Horse barn wiring

[gws]

Re: Horse barn wiring

YOu migh want to consider splitting your outlets. 1 outlet is powered all the time the other one is wired to a switch. This way you can control the fan as a group instead of going to each stall.
I put in 2 duplex outlets, one is switched one is not. 12/3 going to each switch it doesnt add to the conduit cost, just an extra switch and a few minutes to split the outlet.

I think I would also have one set of lights down the center on a single switch. I think I would make sure these are fast on light, No sure how long HO lights take to come to full brightness but I would want at least some lights that come on ASAP. Then put a couple of stalls on each remaining switches. I assume the other areas are tack and cleaning areas. Lots of light and GFCI if your near water. I would consider GFCI protection for most of the outlets.

 

[weedsportpete]

Re: Horse barn wiring

I think I understand what you are saying.. I wish the diagrams could have been posted, because I am doing some of that. Wish I could post the pictures!

All the switches are next to each other, by one door. The other door will have a small light/switch that you can throw on when you walk in, but at the main door you can throw on all the fluorescent lights or just the pair you need to work on your horse.

The six switches controls a 'set', where the set consists of two receptacles (one on each side of the aisle, up on the wall just above the horses head) and two fluorescent lights (one on each side on the ceiling, close to the wall). The receptacles are always hot, but I'm saving conduit by putting them on the same 12/3 wire as the lights.

I've got two lights (one on each side of the aisle) instead of one in the center of the ceiling, because people working on horses will be working on one side or the other, and if the light is overhead, there may be shadows towards the ground depending on where the horse is standing/leaning/etc.

Pete

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: Horse barn wiring

Since you're dealing with Horses, first & foremost, ground the living HE!! out of everything, and use GFIs. I've seen too many dead horses from people who skimped on wiring.
Have a ground resistance test done at the breaker pannel.

Secondly, given the cost of material, use PVC conduit and THHN wire rather than UF romex. The labor in just skinning the UF will more than offset the cost of the PVC. Conduit will also give you the ability to moidify in the future at minimal cost.

Third, why use a bank of switches when you can operate the lights from the breaker box without the cost of switches. If the breakers aren't near the entrance, put in a couple of the inexpensive motion detector lights to light the path to the breaker box. They will perform the secondary function of alerting you if a horse escapes his stall.
You can also use lo voltage switching relays at the breaker box and run doorbell wire to switching locations, at lower cost than line voltage switching.

Last, and probably most important, what are you doing for fire detection in the barn?

 

[hayes]

I will second the seperating out your lights on seperate switches. We have 1 for the center isle, 1 for the stalls. Then there is an outlet up high on each stall for a fan which has as switch down low so all fans can be turned on at once/side of barn.

If you want to make the farrier happy, then put an outlet that is easy to get to where the horses are shod. Tell him you did it specially for him. Then maybe he will show up on time for your shoeings ;-)

Larry

 

[dgood1]

Re: Horse barn wiring

I wouldn't use the breakers as switches. That puts extra use on a unit that is intended as a safety device. Switches are cheaper than breakers to replace and they don't cost very much initially.

Just my opinion and a little bit of experience.

Don

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: Horse barn wiring

40 years of electrical work, commercial and industrial, tell me that a good breaker, such as Square D, can be used as a switch with no ill effect. I've never had to replace one because it was used as a switch, and truth be told, I've had to replace very few Square D breakers for any reason. The same can't be said of most other brands.
While I'm on the subject of breakers, especially in horse barns, I recommend using a fully magnetic breaker, such as Square D, because of much better tripping characteristics. Horses aren't hard to electrocute, I've seen a few killed because of cheap breakers that didn't trip.

 

[weedsportpete]

Re: Horse barn wiring

<font color=blue>ground the living HE!! out of everything, and use GFIs. </font color=blue>

I'll ground everything.

<font color=blue>Have a ground resistance test done at the breaker panel.</font color=blue>

Sounds like a good idea.. what is it?

<font color=blue>Secondly, given the cost of material, use PVC conduit and THHN wire rather than UF romex. The labor in just skinning the UF will more than offset the cost of the PVC. Conduit will also give you the ability to moidify in the future at minimal cost.</font color=blue>

I don't know the difference here - I'll check it out. I was going to put all the romex inside metal flexible conduit, which I believe is required for a building housing animals.

<font color=blue>Third, why use a bank of switches when you can operate the lights from the breaker box without the cost of switches. If the breakers aren't near the entrance, put in a couple of the inexpensive motion detector lights to light the path to the breaker box. They will perform the secondary function of alerting you if a horse escapes his stall.</font color=blue>

A couple of reasons here, and also to answer the other messages on this item - I don't want to use the breakers as switches because it is not up to code to use non-switch-rated breakers as switches. I will do most of the work myself, but I will be going through an expansion of my service to the barn because of the arena we are building. I've got 60amp to the barn now (going to a 100amp box - something I didn't notice when we bought the place), but we will really need 200amp when the arena loads come online. So there will be electrical inspections, etc.
Another reason is that we will have people boarding horses in the barn, and I don't want them reaching into the breaker panel and fumbling with switches there. I am planning on buying SquareD (yes I know the breakers must also be SquareD, but they have a good price on a starter pack at HD). But I'm not going to take that chance.

Speaking of chances, fire detection is a good subject also, maybe worth a separate message thread, but now is a good time to plan for that. I was thinking of a low tech solution, with smoke alarms and a baby monitor that can be listened to in the house. I really can't afford a sprinkler system, but I will leave room in the water piping for that. Now that I think about it, maybe some hard-wired smoke detectors would be good.

Motion detectors are good.. probably will have one on the outside. Don't know about the inside. I'm a control freak, and I'd like to have a switch by the door to turn on that first light. But as I am engaged, I am learning flexibility.. so maybe detectors inside will happen.

 

[weedsportpete]

<font color=blue> I will second the seperating out your lights on seperate switches. We have 1 for the center isle, 1 for the stalls. Then there is an outlet up high on each stall for a fan which has as switch down low so all fans can be turned on at once/side of barn.</font color=blue>

So are you saying that each fan has a single switch, below the fan? Or you can turn on all fans at once (or all fans on a side at once)? Thats a good idea.. I'll discuss that with the CFO and chief horse person.. she might like to flip them all on or off at once.

<font color=blue> If you want to make the farrier happy, then put an outlet that is easy to get to where the horses are shod. Tell him you did it specially for him. Then maybe he will show up on time for your shoeings ;-)</font color=blue>

ooooo - you've had experience with farriers!! they are always late.. what a great job they've got, huh? Nevermind. But thats a great idea.. if they work in the aisle, (maybe its raining outside), do they need an outlet down at knee level? Or are you just talking about a separate area (maybe outside) that might typically be away from an outlet? We have not discussed the logistics of farrier work yet, but I guess we better.

Thanks All! keep 'em coming
Pete

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Pete, I just finished a project like that. It even sounds like about the same configuration with the stalls, etc. I found the inside wiring part of the project really simple to do. One thing I did that I might suggest to you is use 12/3 Romex everywhere. It's not that much more money and, if you ever want to install a second switch for something, you don't have to rewire it.

You can probably get a self permit to do everything, including the box. I'd hired an electrician to do that, too, but he was a one man operation and had health problems so I ended up doing that myself, too. It's really not difficult. I contacted my local electrical inspector and between information I got from him, my electrical supply house and Jerry (Inspector 507) here on TBN I got everything done and should have power there this week.

I would sincerely recommend doing the breaker box and meter base yourself, too. It's no more difficult (and, quite possibly simpler) than the interior wiring. I can honestly say I'm glad I was "forced" into doing mine. I'd never hire it done again. It's way too expensive (at least around here) for the work involved not to do it myself. I can give up a weekend of sitting around watching television for $1,000-$1,200 anytime. Just don't be afraid to ask questions and use resources at hand. If you don't understand something you're told, ask to have it explained differently. People are happy to help and share their knowledge.

The project was actually kind of fun to do, too, and I love being able to say I did it myself. Go for it. Good luck. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Wingnut]

I didn't look to see where you are Pete ... but when I added receptacles to each stall, I made sure the breaker (and lines) were sufficient to handle heated water buckets in each stall.
Heaters always draw more juice than anything else.
I actually put in several lighting circuits ... one for spring, summer, fall (fluorescent) and one for winter (halogen ... may change to incandescent). Fluorescent doesn't work well when it gets too cold.
I prefer the fluorescent since it's cool and doesn't throw more heat into the barn.