Electricians help. Has anybody pulled wire from house to detached garage to add breaker box and 220?

First off, you should see what amp panel you have. Is it a 100 amp or 200 amp box? Usually looking at the main breaker will tell you this.

My house is 150 amp

My last garage had 200 amp service and I wired the whole garage. I know electricity, just never ran from one building to another.

Regaurdless, they are right. Adding a 220 circus is not really something you should do yourself.


As far fishing down your romex cable you are going to have to cut the drywall at the floor so you can make a penny ration through your base board.

Well, you need to figure up the amperage of all the major stuff in your house and see how much you have left over to get to 150 amps. This will be what you can safely run to your garage without tripping that 150 amp breaker all the time.

Otherwise you will need a separate service run to your garage.

Of course you could time your garage activities when your not cooking, running the clothes dier, ect. But you need to know how close you are to maxing out your box amperage as it stands. If you dont have 30 or so amps left over, I wouldnt try coming off your regular house panel. Are you planning on using a welder?

Yes I know this. I am running new service from my existing panel in my basement thru the conduit to the garage where I'm installing a new panel.

No welder. I need it for an old air compressor. I won't need over 100 amps in the garage.

Don't do laundry at this house, and cooking with gas.

really need to pay someone.

Here goes.

4 lights throwing a breaker???? are you running 1000watt HPS grow lights or 4 CFL shop lights.... big difference like 3600 watts difference.

I never pull more than 1250 watts on a 15 amp or 2000 on a 20amp.

but I would pull a 220 line from your box (it will have a 2 spot 50amp I believe) run it in Grey plastic 1 inch (electric grade) pipe under the ground. (I would go at least 1 foot in the ground.

Inside the "Garage" I would have another smaller fuse box and split it into double pole 20 amp breakers.

Then you can use on for the lights/others and another for your power tools.

BUT BUT BUT double check because the way I explain it and the way I see it in my mind might be different in your head.

after you do it pay an electrician friend $100 to make sure you hook it up right.

I work for an electrical distribution company. Don't try this yourself.

I would separate to two circuits (house and garage) and add a 2nd meter to the garage. The monthly cost is nominal and if you're tripping breakers you can't handle the extra load (current, amps) you're adding to the garage

If you plan on doing business out of the garage you then have a tax break for the work you're doing and the usages on the meter

Tho the language is harsh, the message is right.....I know how to do electrical work, BUT I hire a pro to do it.....why? cuz should there be a fire or a mishap, the insurance company will not pay.....Plus the work you are need done requires a permit to be pulled....

Look up Ohms law if you have questions about load.

E x I = P

Volts x amps x power factor = watts

I've considered this and chose not to.

Well, if you have enough amperage left over, you can get a breaker with that rating and run the garage off that. Next step is to figure what size wire you need. You wont know that till you figure out how much amperage you can safely pull from your box.

Of course the smaller the wire, the easier it will be to get through the conduit, if it will go at all.

No, the garage hasn't been updated probably since being built. When my small air compressor comes on the breaker trips. Plus I need 220. I know how to work with electricity.

Back to my original question.

Has any body ran bigger ga. Wire from their home box to their garage using the existing conduit that's already under ground?

Last Edited by TwentyTwenty on 02/24/2016 12:10 PM

How many amps is your main service?

If it's 100 of less amps, likely won't have enough to add a pony panel in your garage..

If you have a 200 amp service it is pretty simple.

Buy a 60 amp pony panel, add a 60 amp breaker to your main, run wire from main panel to where your pony panel is or conduit, then branch circuits from your new pony panel.

Again, it's 150

Yes. Lots of dish soap helps.

And it’s already run underground.

Use this calculator to calculate the gauge wire you need to feed the subpanel in the garage.

Where is the breaker that is popping?

If the voltage drop to the compressor is signifficant, this will effect the start current of the motor a lot ...... i.e. pop your breaker.

Sounds like you need to look at the wire size feeding your subpanel.

[link to www.paigewire.com]

LoL TBH, that's the best answer yet.

If your were stumped by tack strips OP, you definitely don't want to mess with 220v. At least get a pro to assist you.


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I would use the existing wire as a pull wire, then connect to the new cable by twisting the wires together where they wouldnt come apart. Then use tape to make it a smooth joint. Have someone pulling on one end and someone pushing on the other while adding the dish soap as it goes into the conduit.

Go to Home Depot and get wire lube. Works awesome, as dish soap will dry and coagulate quickly
[link to www.homedepot.com]

Of course. My electrician buddy of mine are gonna get drunk and do it this weekend. Carpentry is not electrical work.

Pulling wire in conduit is less easy than it seems like it ought to be. Bends and leaving the old wire makes it worse. Definitely use some wire puller lubricant, it's cheaper than dish soap. Using a shop vac to pull string through the run is way easier than a metal fish tape. Remember to never coil wires run underground in conduit, you'll be making an electromagnet that wastes electrical power, causes ground voltage problems, disturbs animals and electronics.

How far?

The lazy man's approach would be to get you some buriable 6/3 or 6/4 UV cable and avoid pulling through conduit altogether.

Thank you. Fuckin A. Thank you. This is the type of answer I was looking for.

From my basement to the garage maybe 20 feet.

I could solder the updated wire to the old wire for a more secure pull, no?

There are codes that limit the size and number of conductors that can be ran thru conduit.

If your conduit is big enough to handle larger conductor and it will pass inspection then you attach the new conductor to the end of the old ,usually a pulling sock and electrical tape and pull