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dcsullivans_gw

3- or 4-wire to 120v subpanel in unattached "garage"?

dcsullivans
10 years ago

Hi -

We have a storage shed about 100' feet from the house on our property. It has no power now, and i'd like to run some out there so that I can have a couple of flood lights, have an outlet for the weed wacker, the occasional portable saw, etc. I only need a 120v circuit at this time.

I plan to run 1 or 1.5" PVC conduit underground with either 3 or 4 THWN lines (neutral, ground, and either 1 or 2 hots.) I'm thinking of using #10 wire, not so much for the amperage capacity, but to limit voltage drop.

Since I only need 120v, I'm planning on leaving the second hot wire (red) capped off at each end. My thinking is that if I ever needed 240v, I'd be able to upgrade without any additional digging, pulling wire, rewiring, etc.

I'm thinking that I'll install a small subpanel in the shed, but connect only 1 side of the bus. The neutral and ground will be isolated from one another, and I'll install 2x 8' grounding rods outside the shed.

Any thoughts or comments on this plan?

In particular, any reason to connect up both hots to the panel right away, even though I only need two somewhat smaller circuits at this time?

Thanks
Matt

This post was edited by dcsullivans on Mon, Apr 22, 13 at 15:05

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