clean electricity to external studio

[t_d]

i may be building a small studio outside my home this winter and will be running the studio from power brought over from the house.

is there anything i should do to do the power before it hits the studio? any product i can put on the line as it's heading in to clean it up or regulate it? or is that all taken care of by power units inside the studio plugged into the walls?

dont' know much about power stuff, so any help would be appreciated. thanks


taylor

[Ethan Winer]

I see you're nearby in Pound Ridge. Here in New Milford our AC power is very clean and reliable. I assume it's the same for you? If so, don't worry about this. Just use wire of a suitable gauge for the distance and amount of current needed.

--Ethan

[t_d]

thanks, ethan. i don't have any power problems in the home studio in the house (at least that i know of). just making sure there's nothing i should do before the power is laid down to the new studio.

[jproc]

One thing that I'd recommend (and is probably required by your local building code) is to have a separate breaker in your house feed a subpanel in the studio with it's own local breakers.

Make sure you have a qualified electrician install (or at least inspect) the subpanel...

And, as always... be careful... breaker panels can kill you... stike

[t_d]

good advice on that separate breaker.. thanks! yeah, electrician will be on the job... been working with architects since april on our home renovation. opportunity exists to do a studio while the builders are here.

[xaMdaM]

Don't mean to be a wet blanket, or to ruin your Holidays, but GET YOUR PERMITS FIRST! (IF you need them.)

Doing things w/o a permit is just plain ridiculous, when the permit cover's your butt.

Failure to do so can result in seriously bad mojo being brought down on you in the future... and even worse if you were to have an issue to warrant filing a claim with your homeowner's insurance.

Do this WITH a licensed electrician, and ask him whether you need a permit or not... before asking your county/city/township if you do. Electrician's usually know whether you need a permit or not.

This is an excerpt from a thread at John Sayers.

What is a buliding permit?

A building permit is a document issued by your municipal building department that represents permission to build something. One obtains a building permit by completing an application, paying a fee, and submitting plans to the building department. The plans are checked for code compliance.

Sometimes the planning division is consulted to verify that the work being proposed is an acceptable fit for the surrounding area. Often there are local ordiances that govern what kinds of facilities can be built in a particular area -- zoning, districts, planned community standards, etc.

Once a permit is granted, construction can legally begin. However, at various phases in the construction, inspections are required to verify that code is being followed. Common inspections include concrete slab forms, subfloor, framing and rough electrical (often combined), insulation, roof, and final. Not all permits require all inspections -- it depends on the nature of the work being done. Inspections typically involve a fee.

Just because a permit is issued does not guarantee that the plan will meet code. The plan checker is responsible for verifying that the plans will meet code, but violations can be missed or may be too vague in the drawings to detect. It is your responsibility to make sure code is followed during construction so that you'll pass your inspections. Otherwise you may have to redo some of your work in order to pass your inspection and move to the next phase of construction.

This all seems very complicated/expensive. I know people who have built without permits. It doesn't seem like a such big deal. What's the worst that can happen if I build without a permit?

Ask your local building department. You'll likely learn that there are severe penalties for building without a permit. For example, my city levies a fine of four times the permit fee, plus they can order complete demolition of the work, since they had no opportunity to verify compliance with code.

I'm willing to risk that. Is that all that can happen?

No. Suppose there's a fire. Your insurance company may refuse to pay the claim because of the unpermitted construction, especially if it can be asserted that your didn't follow code. Even if your construction didn't cause the fire, it may have contributed by allowing it to spread faster. Besides -- any evidence that you did things correctly may be destroyed by the fire.

The scenario is much more grim if you consider the possibility of injury or loss of life.