Garage Electricial ?

[GolfVenture]

The question is how do I determine how many amps is available at the electrical panel in my garage.

 

Some years ago I layed about 80 to 100 ft of underground wire from the house panel to the garage panel with a 100 amp breaker from the house.

 

It was not copper wire due to the cost, but still met code at that time.

[M61A1MECH]

The main breaker in the panel will tell you what your limit is.

Also the panel it self will have a max load listed on it somewhere, normally listed on the inside of the panel door.

[bkuhr]

Your limiting factor will be wire gauge/length/type. You can find amp capacities many places on net, and your max will be the 100A breaker feed in the house, But your main breaker in the garage should be rated for safe amperage of the gauge/length/type, and not more than the 100A in the house. This will prevent overheating/fire on the cable.

[Flyinfool]

You said that you ran wire other than copper. Aluminum? Exactly what kind of wire did you run and what gauge is it?

The wire you ran has more to do with how much power is available than the breaker in the house. With Aluminum wire you must also be sure that all connections at both ends are rated safe for aluminum wire. Some things are rated for less power with aluminum.

[Dano]

Being a Licensed Master Electrician Sole Proprietor, here are the parameters needed:

#1-Codes are only established for THE BARE MINIMUM REQUIRED FOR SAFETY, NOT a good, correctly engineered and layed out installation.

#2-Aluminum is as good a conductor for feeders only as copper is, just has a higher resistance to electrical flow than copper (10 ohms Cu- 12 ohms Al), must be used in total calculations.

3)- You can only load a feeder or circuit (residential) to 80% of the amperage rating of the circuit breaker. IE: 100 amp breaker is only allowed to carry 80 amps thru it, allows for extra induction of amperage for start-up of equipment and possible nuisance tripping of the breaker.

4)- Most all breakers out there today are Al/Cu compatible, but the device usage (plugs/switches) MUST be rated for Al connection if used on aluminum wiring.

 

 

 

This is just a good start, as you can see the correct electrical installations needs a bit of investigation!