Woodshop Power Requirements

Laying out your woodshop power schematic is critical to starting and expanding a shop.

You will need a lighting circuit, 110 volt circuits for hand tools and power equipment, and possibly 220 volt single phase and 220 volt 3 phase machine circuits.

The lighting circuit should be separate from any of the machine or hand tool circuits. This should also include individual lighting for each machine or work station. This circuit can't be fused properly to protect the wiring for the lights if the fuse or breaker has to be large enough to include the amperage draw from machines.

You should plan for the 110 volt circuits to be placed over the worktables and close to the machines so the shop can be run without extension cords. Each machine should have its own receptacle. It wastes a lot of time if you have to continually plug and unplug machines.

As your shop grows you will find it necessary to install 220 volt single phase circuits. A lot of the better quality machines and even some of the standard equipment like dust collectors, shapers and small moulders will require 220 volt single phase power. Planning ahead of time could save you some money if this is installed when you originally have to call a electrician. It can also save some shop time if you don't have to wait for that second trip from the electrician.

Until you start needing automatic or heavy duty machinery you probably won't have to worry about 220 volt 3 phase power. When you grow to that size you would probably have to relocate to a industrial park or somewhere out of a residential neighborhood. If your shop is located in a rural area you may be able to use a 3 phase converter to solve the problem.

When laying out your shop try to power up machines that run at the same time from different circuits. Using a licensed electricial to help set up the electrical requirements for each machine could save a lot of headaches in the future.