How to conduct electricity to the garage: requirements for the wiring diagram, DIY installation tips

The technology for creating electrical wiring in the garage differs from work in an apartment or a private house. However, it is not difficult to bring electricity to the garage, but the help of a specialist may be required. The fact is that the supply of electricity from the pole to the panel must be carried out by a qualified electrician with a license to work with high voltage. Inside the garage, you can already cope with the task on your own.

Scheme development

Before starting the installation work, you should create a wiring diagram in the garage. On it, the place of cable entry into the building, as well as the location of the electrical panel, lamps and sockets, must be marked on it.. When drawing up a diagram, several requirements must be followed:

• Cables must be in a vertical or horizontal plane and rotated only at a 90 degree angle.
• To minimize the risk of damage to the wiring, the route should be 10 to 15 cm from the ceiling and at least 15 cm from the heating system.
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• It is desirable to place the switches 10-15 cm from the door frame and 150 cm from the ground.
• The sockets are mounted at a height of 60 cm from the floor, and the distance between adjacent devices should be 4 m.
• If the garage has a viewing pit or basement, remove switches and sockets outside of them.
• Automatic switches or RCD devices must be installed on sockets and lamps.
• In the inspection pit, it is enough to place one 12 V lamp, providing for this in the circuit a step-down transformer.
• It is advisable to install a three-phase electrical network in the garage. If the choice was made in favor of 220 V wiring, then it is necessary to accurately calculate the cross-section of the conductors.

Here is an example of a wiring diagram in a garage, which will not be very difficult to create with your own hands:

Selection and calculation of materials

After completing the design of the circuit, you can proceed to the selection of the necessary materials. First of all, you should decide on the amount of cable. Since it is necessary to carry out not only internal, but also external wiring (from the pillar to the structure), the conductors must be selected for each type of work.

To extend the outside line, use a cable with copper conductors with a cross-section of at least 10 mm². It is impractical to use a conductor with aluminum conductors. This is due not only to the need to use a conductor with a larger cross-section in comparison with a copper wire, but also due to the low elasticity of aluminum. In such a situation, the risks of mechanical damage increase significantly.

To calculate the required amount of wire, you need to decide on all electrical appliances that are planned to be installed in the garage. The total power of these devices should be multiplied by 1.2 to provide a 20% power reserve. To connect the sockets, it is recommended to use conductors with a cross section of 4 mm², and for switches, 1.5 mm will be enough². It is also necessary to take the wire in length with a margin. It is recommended to increase the calculated length by 15 cm for each connection.

In the garage, it is often enough to install 2 sockets and a switch. If there is no basement or viewing hole in the building, then you can limit yourself to one switch. Nowadays many people pay attention to LED lamps. They are more expensive than fluorescent ones, but they are more economical. Most often, electrical wiring in the garage is carried out by an open method, and in such a situation, the number of cable channels or corrugations should be additionally calculated.

Installation steps

All work can be divided into three stages. Each of them has its own characteristics that must be taken into account when working independently.

Preparatory work

Preliminary work consists of preparing the walls and cutting the conductors. It should be remembered that the markings on the surface of the walls must be applied in accordance with the previously developed scheme. The easiest way to solve this problem is to use a special cord.

It is installed at the starting point and secured. After that, the cord, in a taut state, is pulled along the wall to the next wiring point, pulled to the side and lowered with a sharp movement. As a result, an imprint remains on the surface of the wall. At this stage, it is important to pull the cord strictly vertically or horizontally in accordance with the diagram.

When the wiring is carried out in a hidden way, then after marking it is necessary to make grooves for the wires. If the garage is metal, then it is worth choosing an open wiring. It should be remembered that the dimensions of the grooves should be 20x20 mm.

External wiring

It is advisable to entrust these works to a specialist. The easiest way to route the cable from the pole to the garage is by air. However, it should be remembered that when the distance from the post on the street to the building is more than 25 m, then one more additional support has to be installed. In addition, several height requirements are imposed on overhead wiring:

• Above the roadway - from 6 m.
• Above the footpaths - more than 3.75 m.
• Entry into the building - at least 2.77 m.

If the first two requirements are met without problems, then the latter cannot be said. The garage is a low-rise structure and many problems can be encountered when entering the cable through the roof. To avoid them, it is recommended to enter through a metal pipe that is slightly curved at the top.

You can also conduct electricity from the pole using underground wiring. Difficulties should not arise here, you just need to make a trench, into which the armored conductor is then placed. An example of such a cable can be a cable marked VBbShv. However, this method of input should be thought out even at the stage of construction of the garage and an opening for cable entry should be provided in the foundation.

To protect the conductor from mechanical damage, it is better to place it in a steel box. The only drawback of the underground installation method in comparison with the air one is its higher cost.

Internal gasket

If the wiring is carried out in a hidden way, then the wires are laid in pre-made grooves, after which they are fastened with brackets or clamps. The next step is to install the junction boxes, as well as the switches and sockets.

After that, it remains to connect all the wires and ring the finished wiring with a multimeter. It should also be recalled that the wires must be switched exclusively with the help of blocks. If, after checking the wiring, there are no problems, then the walls are plastered.

In an iron or wooden garage, the wiring is easier to do in an open way. For this, cable channels are installed on the walls, in which the wires are laid. This method of installing electrical wiring is extremely rarely used in residential premises, but is great for a garage.

Even a novice electrician can do the wiring in the garage. Although this is a rather laborious process, it is not very complex.