Power and insulation to the new shed

**har616** · 21st November 2006, 11:41 AM

Recently I moved to a new place where the existing 9mx6m.3m shed had no permanent power – just the offending extension lead lying outside in the weather between the shed and the house.

I have doubled the size of the shed – retaining the exiting shed for the cars and to keep all the household flotsam from entering the workshop proper. Hopefully I can store some timber in the old shed as well.

The shed now is 18mx6mx3m, divided into two sections.

Hopefully in the next few months I will manage to insulate and line it. I am not sure how to best deal with noise and temperature. I was thinking about using acoustitherm batts and yellow tongue flooring to line the vertical walls of the shed; with batts and plasterboard for the ceiling. The yellow tongue will give me something to attach things to and is relatively cheap.

Any other thoughts on how to handle the sound or noise would be appreciated.

My immediate problem is to get some power to the shed. Unfortunately the current fuse box is at the other end of the house and getting power to the shed involves a run of about 30-35m (depending on whether they go through the roof or under the house).

I have a quote from a local electrical contractor for the electrical work following a discussion on what I thought was needed. I wanted to have at least a double power point to each machine and a few 15 amp points for the 3 HP machines in the woodworking area and at least some power and lighting in the older part of the shed. Given that it is mostly storage I don’t think it needs as much lighting or power.

I have also asked about getting some down lights put into the house, a few extra power points and to have the phone point moved so that the DSL connection is somewhere near the computer – no longer a cable running 15m along the passageway.

The quote came back as follows: (Note the Woodworking shed is the new bit and the garage the old bit of the new 18m long shed)

Woodworking Shed
1 off – Switchboard, safety switches, circuit breakers & supply cable (fed from house switchboard)
Please note: - I have allowed for a slow acting circuit breakers suitable for motor control.
6 off – 2 x 36 Watt Fluorescent light fittings and switch
9 off – 10 Amp Double Socket Outlets
3 off – 15 Amp Socket Outlets

Garage
4 off – 2 x 36 Watt Fluorescent light fittings and switch
4 off – Double Socket Outlets
1 off – Single Socket outlets (roller door)

House
8 off – 50 Watt Down lights and switches
3 off – 10 amp Double Socket Outlets
Re-locate phone extension into office

Emergency Light in Woodworking shed
1 off – Self contained Tungsten Halogen Emergency Light

I asked about emergency lighting since we sometimes have blackouts where I live (one last night for an hour!) and I expect to spend a bit of time in the shed in the evening. I’m not sure whether this would be a useful investment and whether I can reasonably ignore this item.

I would appreciate some advice on the above. Have I got the electrical requirements about right? Should I go with the emergency lighting?

The quote came in at:

Woodworking Shed and Garage - $ 4200.00
House - $ 670
Emergency Light - $ 396.00

Is this reasonable? It seems a lot to me however I really don’t have any benchmark to compare.

I need to make a decision on how to proceed fairly soon and would appreciate any feedback provided.

Regards

Terry

**thatirwinfella** · 21st November 2006, 06:30 PM

the gear for the house sounds about right, adding socket outlets where they may not be an existing cable can be a pain, as can adding new switches for lights, so the quote for that seems to me as pretty good.

the garage as a whole sounds expensive, but when you consider you have about as much in there as a new house - a switchboard, ten lights, and almost twenty socket outlets -then it starts to sound a lot better. plus, as you said there is a 30-35m run to the garage and mains cable is expensive at the moment. so it seems like a decent quote.
are the socket outlets of a heavier grade or just standard exterior/waterproof outlets. A heavier industrial style will set you back more than a standard outlet, so that will obviously increase the cost.

As for the emergency light these things are typically expensive as they have their own power supply etc, but i'm not too sure about this one. For that price i'd want it to be prety impressive and it may be worth considering if it is neccessary. perhaps for $50 two or three torches placed around the shed may be a cheaper solution.

if you haven't yet, it would be best to try get other quotes from other companies, [three all up is a recommended total] and remember to make sure that you are getting quotes for what is listed above, if that is what you are sure you want. that way you can compare the apples to apples.

good on ya for getting the sparkies in.

cheers.

**har616** · 21st November 2006, 08:38 PM

Originally Posted by thatirwinfella

are the socket outlets of a heavier grade or just standard exterior/waterproof outlets. A heavier industrial style will set you back more than a standard outlet, so that will obviously increase the cost.

As for the emergency light these things are typically expensive as they have their own power supply etc, but i'm not too sure about this one. For that price i'd want it to be prety impressive and it may be worth considering if it is neccessary. perhaps for $50 two or three torches placed around the shed may be a cheaper solution.

I'm not sure about the grade of sockets - nothing discussed so I assume standard outlets and fittings for what is currently a colorbond shed.

The emergency light is apparently kept charged all the time in the circuit and then drops in immediately power is interrupted. Since I want to do a bit at night I didn't like the idea of having baldes and suchlike still moving and no light at all. Chances are that I'd be sensible and not make any stupid moves until everything stops moving but then I'd still need to find a torch. However for the money being asked I could buy enough to paper the wall every few meters.

I'll get more quotes however this guy has been recommended as doing a very good job and has been thought to provide a very reasonable quote compared to others.

Thanks for the thoughts

Terry

**Malibu** · 21st November 2006, 09:12 PM

Gday Terry,
I'm a sparky and unfortunately the worlds worst quoter!
I'm not really up with prices of GPO's and etc, but it soon adds up. It sounds like you've got a good handle on what you need with plenty of lighting (I have 11 double fluro's in my workshop), lots of power points and slow C/Breakers (Called 'D' curve). The smart part is the RCD (safety switch).
The emergency lighting is a great idea and one of the things I need to do in my workshop, because it's set into the battered bank under the house with no windows. For me, it's a necessary item because day or night... if those lights go out, it's REALLY dark!
IMO, it's a smart move in any workshop to have an emergency light to get some idea where you are and where all the machinery is in the place. It's astounding how that saw horse appeared from no-where in the dark, and how much a skinned shin can hurt when you don't expect it. Emergency light? I think do it!

As far as the quote goes, I'm no expert on prices, but get a second opinion. My first thought was "YOWZAAH!... how much?!?" (But I could be wrong

)

Just as an after thought... for an emergency light, maybe consider an "Exit-->" light over the door or something. Probably a lot cheaper than what's quoted, and it'll give off enough light for you to squint by in the dark.

**doug1** · 21st November 2006, 09:16 PM

Yor emergeny light may be better done with a rechargable 20 W flouro, I think from Bunnies or Jaycar
or similar to this one
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-57674.../dp/B0001K9WW6

Doug

**GraemeCook** · 23rd November 2006, 08:25 PM

Hi Terry

Sorry, cannot comment on costs in Melbourne.

However, my shed is 8x4m with 3m ceilings and I have four double fluoros. This is not nearly enough, and I am planning on doubling the amount of light.

Cheers

Graeme

**har616** · 23rd November 2006, 09:14 PM

Originally Posted by doug1

Yor emergeny light may be better done with a rechargable 20 W flouro, I think from Bunnies or Jaycar
or similar to this one
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-57674.../dp/B0001K9WW6

Doug

Good idea - a rechargeable light, always on and when power cuts out it remains on. Probably the cheapest solution.

Thanks Doug

**har616** · 23rd November 2006, 09:21 PM

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

Hi Terry

Sorry, cannot comment on costs in Melbourne.

However, my shed is 8x4m with 3m ceilings and I have four double fluoros. This is not nearly enough, and I am planning on doubling the amount of light.

Cheers

Graeme

Thanks for the advice Graeme. Since I was planning about 6 double fluoros in a 9mx6mx3m shed which seems to be roughly equivalent to your current setup I might need to rethink this but doubling it to 12 seems a hell of a lot.

Any other thoughts out there?

Am I better with spot lighting rather than trying to fit more fluros into the shed?

A pity not many can assist with the costs - at this time of year it is proving difficult to get much interest from other sparky's in giving quotes. A bit too much new building activity in the area to be finished before the Christmas break.

The quote for the work inside the house is pretty good given quotes my nephew had recently for similar work in the town.

Terry

**DJ’s Timber** · 23rd November 2006, 09:34 PM

My shed is 9 x 6 x 2.7 and I have 9 double fluros

3 across each 3mt bays

**Abug** · 26th November 2006, 06:45 PM

Have you thought about sourcing the bits and pieces yourself by looking at electrical seconds places for used flouro fittings or even searching ebay as there are some electrical stores on there
For example:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/1-box-of-10-C...QQcmdZViewItem

You might want to check this one for lights too.
http://search.ebay.com.au/_W0QQsassZ...e4todayQQhtZ-1

**JDub** · 27th November 2006, 09:39 AM

Originally Posted by Abug

You might want to check this one for lights too.
http://search.ebay.com.au/_W0QQsassZ...e4todayQQhtZ-1

Thanks for the link, just bought 4 flouro light kits for the new shed.... good price too

**thatirwinfella** · 28th November 2006, 08:05 PM

check with your sparky for how much he can get simillar fittings as he will have to charge for the installation, and a lower cost item may be factored into it. eg, don't go buying $5 socket outlets if he'll charge $10 to put them in when it was only going to be $12 if you bought through him.

he may also not provide a warranty on installation if the product itself was faulty... if he supplied and fitted, then he'd be obliged to replace/repair if he was at fault or the item was faulty, but if it's something you've bought i wouldn't be surprised if you'd have to bear the cost of any faults with the items.

does that make sense? i'm tired and it does to me

otherwise, buying somethings yourself is a great way to reduce costs.

**peter_sm** · 12th January 2007, 10:50 PM

I had similar amount of work done in wiring up my garage, and the cost was

To put 40A power from mains box to garage and put in sub box with safety switch and circuit breakers. Wiring done under house for about 18 metres and underground for 10 metres. (I dug trench). supply and fit on these components. $860

To supply 10 double flouro's, 10 double GPO, 4 x 15A GPO, 6 circuit breakers, tons of wiring, movement sensor, assorted light switches etc. $700 ish at cost price, maybe $1000 retail cost

Labour to wire it all up was 16hours from me and 5 hours from the electrician, which did not have a cost so to speak as it was a contra deal on that labour, but it would easily have been 16 hours at $55 p/h being another $900.

So there you have about $2800 at a very conservative price, and I would be honest in thinking it would have to have cost me more than that if I didn't have a good deal happening and did some work myself.

Hope that helps

**har616** · 15th January 2007, 10:33 AM

Thanks to all who responded.

I have since had some further quotes and am more comfortable with the cost for the electrical work. The other quotes came in at about the same level and now I expect to have the electrical work completed before the end of the week.

The next problem is to keep the noise in and the heat and cold out. With a little luck this won't be too difficult and will need to be done before I start on the ductwork for the dust extraction system (Ironwood and Al B have been a recent inspiration here).

Terry

**arose62** · 15th January 2007, 11:54 PM

Arlec have a couple of rechargeable torches which plug into a powerpoint, and can be switched to turn on if mains power goes.

I think ours were less than $20 each, from Woolies or Kmart.

Cheers,
Andrew

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