Power for tablesaw in shop?

[lwasserm]

Hey, you left out the servant's quarters!

[<aemeijers]

Considering that unless you are making a living with it, the woodshop itself is a luxury item, I don't think a simple shower stall (and water heater, if slop sink OP mentioned was going to be cold water only), is much of a stretch. Few people bother to run water and drain to the shop, especially in a seperate building, but OP metioned a half-bath, so adding a shower to that becomes trivial. Unless a woodshop is a just a display room (like a yuppie restaurant-grade gourmet kitchen that seldom actually gets used), you do tend to get dirty working in there.

aem sends....

[Andrew Williams]

It may not be a large difference, but higher voltage transmission lines will lose less energy to heat than lower voltage ones over distance. The same could be said for an AC motor winding.

In theory, the power output of a motor running 15A at 120v is identical to the same rig running 7.5A at 240v, but in practice, this is not the case. As the load increases, efficiency declines and the motor will draw more energy from the mains in order to complete its task. the higher voltage motor will also suffer from this, but to a lesser degree. This is why you see large scale industrial motors running at higher voltages (and lower amperages), rather than using something like

120v/50A. I doubt that the savings in electrical cost will be enormous, but over time it will add up (or subtract up, down, whatever :)

[CW]

Yep. Probably save you $1.00 per year.

[Rich]

And the savings have been already lost on the whole conversation even at a $1/hour we have spent more time on this than the savings! Now I like teflon tape to seal water fittings.........

LOL Happy Labor Day

[hallerb]

Have a friend with a shop with 10 foot cieling he moves his tools around. shop is too small for whats in there:(

anyhow he has some retractable wind up extension cords mounted to cieling with strings to make access easy.

works well for him no chance of tripping on anything.......

[dpb]

If you're really considering alternatives and it's not too late (sounds like it probably is for anything sizable :( ), the _ideal_ solution is to run power (and air) in underfloor raceways to areas where equipment such as the TS, planer, etc., are to be. Overhead and wall receptacles plentifully scattered around strategically are also to be valued, of course.

I would also try to arrange for enclosure for stationary dust collection and air compressor for noise abatement in the shop itself.

If it were me, I'd replace the single double-wide door w/ two, as well. Being able to open only one is a major advantage imo.

Also concur w/ the shower if possible and would consider strongly a finishing room w/ ventilation and dust-free environment and explosion-proof electrics.

How far to go depends, of course, on budget and what one actually does/intends to do, but those are areas I'd throw out for consideration...

[No]

220 for sure. Most 220 tools only require two hots and ground so all you need is xx/2 wire. I put in 10/3 wire just in case I want a neutral for splitting off a 110V outlet. The /3 gives you that ability. The 10/ will give you enough amperage capacity for most high end hobby tools and most professional tools for that matter.

[Roger Shoaf]

Since the same size wire will carry the same amount of amps at either voltage, and voltage is what drops as wire runs get longer you tend to get more power to the motor if you opt for the higher voltage.

Also if you take it to the next step and run the motors on 3 phase power (assuming it is available) you get a bigger bang for your buck.