walls.