OK, Patriots, once again I'm looking for guidance.  I have my basement shop studded out, and starting the wiring.  I'm looking for suggestions before proceeding.  Two of the walls are the concrete foundation walls with no studding.  There is one small basement window.  

 

It's 13' x 22' (so it's basically a one car garage area,) with spray foam in the ceiling and acoustic suspended ceiling tiles for sound and some dust control.  The walls will also be insulated for soundproofing.  Getting 8 switched LED lights (thanks, Gunny) on one circuit (with the rest of the basement) and two 110 circuits for the power - one for each of the 22' foot walls.  There are more available.  Also have a 220 circuit for the table saw. 

 

Questions - 110 outlets 4' oc 48" off floor?  DC will be on the end 13' wall - should that be separate circuit?  Also, planning on the Wen air filtration - separate circuit?

 

The two studded walls will be covered and painted.  OSB or sheetrock?  Planning to paint the concrete walls to brighten it up.  

 

Any observations based on your personal experience are greatly appreciated. 

 

As for the projects, so far mostly home improvement, some cabinet making, but jumping into turning. 

 

Thank you, 

Jim

Not sure about code in your area, or if it evens matters 

 

I never have enough outlets. My shop is in the basement with a low ceiling. I put lots of receptacles in the ceiling- keeps the cords out of the way.

 

I'd use OSB or plywood for the walls. Makes it easier to mount stuff on the walls. My Wen air cleaner doesn't draw much current so I have it on the same circuit as the lights.

 

Looking forward to seeing some of your turnings.

Hint: 15 amp wiring for lighting, 20 amp wiring for wall outlets. I found that 1/2" plywood works well for walls. Smooth one side. Great if you intend to mount any cabinets or shelving.  Don't be stingy with the number of wall outlets. Your best plans for power tool location may change. You may want to consider a fireproof fan for venting out that small window if you plan any spray painting or use of chemicals such as lacquer, acetone, alcohol etc.

 

 

you don't have to worry about finding studs.

I don't know about building codes anymore.  On concrete walls or masonry walls, they used to use ferring strips.  They are normally 1" X 2" and stuck to the wall by screws.  You can use the sinks and place the screws through the strips into the sinks.  If you want to use some form of wallboard on those walls, you could ask the code office about doing that.  You can mount outlets and run wiring in there.  

3 hours ago, JimM said:

DC will be on the end 13' wall - should that be separate circuit?

My DC is 220 so yes it is sperate circuit.  The WEN air filter I have as well and it runs off the Light circuit so when you kill the lights it also is off.  Just have a outlet put in where you plan to mount it.  This way, just unplug.  No hard wiring needed.

 

3 hours ago, JimM said:

OSB or sheetrock?

OSB or plywood.  If you use OSB know that it soaks up paint like a sponge.  Also use oil based primer like KILZ or something.  Hit it with 2 coats, make sure it is sealed up.  

 

3 hours ago, JimM said:

Questions - 110 outlets 4' oc 48" off floor? 

Definitely want somewhere above a workbench height say 36 inches but not too far up so they don't get in the way of stuff you put on wall.  As @lew said cannot get enough outlets.  Think overkill.  

 

You can use metal surface mount outlet boxes and conduit for the concrete wall.  Makes it flexible since it is not inside the wall.  This will take extra time but paint the boxes orange or yellow.  Mostly something bright!  Makes them easier to spot.  We ain't getting any younger here.  

 

MOST IMPORTANT, enjoy the process.    Take your time knowing the more details you get after now the less that come up later when you have to work around all the finished stuff.  I probably spend as much time screwing with little detail add on's I want as I do projects.  Don't care, just enjoy the time in the shop.  

I put all my outlets about 52" off the floor -- if I ever want to stack up some plywood there, it won't cover them up.  All 12ga wire for 20A circuits, and two 240V circuits, one for DC, and one for Table Saw (planer/jointer is 120 or it would have been 3 or more).  Since it's basement, everything is on GFCI.  Spend an extra buck or two for better outlets and switches.  Exposed wiring in EMT.  Since I'm tall, most of my work surfaces are 36" and I raised my table saw to that so I can use benches as infeed/outfeed when needed. 

7 hours ago, kmealy said:

I put all my outlets about 52" off the floor -- if I ever want to stack up some plywood there, it won't cover them up.  All 12ga wire for 20A circuits,

Yep, that's the way I did it. 52" high, and 12 gauge wire...except for the lights. The DC should definitely be on it's own circuit although personally I don't think the ambient air cleaner needs to be.

Gotta agree with the recommendations to use top shelf wiring devices, ie-20 amp duplex receptacles, on 20 amp circuits. An advantage to running as many separate circuits as possible is you can change a 220 circuit to a 120, and vice versa. (If there is enogh room in the panel). If you have multiple outlets on one circuit, then they all will be on the same voltage.  If possible i like running pipe, easily add/change circuits in the future. Other than lighting, run 12 gauge wiring for everything (This has already been mentioned, I am seconding it). If this is a one man shop, how many machines do you think you’d run simultaneously? DC and any 1 other machine? Advantage is if your panel doesn’t have many spares available, you can get away without too many circuits as you can only run so much at once. 110/220 for DC? 220/110 for table saw? 220 for anything else? If so you can unplug table saw and plug in other 220 machine, and still use DC. You could/might get away with 2 220 volt circuits and 2 110 volt circuits, probably 20 amps for all. Being an electrician, even though my shop is just me, I have 3-20 amp 220 volt outlets, only 220 machine I have is the Shopsmith. I have 7 20 amp 120 volt outlets as I don’t like to have to keep plugging/unplugging stuff. If you have any more electrical questions ask away

FWIW, I put in three wire across the ceiling joists and every so often a 4 outlet box, one side a switched circuit and the other unswitched.   The switched side runs the lights and the air cleaner.   I probably could have gotten by without the unswitched side (I wouldn't work in the dark).  But they give me a place to plug in a portable tool in the middle of the room, if I want to.

 

Besides the lights and the air filter, here's what I run concurrently: (on separate 120 or 240 circuits)

- table saw and dust collector

- jointer/planer and dust collector

- miter saw and dust collector

- one piece of equipment (sanders of various types, biscuit joiner, Shopsmith, or band saw) and shop vac 

 

Everything else is one at a time (drill press, router, drill, jig saw, compressor, shop vac to clean up)

I found 36--48" power strips handy along walls that might have multiple machines, and certainly along a bench wall.  Even a 4-plex outlet in a "popular" spot becomes overloaded.  I also found ceiling outlets handy in the middle of the open space; my ceiling was a bit higher than me, so I found some 24" extension cords and those gave me "dangle power" pretty much everywhere.