placement of subpanel in detached garage
jpattillo
| Posted in General Discussion on
I’m getting ready to wire a detached garage (for use mainly as a shop) and I have a question about subpanel placement. I would like to place the panel near the corner of the garage which is closest to the house in order to minimize the amount of feeder cable I will have to buy. However, placing it in this corner will put the panel about 13 inches from the edge of the garage door and about 6 inches from an inside corner. Are there NEC rules about how close a breaker panel can be to a door or inside corner? Thanks – John
Replies
You need 30" horizontal clear space, minumum, for a panel (unless the equipment is larger than that of course).
I suppose the garage door would qualify as part of that.
The panel doesn't need to be centered in that 30".
Ed
Thanks for your reply,I'm guessing that 30" is for access to the panel, and that there is no issue with having the panel so close to a door (that could potentially admit moisture). So having the panel 6 inches or so from the inside corner would be no problem as long as there are no obstructions to access within 30" of the inside corner. The rail for the garage door will be there, but it only sticks out a few inches. Do I have all this right? Thanks again -John
J,
Both the main panel in my house, and the 100 amp subpanel I installed in my detached garage are located in the same location you are considering. I guess the one in the house passed inspection when they built it in 1978, and I know the one I did in the garage passed in 1987.
Hope this helps,
Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md