Power to the People, part 2

I will give a better tour of the shed, and the electrical layout in the near future, but in the meantime – here is a sneak peek.

Power is entering the shed from under the slab (through a conduit I put in place during the slab pour).  It is coming from a 63A breaker on the main switchboard, to a second 63A breaker on this panel located near the roller door.  There are a number of circuits running off this, including lighting circuits, multiple 10A circuits (5 or 6?), 15A circuits (3). When the electrician comes back after the long weekend, I will get a run down of each circuit and breaker.

Some of the conduit running away from the switchboard and off around the shed.  All wires potentially susceptible to damage are encased in conduit to protect it.  That is to stop any being damaged, and then causing the metal shed becoming live.

The lighting circuits run to GPOs at each lighting position.  As these light tubes are wired with a standard 10A plug, this makes it very easy to connect the lights, and unplug and remove (and replace) any that ever become faulty.

If you look closely, you’ll notice a GPO on the main cross-beam in the second picture…..

This is specifically placed here, as it is for the roof-mounted air filtration unit.

Then, there is power all around the perimeter (and on the one support post), all double GPOs. You’ll notice the wood trim all round.  This is an alternate to running conduit everywhere, as instead the power is run inside the top hats, and then this is faced with the pine.  I chose skirting board for this – Masters had it on special and it was exactly what I was looking for.  Rounded top face, exactly the right width.  It is screwed in place, so very easy to remove for access to the wiring if ever needed (installing additional points for example?!!!?)  I also chose it because it looked a bit classier than just MDF.  It is raw, so I can always apply a finish if I feel so inspired.

In the back corner where the lathe will go, you’ll notice an additional switch in between the two GPOs.  This is an additional isolating switch for the external GPOs on the rear corner of the shed.

These are installed to allow an air compressor (and lights) to be plugged in from another shed, so I don’t have to put up with the noise of an air compressor in the main shed.  The isolator switch means I can turn off the air compressor at the end of a session from the main workshop, without having to go out to the other shed.

So that is a bit of an overview.  As machines are rolled in, the number of GPOs becomes better explained, as there are a lot of machines to plug in, without having to resort to power boards and extension cords.