Is 60 Amps ok for garage shop?

[Tom.Trout]

Is 60 Amps feeder ok for garage shop?

Or where do I get good info on garage shop wiring.

I only have a 100 amp service to my house. (100+ years old and in the boon docks)

Pardon me but... Right now I am operating off a 100 foot extension cord!!!

[final_t]

It should be. All I ever seem to run is a single tool at a time off of the 20amp circuit that is dedicated to that (ceiling-mounted drop), and the rest of the 55 amp total circuit drives the lights, DC, and heater.

[Wood_workur]

Depends on what you are doing. For a home shop where you only have 5 amps in light, 10 amps in shop vac, and at most 20 apms in tools running at the same time, then that is ample with room for growth. If you decide to start a production shop with a dozen or so tols drawing 30 amps each runing at the same time, then you would need more.

So yes, 60 amps would ample.

[Tom Miller]

Not if you don't close those doors in the winter! []

But, seriously, 60 amps may very well be adequate, depending on what equipment you have. For example:

20A ckt for saw, or router, or miter saw, or band saw, etc.
20A ckt for dust collector
15A ckt for lights, radio, etc.

But, if you have an air compressor, or need shop heating, etc., your electricity budget begins to run pretty thin. However, you could turn the air compressor off when you're going to use your DC, etc.

Regards,
Tom

[Tom.Trout]

I'm not planning on using electric resistance heat. In which case I'd probably need to hook into the hydro dam on the river in the back yard.

quote:Originally posted by Tom Miller

Not if you don't close those doors in the winter! []

But, seriously, 60 amps may very well be adequate, depending on what equipment you have. For example:

20A ckt for saw, or router, or miter saw, or band saw, etc.
20A ckt for dust collector
15A ckt for lights, radio, etc.

But, if you have an air compressor, or need shop heating, etc., your electricity budget begins to run pretty thin. However, you could turn the air compressor off when you're going to use your DC, etc.

Regards,
Tom

[maxparot]

I'd say 60 amps is ok for a shop but what concerns me is will it be a subpanel from your 100 amp home's panel?
If so the total load may be too much for the 100 amp panel. If this is the case my suggestion would be to upgrade your home to 200 amps since the garage is within the home no subpanel is required but the 200 amp panel will give you greater capacity and room for more circuits.

[Whaler]

I upgraded to a 200 amp panel a couple years ago and had 3 dedicated 20 amp circuits run to the shop. I also share another 20 amp outlet that I cheated from the dining room. Since my house is 100% electric I was past maxed out befor the upgrade. What a difference it has made.

[mattc183]

My house splits 60 or is it 100 amps with the garage. I know the garage/shop runs on 30 amps, actuall fuses. I'm so young I had never seen those before. Definitely, need to upgrade. But for now it is working. I usually run 8 flourescents, Bt, radio, fan, shop vac, and Bt with no problems. I have only blew the breaker once and that was when I jammed up the RAS. When I first start up the RAS the lights dim a little but works alright.

mattc

[Hoover]

You really need to update your main panel to 200 amps. With your current hook up @ 100 amps, you are only running 14 gauge wire to your house, and probably the garage. Do yourself a favor, and upgrade your power supply, you are only delaying the obvious. Any serious power problems, and you are behind the[8]. No, 60 amps is not acceptable for any high current draw power tools. That's my story, and I am sticking to it.

[monte]

You should upgrade your main service to 200 amps and then run no less than 60 amps to the shop sub panel. I would prefer a 100 amp sub panel but you can get by with the 60.

[BobSch]

quote:Originally posted by monte

You should upgrade your main service to 200 amps and then run no less than 60 amps to the shop sub panel. I would prefer a 100 amp sub panel but you can get by with the 60.

We upgraded to 200 amp service several years ago and left the original 100 amp breaker box in place and just wired it as a sub off the new service. Next spring the garage... er, shop get a new 100 amp sub all by its lonesome. These days 100 amp panels are easier to find than a 60 and cost about the same.

[stewchi]

You only need to upgrade to 200 amps if you think you will need that much power. Remember that a 100 amp service is rated at 240V, in other words it is rated for 100 amps per leg. 240v uses both legs, however 120v only uses 1 leg, that is why if you are only using 120v equipment you will have 100 amps of service on each leg (or 200 amps total). You certainly don’t want to max it out and it important to remember more that 100amps on either leg will trip the main breaker so balance is important. I have owned 2 old homes with 100 amp services that were more than sufficient. Both used all gas appliance, (except AC), no jetted bath tubs or other large appliance other than the wood shop.

For the subpanel 60A is perfect. As tom pointed out you really only need 3 circuits one for general power (lights, radio, battery charger), one for TS/Planer/Router etc, and 1 for DC. If you install to code you will need a 4 wires ground, 2 hot, 1 neutral. This subpanel will be a 60amp panel at 240V so again if you are using 120v equipment you would have up to 120amps available.

When trying to figure out how much power try not to exceed 80% of the breakers rating. Standard breakers have two trip mechanisms (short, and over-current). Most breakers will trip if run continuous for more than 3 hours at greater than 80% of their rating.

Remember its not all the stuff you have its all the stuff you want to use at the same time. Can you cook, iron, run the microwave, vacuum, cut wood, run the DC, and soak in the whirlpool bath at the same time with the air conditioning and hot tub running??, Some households can and do.

Also remember if this is a detached building there are some special rules (or codes) for running the wire and hooking it up. (Such as separate ground rod at the building, isolated ground and neutral at the subpanel, only 1 circuit between detached building and main panel etc)

[LarryG]

I have a 60A panel in my shop, and it is adequate for the combined loads at any given time. However, I would buy a 100A panel even if you only install 60A mains. Reason: you'll have more breaker spaces to play with, which will make it easier to balance the two legs. I had to juggle some things around to find a combination that would prevent my fluorescent lights from dimming when a high-draw tool started up (even though lights are on a completely separate circuit from any such tool).

Having some additional breaker spaces available will also make it easier to add new circuits in future.

[mater]

I have a 60 amp breaker running from my house to my shop. I usually have the lights and radio on and in the summer a couple of fans but I only run one major tool at a time along with the DC. I have not had any problems with this setup.

[scorrpio]

A quick question: I am equipping a small shop in a separate-standing 'summer house' that already has 20 amps running to it - it will feed the lights, heater, and a couple outlets for small things. I plan to run two more 20amp circuits, one for power tools, of which only one is going to be running at a given time, and one for DC. The distance is pretty small - less than 50ft. Will 12ga wire be enough, or should I upgrade to 10?