Metal Building - Electrical Input Needed . . .

[Steven DeMars]

Just curious if anyone has installed electrical for a metal building. Looking for suggestions . . .

My building is 20' X 30' with 10' at eaves & 12' in the center . . .

Totally insulated (R25) with (U-Panel) low profile metal going on the interior walls.

Any suggestions as to methods, routing, mounting of boxes, etc. . . .

I know I will be surface mounting since I want to be able to relocate things as needed.

EMT, plastic conduit, rigid conduit, perimeter raceway with drop outs,etc. . . .?

Thanks in advance . . .
Steve

[Gary Max]

In my neck of the woods---- I added a meter to run my 24 x 32 shop. Power and light told me where the meter base needed to be located at for the drop. I wanted plenty of power so I went with a 200 amp service.

[Bruce Volden]

Steven,

A lot depends on local codes. Here in SD, I put ALL my receptacles at 36" above floor. If you do like Gary says (200 amp box) you will have no need in moving things, as many outlets can be had from a 200 amp box--including 220VAC! Trust the advice on SMC--you don't want to relocate things--I find myself getting old and lazy and figger it's better doing it right the first time!! I like extension cords instead of having to re-run the power drops. I will tell you one thing though, you WILL find something you didn't think about----if not in 6 months, maybe a year! In the mean time-make dust!

Bruce

[Adam Neat]

Steve on your conduit if code allows the pvc is a lot easier and in my opinion seals up better than thinwall. I cant imagine you would be required to run ridgid. You should be able to locate surface mountable boxes in PVC easy enough as its pretty standard stuff outdoors

[Charles Lent]

For a metal building I prefer metal conduit and boxes. I want everything bonded (grounded) together at as many places as possible. The building skin and other metal parts should also have at least one ground rod connection in addition to the required electrical service ground rod. If using only two, I would place them on opposite sides of the building (electric service ground rod on one side and building ground rod on opposite side).

Charley

[David G Baker]

I use metal conduit in most cases. I mounted my boxes so that the box base is around 56 inches high, this way the base of the boxes will clear sheet goods if I need to lean them against the walls. I haven't bonded my ground to the metal siding yet but I will due to the excessive amount of lightning that we have in our area. Because I only have three wires coming from my main panel and my buildings are around 200 feet from the main I used two ground rods and bonded the neutral bar and the ground bar together because they no longer qualify as a sub panel due to the lack of a ground wire from the main. I have some in the wall boxes for switches and some for 20 amp plugs. My 220 volt plugs will be surface mount because the walls will be covered with OSB prior to my locating where the 220 volt equipment will be placed. I was lucky because I purchased my copper prior to the major price hike. I have around 1000 feet or more waiting to be installed.

[Greg Portland]

Just curious if anyone has installed electrical for a metal building. Looking for suggestions . . .

My building is 20' X 30' with 10' at eaves & 12' in the center . . .

Totally insulated (R25) with (U-Panel) low profile metal going on the interior walls.

Any suggestions as to methods, routing, mounting of boxes, etc. . . .

I know I will be surface mounting since I want to be able to relocate things as needed.

EMT, plastic conduit, rigid conduit, perimeter raceway with drop outs,etc. . . .?

Thanks in advance . . .
Steve

I am a big fan of metal raceway (Wiremold 4000, etc.). It is pricey but you will have complete flexibility to alter your shop layout as needed (add a new circuit, move a circuit, etc.). To keep costs down I ran 4000 series down one wall (all the high power circuits) and some 2000 series down the other (a few shared 15/20A circuits for low power). You run THHN in the raceway.

[John Lifer]

I ran rigid conduit in my shop (30x30) found I didn't have outlets where I wanted, ran one run down center ceiling and dropped boxes. Added 220V along one wall. Still have to use extensions on some items. Just add twice you think you need......

[Chris Damm]

I was able to use PVC conduit and mounted all the boxes 50" above the floor. It's a real pain to move 10-20 sheets of plywood just to get at a receptacle. The PVC was easy to use and it looks good when done. It's very easy to rearange outlets when it's time to make a change.

[Rod Sheridan]

I would use EMT, inexpensive and it looks good.

I wouldn't use PVC conduit inside a building except for stub ups from a slab.....................Regards, Rod.