Panel Placement

[dutchyn]

The basement is (mostly framed), so now it's time to install the panels. I have two 42" panels

• Leviton SMC-420: containing telephone, network (about 1/3 full)
• OnQ EN4280: containing audio, video, CCTV, intercom (4/5 full)

and one 28" panel:

• ELK SWB-28: M1G, 3*M1XIN, M1RB, M1OVR, M1TWA, M1XEP, 3*M1XSP (overfull?)

I'm not sure the ELK box is large enough. I could swap the Leviton and ELK panel contents, but I don't know if the ELK components will line up with the holes. I do have a 14" ELK (SWB-14), but I wasn't planning to install it. The three panels are going to be installed into the walls of a 3-foot square alcove, one in each side. I was planning to put the ELK panel in the middle. Each of the 42" will have two 15A j-box duplex outlets, and ELK will have one 15A j-box duplex outlet. The plan is to line the tops of the panels up, but at what height? I plan to run conduit from the middle of the ELK panel to each of the 42" panels, as well as directly between each of the 42" panels, at about 7" from their bottom.

Can you critique this plan, and offer advice for improving it?

Chris D.

 

[123]

There may be a building code that dictates this height. I used the spectre of a flooded basement to guide my decision.

 

[felixrosbergen]

I;ve been pondering the same thing....i don't know if there's any code requirements with regards to height of the panel for possible water in the basement?

If i don't find anything i'm going to just put them where i can easilly work on the. Meaning the top of the can woudl be slightly abover eye height. That way you're not often working above shoulder height....for the lower stuff you can always sit on a chair in front of the panel...

 

[nov0798]

go to your library and check out the NEC (National Electric Code). I would say that anything higher than your lowest electrical outlet in your basement is fine for anything that is 110 volt rated, I dont believe that there are any electrical codes for low voltage wiring, but I may be wrong.

 

[jlehnert]

You might want to add more electrical plugs, as they tend to get eaten up fast. The elk will use three right off the bat. the main Elk power supply, another wall wart for the XEP power, and a third if you're using any type of power line control system (X10, UPB, etc). Add in the cable/DSL modem, a router, etc. and you're already up to 5, even if all the plugs are well behaved and don't block multiple jacks.

 

[felixrosbergen]

You might want to add more electrical plugs, as they tend to get eaten up fast. The elk will use three right off the bat. the main Elk power supply, another wall wart for the XEP power, and a third if you're using any type of power line control system (X10, UPB, etc). Add in the cable/DSL modem, a router, etc. and you're already up to 5, even if all the plugs are well behaved and don't block multiple jacks.

Anticipating that and the fact that i will probably want to finish the basement at some point combined with the fact that the main panel my electrician put in has 38 out of 40 slots full i had them put a 20 circuit subpanel in. They electrician is done and there's nothing in it at the moment. From there i can run a bunch or circuits for the various HA stuff.

Nothing in my wiring room is going to be recessed since it is only a wiring room. What do you use for surface mount outlets? Just a regular electricains handybox with and outlet mounted in it? Would you just run romex from the panel to the outlet or does it need conduit of any kind? Since the rest of the house has the romex running through the walls everywhere I would expect not, but maybe it's different when it's not in the walls and out in the open on the plywood where the cans will be mounted.

 

[dutchyn]

You might want to add more electrical plugs, as they tend to get eaten up fast.]

The plan calls for two J-boxes (two 15A outlets) each cabinet, yielding 4*3 = 12 outlets. Given that everything is low current, I expect that I don't need a lot of circuits, maybe one per panel? I am planning to recess the panels, so I'd like it to be right.

Chris D

 

[jlehnert]

You're correct. Unless you're running a bunch of large amplifiers, you won't need to worry about popping circuit breakers. The usual problem is just the number of open jacks. A lot of people don't realize the XEP has it's own power supply, and they also forget about the PIM. Toss in a poorly designed wall-wart (ie one that takes up two spaces) or two, and you can start to run out. I just had a client that (ignoring my advice) put in only 4 duplex jacks in the wiring closet. Between the Elk, cable amplifier, and the network equipment, he's already used 5 of the 8 available jacks, and hasn't even started to add any of the AV equipment.

 

[tmbrown97]

Just an FYI - it's actually against code to run romex through conduit... so if you're surface-mounting on top of drywall, it's best to use conduit and just the wires inside (it's against code to triple-insulate wires)... if you're on bare framing, you can use romex and keep it between the studs with the romex staples and just enter a box like you're prepping for drywall.

 

[felixrosbergen]

Hi Todd,

Thanks, it's obviously easier to run some romex from the main/sub panel to the oulet boxes (and the Leviton panel mounted outlet) than to try to bend my own conduit. If running just the plywood, is romex ok?

This is at the non walkout section of the basement so there's 9' concrete walls. The electrican put 2x4's on the flat against the concrete and then put a piece of plywood on top of that for the electrican panels. I plan to follow suit and put another piece of plywood next to the electrican panels to mount my cans and all the other junk.

There is available space between the electrican panels and the well pump pressure tank. There's also plenty of space on the other side of the electrican panel. I'm trying to make sure that when i eventually finish the basement i can get the wiring room relatively small (would still be 9'x12' or so) so it doesn take up too much space.

 

[tmbrown97]

I don't know the specifics, I just know for sure about the romex in the conduit because that issue came up recently when I was helping someone out... I'd imagine you can copy what was done previously and look into basic code. Since we don't have basements around here, people don't talk about those types of things.