Shop electric in or on wall?

[Scott Loven]

I am going to insulate and OSB my stand alone shop wall, should I run it in the wall or on the wall? Seems like trying to fit all the OSB around the boxes will be dificult but will look better. What have/would you guys do?

Scott

[Jeff Kerr]

I had all my electric run on the wall. It was a timing thing more than anything else.

What I like about it is that all the outlets are connected in series from the panel out around the shop using conduit. Even with that I had the electrician split half the outlets onto different circuits. East side/West side. That way not all the load is on one. You can do this regardless of inside the walls or not.

If I need to I can run an electrician's fish tape thru the conduit to add another wire without issue. (matter of fact I did this already to add another 220 outlet on the other side of the shop.)

[Bill Huber]

I had all my electric run on the wall. It was a timing thing more than anything else.

What I like about it is that all the outlets are connected in series from the panel out around the shop using conduit. Even with that I had the electrician split half the outlets onto different circuits. East side/West side.

Not to get to picky but I think you meant your outlets are wired in parallel and split on 2 different circuits. Series is like the old Xmas bulbs, one goes out and you loose the whole string.

I have a very small shop, 12x16 and I have 4 circuits for outlets, they are on the outside of the wall. I did that because I am always changing something in the shop and it is very easy to change things when you can get to the wiring.

[Don Bullock]

Inside the wall looks nice and more professional (whatever that means). On top of the wallboard makes it more flexible and you don't have to worry about hitting a wire when you mount things on the wall. As far as cutting the wallboard around electrical boxes, that's easy with a tool like a Roto-Zip.

[Matt Meiser]

I have a mix. Regular outlets and switches are in the wall. They make oversize plates which help with fitting up the OSB since you don't have to be as precise. Virtually all of my 220 is on the wall as well as some dedicated 110 circuits and all the wiring on the ceiling. My box ended up in the wall which was a big mistake for adding or reconfiguring circuits.

[Mark Visconti]

On a related note (not trying to hijack) -

Where are you putting the outlets ? I am having a subpanel and a bunch of outlets put in tomorrow. I had planned to have two 20amp circuits follow the wall of the shop (it's a basement) in conduit and put two boxes every 6 to 8 feet.

My question - I had planned for the boxes and conduit to be 4' off the floor (8' ceilings). Is that a bad idea since it could limit wall cabinet placement ? I haven't built any wall cabinets so I could plan around it. Anyone with experience/regrets/etc doing this?

Thanks,
Mark

[Lars Thomas]

I put all but one of mine at 50". No complaints here.

[Mick Zelaska]

Using concealable Romex wire is faster and cheaper than running conduit which requires using THHN wire ( in my area minimum 500 foot rolls at $70 per roll). From the description of your planned outlet needs, you could have the studs drilled, boxes mounted, wire pulled and wire tied away in a couple of hours. Running conduit, with proper dog legs and bends (to make it look good) could take a couple of days. My advise is to put everthing in the wall that can now and rough-in a junction box near the panel to run conduit to take care of future electric needs.

[Brad Townsend]

I did my shop with OSB Scott and I ran it inside the wall.

How high is your ceiling? The reason I ask is that my shop has a nine foot ceiling, so I ran the OSB full sheets horizontal top and bottom and patched in a one foot strip across the middle. All the outlets and switches are set to bottom at 48" and all the wiring runs behind that narrow strip. That way, if I have to get to any of it or add a run, I'm only removing a one foot strip of OSB, and not whole sheets. Makes it much easier. Even if your ceiling is standard 8', the same could be done by ripping about 4" off the edge of the sheets for either the bottom or top course (depending on how high you want your switches and outlets).

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, I ran all my wiring in EMT on the surface since the shop has concrete walls.

I like using EMT, as it allows me to easilly change wiring in my shop if required.

I used 4 inch square boxes, with a 20 Ampere 240 volt duplex receptacle, and a 20 Ampere 120 Volt duplex receptacle with split circuit wiring from a single 2 pole 20 Ampere breaker.

This gives me 2 X 20A 120V circuits and 1 X 20A 240V circuit in every box, using only a single 20A 2 pole breaker.

It keeps the wiring simple, and of adequate capacity.

The boxes are mounted 40" above the floor, which avoids base and hanging cabinets, and are spaced every 5 feet apart which keeps cords out of the way.

Regards, Rod.

[Todd Jensen]

Since you're starting from 'scratch', I'd run it in the wall. It'll look cleaner and won't interfere with shelving and other wall mounted shop stuff. You can always run additional outside the wall if you need to. I ran mine all outside the wall, but only because the walls were pre-existing to my shop electrical needs. Properly installed, either method will come down to personal preference, but its going to be cheaper and easier to rough it in inside the wall. It also might be safer inside the wall, with less 'exposed' wiring; despite the fact that all of the 'exposed' work is run through conduit, I suppose an errant grinder blade could still do some damage a little more readily than if it was in the wall.

[Don Bullock]

On a related note (not trying to hijack) -

...Is that a bad idea since it could limit wall cabinet placement ? I haven't built any wall cabinets so I could plan around it. Anyone with experience/regrets/etc doing this?

Thanks,
Mark

Mark, I'd suggest placing the wiring just below the level of your planned cabinets. If you haven't planned any, you could use the standard height of wall cabinets (not sure what that is) as a guide.

[Roger Bell]

For new work, I would recommend inside the wall. If you attach the osb with screws, you can easily remove it to make modifications down the line. The "short strip" idea of Brad's sounds great....wish I had done that. In any event, do take the time to do it right. Then it wont have to be modified anytime soon.

I advocate 50" or so in terms of outlet height. That way, you can stack sheet goods against the wall and not cover outlets, as you might with 48", among other reasons.

You might consider putting in PLENTY of outlets....more than you think you might need...so what if you don't use them all or cover a few up? It is far better than mickey-mousing around with power strips etc. to gain more by having too few. And plenty of 240 circuits/outlets if your service amperage will allow several 240 circuits with 10 ga wire. That allows growth into heavier machinery if you so desire in the future. I also recommend premium quality plugs. You will be plugging and unplugging far more in the shop than in the home.

You might also consider getting plugs to center of the room, by either the ceiling or down a placed column. Try not to limit all your plugs to the perimeter......you will likely want machines (and DC) to the center eventually.

[Matt Meiser]

You might also consider getting plugs to center of the room, by either the ceiling or down a placed column. Try not to limit all your plugs to the perimeter......you will likely want machines (and DC) to the center eventually.

Ceiling mounted cord reels are awesome! I have two in my shop now and almost never use an extension cord.

[Greg Peterson]

I have four circuits for my outlets. Outlets and romex is run through the walls. Using sheet rock to cover my ways. Was going to use OSB, but I believe a fire barrier is required in my area and OSB doesn't count.

Outlets are at 50" above the floor. Outlets are also in double gang boxes, with one grey and one white 20 amp outlet in each box. Grey on the left, white on the right. Grey outlets are in series with a GFCI outlet the first outlet in the branch. Same goes for white.


Planing on adding a 10 or 12 space load panel for 240 service. The relative few pieces of equipment that require 240V will be serviced via EMT conduit with drop connectors from the ceiling, using locking plugs and strain relief on cords.

Lighting will be run up through the attic. Relatively easy access. Want to try to keep conduit to a minimum. I know it is just a residential shop, but I figure one day an electrician will have to come in (next owners, years away) and if he can see that only the 240V is in conduit, that'll streamline his job.

BTW, the service panel for the house is in the shop. I relocated it when I upgraded to 200 amp service last winter. Lighting and outlets are the only thing running off the SP. Heavy equipment will run off a load center.

[Tyler Howell]

If I had to start from scratch I'd put square duct around the parimeter of the shop and branch conduit from there. $$$$$:eek: !!

As it is, I'm now up grading a fairly well appointed shop with conduit as they "didn't get it right" with the romex for my needs.
The wall outlets, 2) 240 ckts,and basic lighting suited a welder and mechanic fine but very limiting for a WW with big machines.
I'm running some square D to get out of the panel and conduit to suit my needs for heavier and drop down ckts.

The nice thing about conduit is it can be expanded, takes a direct hit from a 2x4 and it disapates a lot of heat.:cool:

[Eddie Darby]

Is the space always going to be a workshop, or is it possible that it will in the future be used for some other means? It is easier to sell a room that has 110 electrical in the walls. You can run 220 on the outside.

[Matt Meiser]

If I had to start from scratch I'd put square duct around the parimeter of the shop and branch conduit from there. $$$$$:eek: !!

Why mess around--just go with buss duct and plug on where ever you need it.:D

[Tyler Howell]

Why mess around--just go with buss duct and plug on where ever you need it.:D
You can put outlets, switches ..., in square D and run lighting or overhead via conduit.

[Jim O'Dell]

I ran all of mine in the walls and ceiling. OSB as covering. You can measure and mark and cut with a jigsaw and come out ok. I messed up 3 cuts out of about 29. They were easy to fix. And all my wiring for each outlet and switch went up instead of across the studs. I have junction boxes in the ceiling that I can access for wiring needs, and the circuits branch from there. 2 separate circuits for lights, 4 more 110 for outlets. Except for the outlets at the work bench, no 2 adjacent outlets are on the same circuit. I have 3 double boxes at the bench, two at bench level and one overhead. All 3 are on different breakers. Then I wired for 8 220 circuits. 3 are in the ceiling (TS. BS, and future jointer) and 5 are in the wall (DP {which I probably won't use} A/C, Compressor, Cyclone, and Welder) I also have 3 110 single outlets in the ceiling. All ceiling outlets are twistlock units. Overkill yes. But I only put in a total of 17 110 outlets.:cool: Much fewer that most talk about doing here. :p
If you do the in wall wiring, leave enough extra wire in the wall so that a future owner can move the outlets down to normal house level if they want a finished out basement for a living area. I didn't worry about doing that because in my edition, the existing covenants say that a detached building can not be used for living space. At least you can not have running water there. Kind of a bummer. Jim.

[Rob Will]

About every 6' around the perimeter of the room, I installed 2 110V 20A duplex outlets. They are on different circuits. In other words, the left outlet and the right outlet are never on the same circuit.

Adjacent to each pair of duplex outlets, I installed a 30A 3ph twist lock receptacle. I happen to have 3 phase but I can get straight 220 from any two of the three conductors.

All of the wiring is in the wall. The 110V stuff is done with tandem 12ga romex. The 220 (and 3 phase) is done with smurf tube (flexible conduit) and 8ga THHN.

All high horsepower machinery is fed from an overhead conduit that drops down with the DC lines. The walls are 1/2" BC sanded plywood painted with gloss latex house paint.

Rob