Hand tool workbench near electrical panel and furnace

My wife and I are in the early stages of looking for a new house. I'll likely claim some unfinished space for a workshop and I'm trying to figure out the minimum size I would need. I'm currently working in about 120 SF, but the next area is likely to be smaller. For space reasons I only use hand tools. At a minimum I'd need space for a bench and roll around toolbox.

In one house we looked at, the only space available for a shop is shown in the picture below. The space between the water heater and wall is roughly 6' x 6'. We're just starting to look so we won't end up with this house, but it raises a few questions.

- Is it a problem to locate a bench directly under the electrical panel? I don't generate a lot of dust, but there is some from sawing, hand sanding, etc.

- The furnace (not quite pictured) is in the same room. I'm not sure if the cold air intake for a furnace is typically at the unit or elsewhere in the house. Would working next to the furnace cause dust to get blown throughout the house?

- The wall with the foil insulation is below grade outside wall. Does that cause any issues?

Thanks for your input

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I don't see any issue being near the electrical panel unless you work with flammable solvents or finishes.

Newer gas furnaces usually draw their combustion air from outside but older models draw it from the room. You can tell if the combustion air comes from outside as there will be two PVC pipes running from the furnace to outside, one for exhaust, one for combustion air. (some furnaces use a concentric pipe to handle both, but these are uncommon). Gas water heaters usually draw their combustion air from the surrounding room. The actual air that is heated and sent to the house vents comes from the return air ducts, and it is rare to have a return air intake in a basement. So the furnace will not be sucking up huge amounts of dust from your work and spreading it throughout the house. Some dust will find a way, (it always does) but given you don't produce much dust in the first place, I wouldn't worry about it.

Even if the combustion air comes from outside, I still would not use any flammable solvents or finishes near the furnace or water heater.

The issue that comes to mind is the code requirement for unrestricted access to the breaker box. A bench there could be a serious violation. It is something you would need to check out.

So long as the bench is not permanently affixed to a wall - and is moveable there should be no issue with the panel access.

I have part of my shop in my furnace room, which includes the electrical panel. As mentioned ensure the panel has access. I do not do finishing that might build up solvents in the room (I do have a gas furnace with pilot). My dust collection runs through the wall the the other side where the garage is.

The furnace return goes to a different room in the house. No dust concerns.

The CNC router, air compressor, and metal lathe are all in this room. One bonus is that the compressor and CNC noise are all heavily muted to the rest of the house due to being below grade and/or insulated. DO put a film of plastic over the walls to contain any dust created, and also ensure you are not breathing fiberglass.

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Originally Posted by Thomas McClurg

So long as the bench is not permanently affixed to a wall - and is moveable there should be no issue with the panel access.

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In a commercial setting this is not so. Ive seen people fined for having a rolling cart in front of a panel.

But for residential use. Use your judgement. If you feel you can still access it your fine.

Even if the furnace draws combustion air it is not the air you will be breathing in the house. You will suck air in, burn it and the resulting moisture/air will go up the vent.

I think none of those issues are dealbreakers. I would like to have a window, or at least room for a TV/laptop. Also nice to have as tall ceilings as possible. I now work with 9ft garage ceilings which is much better than my old 8ft ceilings. Many basements are 7ft which makes it hard to pick things up and spin them around. But you make do with what you got. Also sometimes basement stairs are really narrow and tight You build your highboy and then can't get it up the stairs.

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Originally Posted by Jim McCue

I think none of those issues are dealbreakers. I would like to have a window, or at least room for a TV/laptop. Also nice to have as tall ceilings as possible. I now work with 9ft garage ceilings which is much better than my old 8ft ceilings. Many basements are 7ft which makes it hard to pick things up and spin them around. But you make do with what you got. Also sometimes basement stairs are really narrow and tight You build your highboy and then can't get it up the stairs.

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My shop is in the basement with 7'8" ceiling height. You quickly learn that some things can't be glued together in the shop. Have done final glue assembly in the living room and the bedroom. You learn what has to be built in two pieces or sides with drawer slides, etc. mounted. Keeps it interesting, I could do final assembly in the garage if I really got in a bind.
Ron

Thank you all for the replies. I initially didn't see an issue with the bench in front of the electrical panel, but keeping that clear seems like a good idea. I'm hopeful that I'll end up with more space than something like in the picture. Understanding how the furnace works will be helpful for looking at future options. Thanks!

The biggest issue with having a bench in front of an electrical panel to me would be still having good access to that panel when you need it. If a breaker trips and you (or your wife) need to flip it back on but need to crawl on top of the bench to do so, that may be less than ideal. Might no be a problem if the bench is clear, but if you are in the middle of a project and there is a lot of stuff on it, that could be a pain.

For homes, there are not regular code inspections like there are in commercial establishments, so the only issue would be when having some work done requiring a permit, you may need to move that bench out of the way to get it to pass (might just need to do this for the workers to do the work, as they may not want the potential liability of damaging something on your bench if they need to crawl on top to do their work). Moving the bench could be anywhere from fairly trivial (another nearby area you can move it to) or a real pain if you need to partially disassemble it to move it elsewhere.

The panel problem is what happens if something starts smoking and you need to flip off the breaker in a hurry. A bench can be moved when you have time and need to turn power off and add circuits. Not so much in a hurry.
I never like to see magnets on a breaker panel.
Bill D

just chiming in. I know that in my local area, you cannot place a permanent fixture (table/tool/etc) within 36" directly in front of an electrical panel. You can generally put stuff on either the left or right side, but not directly in front. I would consult an electrician in your local area that knows the code.

Another issue with having either a water heater or a furnace nearby. You should never work with any oil based or flammable solvents in an area with a gas water hear or a gas furnace. This is an extreme flammable danger. This includes any sort of wood finish that has oil-based composition or any solution that has stuff such as naptha, mineral spirits, wd40, etc. Spray paint/laquer/finish is another extremely flammable substance.

Both of my furnaces and water heater are in my shop, as is a sub-panel. I hold an HVACR license but take what you want from this: My old furnaces were 80% and consumed inside air for combustion, however if there was dust in the air, it was burned off and went up the chimney stack. My new furnaces ae high-efficiency units and consume outside air for combustion via 1 PVC pipe and exhaust air is sent back out from a 2nd PVC pipe. There is ductwork in my shop and I made sure to seal up the ductwork as best I could. If any shop air does get into your return duct (going to the furnace for heat/ac, you should have a filter at the return duct/furnace connection right before the blower motor. Keep your filter clean with a new quality one and you will avoid sending most dust back into the house. The supply duct (pushes conditioned air back to your house) would have a higher static pressure than ambient air in your shop, and therefore, any leaks in the supply duct would just push conditioned air into your shop, not suck it up and spread into the living areas of the house.

Your water heater will consume inside air, but also is exhausted outside so no worries about it sending dust to your home.


Why would the foil insulation below grade be an issue? As long as the basement is dry it won't be a mold trap.