Is it OK to place the main electrical pane in the attached garage of a house. I’m assisting my nephew build a house, and the most convenient place to put the main panel is in the garage. The wall he is considering is an outside wall; not the wall separating the garage from the main dwelling.
Thanks,
vlperk
Replies
Yes
Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
VL
This is very common around here.
C
This is common, especially when building on a slab.
The placement should hinge around where the service wires enter the house.
You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.
Marv
That placement option is fine... however, you may want to check with your local utility since they have final say over where the meter is located (usually you try to locate the main service panel inside the building as close as possible to where the wires enter the structure).
There are often restrictions on how far the power panel can be from the meter. In my area it's something like 5 feet. So generally the meter and the main panel are back to back on opposite sides of the wall.
The reason is that the wiring before the main panel is essentially unprotected against short circuit because it's before the breaker. So they don't want dozens of feet of wire snaking through a dwelling just waiting for someone to put a nail through it.
Check with local code authorities,
As noted, it hass to be within "reasonable" distance of the meter (unless there's a main breaker there) usually coinsidered 5'
Some code authorities won't allow rthem in garages because of the clearnace/access requirements and the possibility a parked car might block access.
That seems to be a very minority view, though, judging from what I read on the various HI forums.
Why Don't Blind People Like To Sky Dive?
Because it scares the bejabbers out of the dog
Your mileage may vary ....