Electrical Installation Help
Hello Velvet Elvis, Frederic and all who are contributing to this current post
I'd like to offer some help....
I'm a Licensed Electrical Inspector for the City of Philadelphia (28 years)
Perhaps your municipality requires you to hire a LICENSED Electrical Contractor?
You mentioned that you can perform some of the basic work yourself?
In any event, unless you already have a reliable person in mind, be very careful that you retain someone who is competent, licensed, and will listen to your requests, and requirements in regard to the wiring of your studio .....
Perhaps you can ask him for credentials
That being said, let me make a few points:
I agree that the new low voltage lighting systems are nice - and they won't emit as much noise as conventional ballasts ....
But check your varieties of fixtures - some tend not to produce as much light output (Lumens) as conventional incandesant lighting ...
Someone said that 15 amp overcurrent devices (breakers), and no. 14 wire are not allowed or available in their area?
Well - 15 amp breakers, and number 14 wire (14/2 romex), are actually quite practical for lighting
And perfectly legal as per the NEC (Nat'l Electrical Code) - That is unless the authority having jurisdiction as per the NEC overrules it's use.
Hard wired smoke detectors are a great way to go - they are required by the NFPA (Fire Code), in bedrooms of new construction.
Did someone mention insulated grounded circuits for receptacles?
(separated ground and neutral connections on your special receptacles)
Perhaps they were described as 'star grounds'?
Well that's a great way to go too - but your contractor should know to use 12/3, not 12/2 for the wiring of the receptacles.
The idea of the separate ground and neutral connection as someone pointed out, is to virtually minimize line interference - most folks are using this type of receptacle wiring for their computers. But major club venues, and studios are incorporating it more and more
It's a good idea to plan on few 20 amp circuits for equipment:
Perhaps computers on one circuit
Guitar amps on another
Lighting on a separate 15 amp circuit, and so on......
As Frederic pointed out, analog equipment usually draws more amperage than solid state stuff .. but I'd be more concerned with analog tube guitar amplifiers - they burn up lots - and one way to find out how many circuits you may need (to clarify Frederic's comments), is to check the power consumption on the amp spec tag. If it's rated in watts, then add up all the individual loads and divide the total by 120 (volts)
For example if you have 3 guitar tube amps, and a rehearsal PA that total about 1000 watts, the total consumption is 8.3 amps....
The NEC states that a continuous load should be only 80% of the ampacity of the circuit. So one 20 amp circuit should only see about 9.6 amps. In the case above, another 20 amp circuit would be a good idea ... capish? understand?
When all is said and done, (depending upon the studio size), an average might be about 2 or 3 power circuits for receptacles, 1 or 2 for lighting, and 1 or 2 for computers...
Hopefully your panel will accommodate this space?
Feel free to provide me with more info in regard to your set-up
Best Regards
Michael Fraticelli
ROCKON@ucwphilly.rr.com