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Thread: Garage electrical circuits - how many total amps.

  1. #1
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    Default Garage electrical circuits - how many total amps.

    Doing some.... art....in the detached garage this weekend, and learned that it's really easy to overwhelm the single 15A circuit out there with space heaters.

    How many amps you got running to your garage?
    How many would you put in a new-build garage?

    I could see the need for a 30A circuit plus 2x 15A without getting too crazy.
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    You realize you are talking to the guy who made his own furniture out of salad bowls right?

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    I ran a 15a for the lights and garage door, 2x 20a circuits for tools 1x 240v 50a for a heater/ future needs

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    This will depend on whether you have a 100 or 200 amp service panel at the house or if you have a service panel for the garage.

    My garage has a 60 amp breaker feeding off the main house panel so I can run a few things in my shop and I run all electrical plugs at 15 or 20 amps. Lighting is mostly LED so draw is very minimal on the system.

    110v spacer heaters are horribly inefficient and can pop breakers when normally used in your home. You shouldn't be running multiple space heaters on 1 circuit.

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    I have a 30a sub panel in the garage *currently* and I’ve never tripped the main feeder for it. My garage is used for general motor vehicle repair stuffs and some welding / fab work. New, I would put in a 50a sub panel for future vehicle charger use. Space heaters are dumb, burn shit for heat like a man.
    Last edited by Darell_n; 02-04-2024 at 09:45 AM.

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    Agree 120V space heaters are dumb. This is not an ongoing need.
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    You realize you are talking to the guy who made his own furniture out of salad bowls right?

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    New garages need a pretty big electrical service nowadays iirc. Some bylaw ensuring it has capacity for a future EV even if you don’t install one now.

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    60A/240V subpanel in our garage fed from the house. Have 3x 15A and 2x 20A circuits plus a 30A/240 (air compressor) and 50A/240 (welder).

    I'm limited by the house service (100A) but have never tripped any of the large feeds. On a new build I would go minimum 120A subpanel provided the house had 200A service - that future-proofs you for a pair of 50A EV chargers plus some overhead.

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    I have 40amp circuit breaker connected to some very sketchy wiring through the backyard, and comes into a "sub panel" in the garage with 4x 15amp breakers's in it. The entire thing is fuck, but has been working for 40 years, so who am I to judge. Long term plan is to have the garage host the main breaker from the power pole right next to it, and then bury the entire electrical going into the house which will be the sub-panel.
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    Came back to ogle 2Legit2Quit wife's buns...
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tik-Tok View Post
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    I have 40amp circuit breaker connected to some very sketchy wiring through the backyard, and comes into a "sub panel" in the garage with 4x 15amp breakers's in it. The entire thing is fuck, but has been working for 40 years, so who am I to judge. Long term plan is to have the garage host the main breaker from the power pole right next to it, and then bury the entire electrical going into the house which will be the sub-panel.
    If I ever go EV, this is what I'd end up doing too. Power meter fed from overhead in the alley on the garage, why not put a new dom panel right there and make house the sub.
    Quote Originally Posted by killramos View Post
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    You realize you are talking to the guy who made his own furniture out of salad bowls right?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tik-Tok View Post
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    I have 40amp circuit breaker connected to some very sketchy wiring through the backyard, and comes into a "sub panel" in the garage with 4x 15amp breakers's in it. The entire thing is fuck, but has been working for 40 years, so who am I to judge. Long term plan is to have the garage host the main breaker from the power pole right next to it, and then bury the entire electrical going into the house which will be the sub-panel.
    This guy gets it....

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    the garage dom / house sub setup is mint. did that in our fifties bungalow, did that in our infill.

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