Wiring: In Walls, or Conduit?

[Larry Frank]

This is a great thread and quite useful as I am expanding my shop and will be completely rewiring it. There are several things that I am going to be doing -

- All outlets 50" off of the floor
- Alternate 110 circuits on each wall.
- Shop lighting on its own circuit and probably two different circuits.
- Add more 220 circuits than I originally planned.

I was going to have some 20 and some 30 amp 220 circuits but now plan on making them all 30 amp and that way there will be no confusion or potential for problems.

[Jim Becker]

I vote "mixed". Run all your general purpose 110 outlets in the walls. But then run all your dedicated machine circuits in conduit so you can easily accommodate layout changes and machine upgrades.

I was thinking the same thing.

Congrats on getting to build your shop finally, Martin...I know you've been wanting that for a long time!

[Norm Mailhot]

Just joined sawmill Creek to learn about things to do with wood, however I have been an electrician for over 35 years . I would wire all the outlets in the walls with a minimum # 12 nmd 90 ( Roomex Loomex ) 2 or 3 receptacles per circuit Run a single run of 2/12 wire to areas were you might have heavier loads table saws etc You can will have the option to ether have 120/240 volt circuits with these dedicated lines . You can never have enough plugs ins. I would also use 2 gang boxes so you can put 2 receptacle in each one. In most cases you are the only one working in your shop and are usually only using one tool at a time other then your compressor or dust collector which should have there own dedicated line. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

[Kirk Poore]

I was going to have some 20 and some 30 amp 220 circuits but now plan on making them all 30 amp and that way there will be no confusion or potential for problems.

Larry, I went with 30 amp circuits on all my 240V single phase outlets, and am glad I did. There are different plugs for 20 amp and 30 amp outlets, so now any 240V machine can be plugged into any outlet.

All my stuff is in conduit, but frankly I put so many outlets in of each type that I may never need to change any of it. The only shortfall so far is for my center machine cluster--two cords snaking across the floor get in the way when sweeping.

Kirk