Now don't get me wrong, there is electricity in my attached garage. It was put there when they built it, but what do you get, one outlet and one light bulb. The fridg is plugged into the one outlet and the garage door opener is plugged into the light.

I got tired of the six outlet converters and the multi outlet extention cords and had an electrician install a dozen outlets in my garage. I am so excited about this I can hardly believe it. It's the greatest thing. I now have six circuts and most of it is on 12 gage wire.

Three outlets are on the celing. The first thing I did was hung another shop light. Next I'm looking at more light sockets. I also put an adapter in the garage door opener to convert it to an outlet. Then I plugged in a clamp light and clamped it to the rafter where I expect it will not require a rough service bulb. Now I'm thinking I would like one of those extention cord reels that hangs from the celing.

I'm exciting, and looking for more ideas. What's the best electrical mod for the garage?

 

Congrats...sounds like a nice upgrade.

Mind if I ask what it cost you?

Stan

 

Oh, dear... now you need 220 for a compressor, and a welder...

 

My garage has, lights, compressor, parts washer, shop vac, bench grinder and a dedicated beer fridge.
Also, I painted the walls (white) and floor (gray) to keep the dust down.
I put up all my memorabila on the walls like movie posters and number plates for that cosy feel.
All worthwhile mods. if you want me to post some pictures, let me know.

 

By all means 220 is the next step, for the compressor, welder, etc. I also had the ceiling wired with outlets for each garage door opener, and spaced wall outlets every 8 feet around the perimeter of the garage (chest high). The one thing I wish I did was put an outlet outside between the doors. I have one outside, but it is near the pedestrian door, and takes a long drop cord to reach the driveway outside the garages. Next step is to move the single row of flourescents from down the center of the ceiling to two rows down each side. A single row of lights in the center cast too many shadows when working.

 

Wire it for sound.

Hit the garage sales and score a stereo. You gotta have tunes when you're working! If you have the bucks, a TV is great for those NASCAR races.

 

Couldn't agree with you more. I have car speakers mounted in the cieling attached to an old stereo.

 

If your garage isn't set up for Heat and AC I'd consider that my next move.

 

Can you say, "BEER COOLER?"

 

We have one of those. It gets a lot of use from both of us.

My husband scored a 32 inch TV out of the neighbors garbage. It was a really old one (like just after they stopped using dials) that she said worked but she had just decided to upgrade finally. He mounted that just below the ceiling angled slightly downward. It works great for playing CMT or MTV during parties since the garage already had cable run to it when we moved in.

 

Best thing I did was install fluorescent lighting in my garage. If your going to work on your vehicles and/or other projects in the garage good lighting is a necessity.

Definitely agree with adding some tunes too.

If your welder and compressor aren't industrial sized you could probably get away with a dedicated outlet for them on a single 30 amp or greater circuit.

Family Handyman recently had an issue with a feature on Dream Garages, definitely worth checking out.

 

Not electrical related, but garage related . . .

I have a 2-car (barely) attached garage and added a water line with a ball valve, much easier to use than a standard hose bib.

Also, I have my small 11 gallon compressor in the basement and ran an air line up to the garage.

 

220 my butt, man you need 440...

 

6 dedicated circuits for the garage? Thats 72 amps!

When the heck will you be using 72 amps at once? Heck, your whole house probably wont use that at any given point in time.

 

And thats where the trouble begins .......

Then you want to keep the houses out the way so pvc piping gets attached all along the wall ....

Then you spend so much time in there that you need the stereo .....

Then you need to repaint the walls to make it look nice again ....


Then you figure what the hell, a lift or a pit ...