Electric into garage

[surreydave]

Hi

We have a detached garage that is at the other end of the road from our 1900's semi. I'd like to put power into and obviously can't run it from the house (about 75m away and I don't reckon the neighbours would like me digging up their gardens :wink: ). How is it best to do it?? Contact the Electricity company and get a separate meter (on a pay card thingy that I top up)???
The garage is a prefab concrete one and stays very dry......

Advise please!!
Thanks
Dave

 

[Flyfisher]

I presume the electricity company will install a meter if you really need one but (based on my experience of having a new gas supply connected) I'd expect it to cost around £250.

Depending on your requirements, have you considered a portable generator? Machine Mart has a wide range of models starting at 850W for under £100.

Another alternative (though probably more expensive) might be to use a car battery and a high-power inverter. Machine Mart also sell these and they're widely used for caravans and boating applications for portable power.

 

[MdB]

I presume the electricity company will install a meter if you really need one but (based on my experience of having a new gas supply connected) I'd expect it to cost around £250.

The quote for connecting our caravan to the pole 2m away was twice that. I've no idea why it was so expensive.

 

[AMc]

Having been charged over 3 grand to get EDF to upgrade the cable from one side of the road to the other for our power supply I might revise those estimates upwards.

IIRC Your local grid supply company are obliged to provide a free estimate but you can speed the process by paying a fee which is deducted from the cost of any installation. We had to upgrade so I paid EDF to come quickly.
The initial call would be to your own electricity supply company to ask them for details about a new connection they will then pass you on to whoever is responsible in your area.

It would be worth having a look around near your garage to see if you can identify where the nearest buried or overhead supply might be.
If you decide to go ahead you have to let your electricity supplier know so they can install a new meter then the grid supply company fit the supply.
You'll also need to have a consumer unit fitted to connect the meter which will need to be fitted by or checked by someone with the authority to sign if off as complying with the relevant bits of part P of building regs.

 

[Feltwell]

I'd say it depends on how often you'll use it. My parents had their overhead supply changed to underground, they made the job a lot cheaper by agreeing to dig & backfill the trench themselves.

If you're not going to be in there very often then a cheap petrol generator must be the easiest solution - although keep it well secured as they are very nickable. If you're not going to run anything that takes too much current then the little cheap 2-stoke generators are OK and not that noisy, provided you've got somewhere outside to run it of course.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/sumo-sml34gen-650w-generator-230v/89480

650w will be enough for a light and most smaller power tools, but not a heater or welding kit. The bigger generators are of course more expensive and be careful on how noisy they are, my in-law's business had a 4-stroke 2500w one that could wake the dead!

A car battery and inverter is an option as someone else above said, but you will be limited to what power you can get out of one and you've got the hassle of carting a heavy battery to and fro to your house and charging it (and of course discovering that it's flat just when you need it :wink: ). Typically, I've just sold a fairly high-powered used inverter and not long ago sold 2 used petrol generators, 1 of which was like the one in the Screwfix link above, all from the in-law's business.

Edit - just seen FF's post above, their 850w generator looks a good deal.

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/petrol-generator-850w-2-stroke

 

[surreydave]

Thanks all, never thought about a Geni...... looks like the cheapest way to do it!

Dave

 

[Penners]

just seen FF's post above, their 850w generator looks a good deal.

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/petrol-generator-850w-2-stroke

I've got one of these. It's OK for running a power tool, or a bit of lighting, but I wouldn't connect anything too electronically sensitive to it. The output is a bit variable, particularly when it's lightly loaded. It's also pretty noisy and, being 2-stroke, smokey and smelly. For goodness sake don't run it inside your garage!

850W is the maximum rating. I haven't got the instruction book with me at the moment, but I seem to recall that they rate it at about 650W continuous.

Cheap, though.

 

[Feltwell]

Ahh - that makes sense. The Screwfix one is rated at 650w continous, 780w maximium. So in other words, they are much the same thing.

You want to hear a cheap 4 stroke one if you think the little 2 strokes are noisy Penners! In-laws Briggs & Stratton engined 2500w one was deafening in the extreme.

 

[Penners]

Poor old Otto Cycle - he'd be turning in his grave.

 

[Flyfisher]

Surely just "Poor old Otto - he'd be turning in his grave." ? (Is it too early for pedantry?).

 

[Penners]

That was in the nature of a play on words, FF. But weaker than my usual scintillations, I'll admit.

 

[Flyfisher]

Ah, yes, very good. Obviously too early in the morning for me; being only half awake, I clearly only got half the pun.

 

[AMc]

I suppose it depends on what you're intending to do - I've seen solar panel charged shed lights that use a car battery as a power store.
That coupled with a 12v inverter and you could have lights and run the radio which shouldn't run flat unless you live down there

If you want to use power tools proper then I'd have thought a generator is a better bet.

As I mentioned before - I'm pretty sure that you can get a quote for connection for free if you're prepared to wait and a fixed mains supply would be the most flexible option.

 

[CliffordPope]

Just run an extension lead down the road when you need it.
I keep my boat ashore in a boatyard during the winter, and I join 3X 25 yard extension reels together to get power from the yard plug-in point.

 

[AMc]

My pals in the building trade are restricted to 50m cable reels and they must have fitted RCD plugs. Apparently anything longer than that can give you a life threatening jolt if it's damaged even with an RCD attached .
You presumably lose a bit power in that much cabling but I guess it depends what you're running at the end of it?
Not saying I wouldn't do it but as with all things electrical... be careful.