[OP]
Member
Meeting with electrician tomorrow on new shop build. One/possibly two man shop, with normal wood machines, TS x2, Router, jointer, band saw x2. DP, sander, planer 2 hp DC... I am hoping to hear any suggestions available for electrical placement and height of plugs,... I am planning on having one conduit run under slb with a few plugs placed near where the TS, jointer, router table will all be, otherwise, all will be wall plugs.
TIA for any help on this!!!
Member
54" off the floor
or more
need to lean plywood against the wall without it interfering with the outlets
Carpe Lignum
Member
Get 220v outlets everywhere. I have a small 35 x 14 shop and have 8 220 circuits, and 8 seperate 120 circuits. All my circuits are 4 foot high along the walls and on support posts.
Don't put the circuits lower. You want to be able to reach your plugs standing up and not need to pull out benches, tools, and other items to reach them.
"If only those heathen atheists hadn't taken God, Jesus, and the Bible out of schools, God and Jesus could have thrown a Bible at the shooter."
Contributor
This is what I did as well and am happy with it. Above workbench height, and leaning a full sheet of plywood and still having access is great.Originally Posted by phil harold
I also put a couple in my ceiling in areas where I could reach them. Over my workbench I have a couple that become the defacto when using a sander or something where I want the workpiece held to the bench. I like having the overhead outlets (but again I can reach these on my toes...).
Contributor
My opinion is a little different than above. Depending on your use a generic elect plan may or may not be the best. At least two of my new shop walls will have base cabinets with countertops and wall cabinets. 54” or even 48” would be too high for me. I’d want my receptacles just a little above the countertop but not up under, or even inside, the wall cabinets. Other walls really depend on what you will be plugging in, or leaning stuff against. I have at least one other wall full,of stationary tools which will never have room for any plywood next to them, where I’d rather have those cords down low off the wall rather than at waist or chest high level. YMMV.
Finally, many shops with builds in this sub forum, including mine, have specialty outlets such as down low for things inside a cabinet which might need to be plugged in, or maybe a fridge, some high wall or ceiling plugs for powered speakers, electrical cord reels, Jet dust filter, ceiling fan, elect hoist, or powered security cams, not to mention some floor locations.
I think you should sit down with your plans, do several mental “run throughs”, maybe with some cut out tool layouts, and spend a couple of days dreaming this up a little more. Could be time well spent.
Also, I went though prob the last four or five hundred threads in this Workshop subforum, picking off the topics I felt might be of interest and reading them. I kept a Google Docs sheet of all of the ideas and this has paid off for me many times over. Thanks again to all here for this great advice.
Sorry, off soapbox now,
Jon
Member
I ran two rows of outlets; first at normal height, and a second row at 54 inches. Outlets were spaced 32 inches apart with alternating separate 20 amp circuits. It's the only way to go, outlets everywhere with no worry of overloads. It's the real definition of plug and play!There are over 60 outlets in an 800 sq ft shop.
Robert
Moderator
I planned the inside of my shop first so I could put outlets high or low or both, 110 or 220, duplex or quad - all depending on the planned use but with enough redundancy for flexibility. I put 110v receptacles about every 4', some quad where I planned to put a workbench, at lathes, etc. I also controlled some with wall switches to power task lights in certain areas such as the lathe and bandsaw - saves a lot of switching on individual lights or using power strips. I put some in the ceiling too to power reels which I prefer over extension cords. Also, some outside. I think the more planning you do before the installation the better. I also paneled the shop fastening with screws to allow easily inevitable changes without tearing into walls. If the shop will be dark if the power goes out consider putting a receptacle or box high on the ceiling for emergency lights. (I installed and wired everything myself so I could go a bit overboard without breaking the bank.)
JKJ
Contributor
I am with Robert on this one. Not having a firm idea of where things would be placed I ran alternating high low plugs at 16&48+" height. Also alternated 20 amp circuits. I have 50 amp plugs for my welding machine placed by the three doors. 30 amp 220 plugs on each wall as well. Two of those on the beam 30' wall.
Contributor
If it were me, I'd run two conduits from the panel into each of the outer walls up to a height above 48". Run Wiremold along each wall, fed by the two conduits, that will contain 110 and 220 circuits, plus any switches you may want for task lighting and such. Install your plugs along the Wiremold knowing you can change the configuration easily as your needs change. You can even run surface conduits from the Wiremold to any high or low receptacles you may need.
Contributor
Mine are all a little over 48" plus some on the ceiling. They are all surface mount conduit though, so easy to change or add if needed.
Moderator
Any height recommendation is purely a "general" starting point. I agree with the comments above that the actual shop design and intentions are important to determine the best height for any given outlets, be they for 120v or for 240v. Sometimes specific machines have unique requirements, too. Don't assume that all 240v machines you own over time will be usable on 20 amp circuits and plan for accommodating 30 amp with heavier wire at the least. Etc.
Personally, if I were doing things over again, I'd do the conduit/raceway thing mentioned above. I've changed things around enough times in the last 20 years that it would have saved me time and money no question.
--
The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Contributor
SLB with conduit?
Bill D
Member
My shop is less than a year old and the equipment placement has already changed significantly from what I originally designed. There are many reasons for this but I couldn't have anticipated any of them ahead of time. My advice is to put lots of outlets, both 120VAC and 240VAC, so that you won't have to rework your wiring much if at all when things change. I am glad I did.
Contributor
My conduit, 1" dia, runs around the wall a few inches from the ceiling. That allowed me to run 4 circuits and I have 3 drops coming down each wall, evenly spaced. The drops each have two receptacles on separate circuits. This design has allowed me to go back and add things I needed later. My larger 220 equipment was planned for and have dedicated circuits with appropriate outlets/direct wire provisions.
Contributor
Decide if you really need 240 volts. I have only 120 and it's fine.
Low and high in the walls is best. Every 4 to 6 feet should be enough.
You will only run one machine at a time so 2 or 3 circuits should be enough. And if you run two at a time on a 20 amp circuit usually they will not trip it, 20 amps is a lot of power and saws usually are not loaded heavily. Dust collector needs a circuit because it always runs with something else.
The lights should definitely be on a dedicated circuit. Don't hardwire the lights, plug them into ceiling outlets. You will reconfigure and it will be easy.
A few ceiling outlets close to the walls will be really helpful. This is how I power my drill press, grinder, lathe, extension cord.
Install a bracket to hang an extension cord for misc use, drill, router etc. This cord is always powered. Get a cord that is just long enough for your shop, it's easier to manage than a long one.
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