King C Posted March 2, 2014 Report Share Posted March 2, 2014 (edited) I'm looking to buy a garage/workshop in the future and I'm finding it difficult to find any with an existing power supply so I'm toying with the idea of buying one without and getting power installed. Has anybody here done anything similar before and if so what were costs like? I've seen some sites quote less than £2000 but a guy at work, who built his own house, said it cost him nearly £16000 for the luxury and even then, he wired the whole house himself. Edited March 2, 2014 by King C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isitafox Posted March 2, 2014 Report Share Posted March 2, 2014 Sounds a bit pricey that, how big a workshop are we talking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted March 2, 2014 Report Share Posted March 2, 2014 I'm looking to do the same with my shed, the problem comes with the load you want to supply and the distance from your distribution board. You also need to get the work signed off for insurance purposes. If you can get a sparky to do an initial inspection and design checks then there is nothing stopping you digging trenches and laying cables (as long as it is to spec) and final connections can be made by the sparky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King C Posted March 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2014 The ones I've seen aren't huge, 19' x 9' or there abouts. Big enough for my mini and a fairly decent work area/bench and space for tools and shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isitafox Posted March 2, 2014 Report Share Posted March 2, 2014 In that case forteh has the best idea, we used to have a shed for my Dads Harley's that had power which he replaced a few years back with a stone garage and he fitted the cable and junction box and did all the sockets/lights and just got a spark to do the finishing touches and make it all legal. Baring in mind though he only had to run about 3m of cable from the house to reach it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted March 2, 2014 Report Share Posted March 2, 2014 You need to work out what load you will require, that will dictate which wiring circuit and what size breaker you will need. To run my tig welder + lighting + heater I need something like a 20 amp supply, I have a redundant 20A ring main in my house from the old storage heaters so I am hoping to be able to spur of that out to the shed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King C Posted March 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2014 The only trouble is, the places I've seen are within blocks of garages not in my garden off my house (not a home owner yet). Thanks for the tip about the load calculations. I probably won't need much more than that either. I only want to run a welder and maybe a compressor now and then. I'll do the calcs when it comes to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Booth Posted March 2, 2014 Report Share Posted March 2, 2014 To avoid paying for stuff that's not on your own garage, would you get away with a generator king? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted March 2, 2014 Report Share Posted March 2, 2014 The problem may come if you need to run the wiring over someone else's property (whoever owns the land the garages are built on), I have it easy because I own the house and the shed is on my property. My 160 amp tig welder draws a max of 4kva, I currently run it on a heavy duty extension lead (which isn't technically big enough for the current draw but it's ok in this cooler weather), not sure if you would be able to run it on a generator without spending more on the unit than hard wiring! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King C Posted March 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2014 I'm trying to avoid running a generator just because they're noisy and like forteh says, I don't know if it would handle everything I need it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bollo you ball-bag Posted March 3, 2014 Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 Guessing you need a new electricity board supply, it won't be cheap, and the cost can vary massively, try here for an idea, they're the dno for kent http://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/internet/en/connections/calculator/#anchor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GavLawson Posted March 3, 2014 Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 (edited) You need to get either National Grid or SSE or whoever runs you local network ( not who you pay your bill to) to give you a budget estimate, they will figure out if the local grid has capacity to provide for your load. If they decide that your maximum demand is more than they have available on the local transfomer then you will be asked to pay a proportion of the cost for supply and installation of a new transformer probably about (£7000 - £20000). Its pretty unlikely but I have seen it happen. If you ask SSE or National Grid to provide you with a formal quotation they will prevent any other company from connecting to the grid in that area on your behalf forcing you to pay whatever they quote so make sure you get the budget estimate first. You also need to get them to work with whoever you are going to use as your supplier, but all you have to do is ask the supplier to have your meter installed at the same time as your new supply. Oh and do not tell them that you intend to use welding gear. Do the calcs but a 63A single phase domestic supply will be more than adequate if its just a garage. I can't give you a rough price for the connection because they vary dramatically depending on existing supply and location. Edited March 3, 2014 by GavLawson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_seamons Posted March 3, 2014 Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 You need to take into account volt drop too. A 63 amp supply over a long distance will need a much bigger cable than you might think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GavLawson Posted March 3, 2014 Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 You need to take into account volt drop too. A 63 amp supply over a long distance will need a much bigger cable than you might think. You don't have to calculate it though, thats up to the distributor and they will be quite happy with 6% volt drop as long as the ZE is permissible. In all honesty I think you might find its cheaper to get a garage which already has power. You really need to get your budget estimate before you buy the garage/site Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.Wood Posted March 3, 2014 Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 Sounds like a right f**kabout Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_seamons Posted March 3, 2014 Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 I was more talking about supplying the garage from a house. I get a lot of people thinking that it's ok to use 2.5mm cable to supply a shed because "2.5mm is socket cable". That may be the case, but running it over 100m and expecting the same power you are putting in at one end is never going to work. We work directly with UK Power Networks as a sub-contractor daily, so I know for a fact £2000 will not get you a new supply. As an example...a new service to a street light (from an existing supply within 3m) is around £650 +vat. £2000, is nowhere near enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GavLawson Posted March 3, 2014 Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 I would agree with those prices, I had a house connected by SSE last year approx 15m off the existing supply most of it soft ground only across the pavement and about a 2.5m2 of road and that was £3400 + vat. When you think about its daylight robbery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Yoshi Posted March 3, 2014 Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 It's the same with water. But at the end of the they are the only ones can do about it so can name their price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King C Posted March 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 Thats what i wanted to hear. I didn't want to commit to buy somewhere because it was cheaper, to then fork out X amount and for it to work out more expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.