How do I add electricity to my garage?

Question

My garage has no electricity. How can I tap into either my house's system or the sun to add electrical outlets, lighting and most importantly a power garage door opener? How can I do this without spending thousands of dollars?

Answer 1

Hmm, and you garage is

a next to my house
b 10-40 feet from my house
c oooh, 200 foot at least
d I rent it in the next street

If the garage ajdjoins the house, then a hole through the connecting walls and run a heavy gauge extension cable at its simples and cheapest.

If the garage is within 50 odd foot and your property between the two so allowed to fig - then bury some armoured 2.5mm cable - enough for garage door, light and power points.

The above ought to be "doable" for around $100 or so of cable and some digging effort by you - perhaps with $200 for an electrician to terminate both ends of the cable that you have already bought and buried.

More detailed answer needs a more detailed question :)

Answer 2

I guess it depends on what you want to power in the garage. If it's just a light bulb or two, you can get a solar panel kit for your garage's roof with a battery to run the light bulb. But if you really need 120V AC, your only alternative is to run a wire from your house to the garage. You'll need to have this done by an electrician as the wire needs to connect to your house's main circuit breaker. The best way would be to run a conduit underground, then run the cable through that. I don't think you'll want to install a series of poles to string the wire across. You can hire folks to run the conduit under the road without having to dig a trench. Otherwise, you can do like the previous owners did in the backyard to run power to the shed - dig a shallow trench and use lengths of standard PVC piping. I'm pretty sure that's not up to code per se, but it works well enough.

Answer 3

First you need to know your local electrical codes and at least have a basic knowledge or a friend who has of electrical connections. Not to be a DYI if you don't know what you are doing. That said if your main electrical panel is near the garage, and it is a fairly modern house, you should have extra space in the panel to add circuit breakers and be able to run a line to the garage and install a sub panel to supply lights and plugs at a low cost.

Answer 4

Best way is to run a new wire to your breaker box and add another breaker. I would use 12/2 wiring and 20 amp breaker. first you can run the wire from your box to the garage attice and install Junction box. from here you can run a wire anywhere in the garage from the junction box. up to 6. this will power all u need.

Answer 5

The very fact that you had to ask this question should be screaming; "CALL AN ELECTRICIAN!" to you. There is no other option. Certain things are for certified professionals. This is one of those. It's not likely to cost thousands. Ask around. Find some new home construction jobsites and talk to an electrician. Just do it!

Answer 6

If you really really want to be super cheap, you could run some extension cord out there, and then hook up a power strip to the cord. Depends on how far away your garage is from your house though.

Answer 7

First get in touch with someone who is qualified to work with electricity. You can get them to tap into your house's system. Don't overload the circuits.

Answer 8

the best thing for you you to do is hire a electrician if you are'nt comfortable working with electricity
if not done right injury may follow

Answer 9

Run a cord from your house

Answer 10

scary question....best answer is call a qualified person....not enough info....is garage attached? if not how far?