Electrical Question???

[Chan Solo]

I'm moving into a new house, and I plan to have my shop in the current garage behind it. Currently the house(an old house) does not have anything electric besides lights and outlets and is running 3 circuits at 20 amps each(60 total). I plan on adding a water heater at some point in time. I was thinking about running a 100 amp 220 line under ground through a conduit to the shop.

Is 100 amps enough for the house?
Is 100 amps enough for the shop?
I plan on having a lathe, drill press, table saw, some grinder, and a welder. But not running at the same time...

The circuit box has a 200 amp main switch. Can I put a larger switch in? Or can I run the main lines from the power line under ground to a new box(that would be crazy wouldn't it?) I'm trying not to get a new meter at the shop, because they would have to put in a new pole. Whaddya think?

Thanks in advance. btw, I am prolly going to rewire the house anyways, the wires are ancient. So I'm willing to change things up if it is best...

 

[Daniel Koster]

run a separate 100 amp panel out at the garage. lots of new places getting set up that way - more expensive, but then if something blows in the shop, only affects the shop.

100 Amps is enough for hobby shop.

 

[pso]

Chan

With all the work that you will be doing, rewiring your house, you may as well go ahead and put in two new panels, one for the shop and one for the house. It is good to keep the shop and house separate, as Daniel said. Dig a trench for a new feed cable from the pole that will feed both panels. Run all your new wiring to the new panel for your house without removing the old wiring. The new wires should be run to the switches and receptacles but left unconnected. You should then be able to "cut over" to the new wiring in a short time by cutting the power, removing all the old switches and receptacles, connect the new wires to new switches and receptacles. Once everything is checked out, the power can be applied and you are up and running with your new electrical system.

If you are doing the work yourself, go find a professional electrician to give you guidance on how to do things safely and how to meet your local electrical codes. Some books from your local public library would help too.

You may be able to find a lot of the parts that you need on E-bay for a good price. Another source is Dealers Electrical, based in Waco (www.dealerselectrical.com). The company that I work for buys a lot of stuff from them and I have been able to buy stuff for my house.

Of course, you can invite buddy GW to ride his bike over and give you a hand

Phil