I bought a house with shop. shop is 30×60, metal bldg, concrete floor. Bldg was formerly Vets office and well built 10yrs old. Has natural gas, water, centeral heat/ac, and 220 service.
My problem is that naturally everything is in the wrong place. I will be gutting the bldg and rebuild a small apartment (20×30) with the rest shop space. The electrical panel is in the right place for the apartment but not the shop. I need a 220 panel about 40 feet from the crrent one.
My question is, would I be better off running a new line from the street with an additional meter and new panel, or can i branch off the old panel and add a new service panel for the shop? Not a lot of equipment would be running at once.(a one man shop) AC, lights, Maye 2 or 3 machines.
Any advise would b greatly appreciated, thanks.
Gyan
Replies
First of all is this shop going to be commercial? How is the electric classified now? Is the appartment going to be a rental?
Is it currently on the same meter as the house?
How is this zoned?
What sizes is the current service? What size is the aparment service?
If the existing service is large enough then I would just run a sub-panel off of it and put it in the desired location. The existing panel would be the service panel not the new one.
Electric rate wise and tax wise there may be advantages to having separate meters or single service.
Zoning might require or limit what you can do.
But if this was a vets office then it is most likely zoned commercial unless it has some kind of grandfather or anybe AG excemption.
And you can often find your local utility rate schedules online.
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Thanks for the info. The electric is seperate from house with own meter and property is zoned commercial. Shop may be commercial but apartment will not be rental(for family use).Present panel has lights,ac, hot water heater is rated 220amps. Heating is natural gas.
I thought adding a panel to existing service box would work since I will not be using a lot of power at any one time. Thanks. Just wanted some good advise.
You can (under the right circumstances) feed a new panel from the existing one. There's a limit to how big the new panel can be, though.
"There's a limit to how big the new panel can be, though."Assuming that the service large enough then only limit is the max size of breaker available..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Right, the ampacity of the new panel is limited by the largest breaker the existing panel will accept.
It is an ironic habit of human beings to run faster when we have lost our way. --Rollo May
If the ampacity of the present electrical service and breaker panel is adequate and it's all in good shape, there shouldn't be any big issues with installing a subpanel somewhere else.
If you're planning on really gutting everything, including all the electrical circuits, I suppose you could move the existing panel to a new location, and then install a single main breaker at the existing location.
Thats an idea. Thanks, I had not thought of that. The future apartment will get minor use. Most of electric will be used in shop.
You probably need to chat with your utility as to your service requirements.
In general, the PoCo will want only ONE set of wires, to ONE attachment point on the building .... if there will be two meters, they will be set next to each other.
Otherwise, relocating a panel isn't that big of a deal. For a number of reasons, I suggest separate panels for the shop and for the apartment.
With a remodel of the scale you suggest, you will have many new code requirements to meet. This could very well mean that the existing panels will need replacement anyways.
If you shop is commercial, you can forget about DIY; local rules almost always want a licensed electrical contractor involved.
Thanks, I will be using a n electrician especially for something this big. Will also have permits once I get all my ducks in a row.
One other thought that might save a few bucks:I assume you want your tenants to pay for their own electricity but you don't want to install separate service for them.If so you could terminate the main service in the shop and then feed a subpanel for the apartment from there. Between the main panel and subpanel install a meter base. Buy a used, recalibrated meter (less than $100). Now you can read the meter every month and bill them for the KWH that they consume.This has worked well for us and complies with our local codes. It's often referred to as an "information meter". I've heard of people using this strategy for home offices where they want to track energy consumption of the office for tax purposes.Reading a meter is a bit tricky at first, but becomes second nature after a while.Scott.Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”
Private meters may or may not be legal depending on state law/code.
It is an ironic habit of human beings to run faster when we have lost our way. --Rollo May
Thanks, yeah I had heard that. No problem here that I know of, and the meters are cheap! $35 IRRC.Scott.Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”
Thanks Scott, I appreciate the suggestions. I have a lot to decide and a lot to work with. Thanks again.
one set of wires from the street, two meters, two fuse boxes. This will allow an electrician to work on the apartment without having to shut power to the shop (and vice versa).
Also allows more flexibility in the future if you decide to make it two shops or two apartments
because of separate meters,you can monitor usage...and charge the shop side as a business expense
toolman65
Thanks. This sounds like a good way to go.