I just recently put down a deposit on another shed. I'm planning on installing a subpanel there for electric heat & light for housing small birds (nothing heavy like welders or power tools). I've installed my own branch circuit within the house successfully for a gas hot water heater with a power vent as well as other various small electrical projects around my house, so I'm familiar with the basics. I'm a computer hardware engineer by trade.
I understand I need to use conduit for this type of thing, and I have a few questions about the conductors, breakers, and the conduit:
Greg
I understand I need to use conduit for this type of thing, and I have a few questions about the conductors, breakers, and the conduit:
- I've calculated my current needs as 10.1A (including the 25% margin) continuous load for heating etc. plus 6.5A non-continuous. I'm planning to install a 30A two-pole 240V breaker in the main panel. I intend to use 3 #8 conductors and one #10 conductor for the ground (all THHHN/THWN). The larger gauge is mainly because it's going to be about a 125 ft run including an underground section. I've checked this with some calculators on the web and they seem to agree, but I'd like to hear it from a person :thumbsup:. Main panel is 200A and has a number of slots open; I had my service upgraded from 100A just a few years ago.
- Subpanel in the shed will have 15A two-pole 240V breaker for baseboard heat (1000W), 15A 120V breaker for lighting (250W or so), and 15A 120V breaker for an outlet or two. Sound OK?
- I'm going to use 3/4" sch 40 PVC conduit for the run inside the house. I'm a little unsure about how to route the conduit into the main panel in the garage. It's pretty crowded both above & below, so I'd like to come out through one of the knock-outs on the top left side. Although the main panel is surface-mounted, I have bare stud walls in my garage. I'm thinking about mounting a sheet of 1/2" plywood to span the two studs to the left of the panel to get the conduit up to the top plate so I can start running it horizontally to the back wall of my garage. Would this be acceptable? Please see the attached photos. In one of them, I tried to "sketch" in where I was thinking about mounting the plywood and routing the conduit.
- Should I use GFCI breakers/outlets anywhere? Are they required in a detached structure like this?
Greg