It is impossible to do without electricity in the garage, otherwise it is an ordinary box for storing a car, tools and equipment. At the stage of construction and conduction of electricity, you need to take care of arranging the shield for the garage. Its body is additionally equipped with a device for metering the consumed electricity. You can buy ready-made structures in specialized stores, which are called - electric garage shield, or you can make it yourself.
Why install an electrical panel in a garage
When installing and registering the device, the garage becomes a room that needs to be fully equipped in order to optimize its functionality. When choosing equipment, the layout and area of the room should be thought out in advance. This is due to the fact that it is these factors that determine the amount of electricity consumed. For maximum comfort, the room is divided into several zones:
- The main part for storing the car.
- An additional area for storing tools, as well as placing a work area and a repair pit.
Many car owners themselves carry out tire fitting and other repairs, therefore, full lighting in the room is required. To carry out a large amount of work, it is required to install a high-quality shield.
Description of the electrical board
The device is a convenient and functional panel with special electrical equipment inside. Thanks to its work, current is received and distributed. The equipment is manufactured from materials that are resistant to mechanical and thermal influences. The electrical panel is equipped with a door that must always be locked. When leaving the garage, the device can be easily de-energized. The device also includes the following parts:
- Electric certified meter, on which the results of the check in the Energosbyt organization are recorded.
- Mounting box and patch panel, as well as metal mounting strips arranged in several rows.
- An RCD device that performs a protective function. Protects people and equipment from leakage and drainage of currents through bridges with good conductivity.
- Single-phase bags capable of automatically breaking the circuit when a short circuit is detected.
This is an electrical device that supplies a voltage of 220 W. The supply and arrangement of a three-phase circuit should be carried out only by employees of the distribution zone, according to a previously agreed project.
The supply voltage of luminaires in inspection pits and basements should not exceed 26 V.
What device can be installed in the garage
Electrical shields are made of plastic and metal. You can mount a plastic case, but given the number of metal objects in the garage, it is better to give preference to a metal box, it will be safer. It is also worth mentioning the increased resistance to mechanical damage.
If the garage is not heated, a high concentration of moisture periodically accumulates in the air, which contributes to the formation of corrosion on the metal case. To prevent the development of this unpleasant phenomenon, the climatic version of the shield must be additionally equipped with an ultrasound system.These devices are specially designed for unheated rooms and operate in the temperature range from -40 to +40 degrees.
Additionally, the body must be equipped with a locking device, to the bolt of which the grounding part is connected.
Mainly, an electrical panel is needed to accommodate protection devices and an electric meter in it. Before purchasing a certain metering device for consumed electricity, you need to ask a consultant which of the presented models will work properly in garage conditions.
The most common equipment is single-phase electromechanical with a maximum current of 50 A. The electricity meter must be checked by the RES staff and sealed.
Quite often, when conducting electricity, garage owners do not use a store box to store all control devices in it. To save money, they make an electrical panel in the garage with their own hands from PCB or getinax. Single-phase bags are placed on them and an electricity meter is hung up. The pouches should be placed in black ebony cases.
The home-made device does not have any special advantages, so it is still recommended to purchase a modern electrical appliance.
Wiring diagram of control elements inside the box
Algorithm for connecting electrical appliances inside the panel:
- A line with three veins is drawn from the post, it is wound up through a special channel inside the electrical panel. Pipes made of steel or metal-plastic can be used as channels through which electric cables will be routed. In order to avoid unpleasant situations, it is recommended to enter the box through the back wall of the shield.
- An RCD protection unit, a short circuit breaker and an electric meter are connected in series to the mounting strips in the interior of the device. Further, it is important to properly mount the socket boxes, the basement ventilation system, the power transformer for the lamps and lighting fixtures.
- All devices, one by one, are connected into one circuit using switching blocks, then they are connected to power wires and lighting wiring, a block of outlets with a maximum permissible current consumption of no more than 25 A.
Experts recommend to mark stripped sections of wiring with colored electrical tape. This will allow you to know exactly where the phase-to-ground is in the future, and will simplify the connection to the strips.
A full-fledged grounding circuit of the wiring plays a great role in the installation of the electrical panel. Electricians declare that there is no need to rely on the neutral and grounding of its voltage lines. If the line is short-circuited, a large voltage surge may occur, which will lead to the combustion of the connected electrical appliances.
Electrical panel diagram in the garage
When building an electrical network, it is important to take into account that each consumer is connected separately through a protection device. The panel must be equipped with circuit breakers. In addition to switchgears, input ones are installed. The choice depends on the type of network from which the power is supplied.
If the wiring to the garage is laid from a single-phase network, the input machine must be 220 V. If we are talking about a three-phase network, it is preferable to install the machine at 380 V.
The type of network is selected depending on the needs of the owner of the premises. If a welding machine is often used, a three-phase network must be supplied.
The choice of automatic fuses is carried out in accordance with the type of consumption. The technical characteristics of the equipment are also taken into account. Devices are often accompanied by passports, where there is information about the rated voltage and current strength.
In the garage, it is recommended to install not only traditional household sockets, but also differential machines. Other consumers can be connected through ordinary fuses.For example, if the receivers belong to the same category, they can be connected to a common machine.
In the garage, the most energy-consuming device is the welding machine. Therefore, in the case of its regular use, it is important to provide for the need for a power reserve.
Experienced electricians are always guided by the calculated results when carrying out work. The passport characteristics of electrical devices must be taken into account. In addition, at least one automatic machine with a permissible current strength of 16 A is installed for the reserve. To account for the amount of electricity consumed, an electric meter is installed in the panel.
For grounding, a system is made of rods with a diameter of approximately 1.5 cm. They must be connected to each other with a steel strip.
