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Post by Vincent R. on Apr 24, 2023 7:03:55 GMT -6
I'm in the beginning stages of building my new home. Currently the plan is to have my studio room power on it's own circuit or two, separate from the lighting and other parts of the house, to keep interference of anything not in the room out of the equation. I've always worked predominantly in home studios using standard 15A circuits, so I'm aware that I can run everything I use on a standard 15A circuit. I'm wondering if there is a benefit to running 20A circuits to the room instead. 20A power is the standard for commercial receptacles. I am curious to hear thoughts about this from those who built their own home studios with this sort of thing in mind.
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Post by svart on Apr 24, 2023 8:53:04 GMT -6
I'm in the beginning stages of building my new home. Currently the plan is to have my studio room power on it's own circuit or two, separate from the lighting and other parts of the house, to keep interference of anything not in the room out of the equation. I've always worked predominantly in home studios using standard 15A circuits, so I'm aware that I can run everything I use on a standard 15A circuit. I'm wondering if there is a benefit to running 20A circuits to the room instead. 20A power is the standard for commercial receptacles. I am curious to hear thoughts about this from those who built their own home studios with this sort of thing in mind. I ended up running 15A circuits, but I split the lights to their own circuit and split the outlets to two circuits. I ended up using 12ga cable for the main trunk and outlets and 14ga for the remote outlets. Even with 3 racks full of gear, a mixer, computer and wall of guitar amps, I never had an issue. |
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Post by Blackdawg on Apr 24, 2023 9:27:16 GMT -6
Not really. Well, obviously you'd get 5amp more headroom per circuit. But that's it.
two 15 amp circuits should be more than enough. Unless you're running very large mastering speakers and hungry amps with them. then a dedicate circuit for those would be recommended. Plus i'd be 3 15amp circuits is gonna cost about the same as 2 20amp ones factoring the relays and wire. But you'd technically have more power with 3 15ampers.
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Post by Ward on Apr 24, 2023 10:09:48 GMT -6
If at all possible, use 20AMP circuits with 12 gauge BX wire! The clean AC power is worth it!
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Post by Vincent R. on Apr 24, 2023 10:35:56 GMT -6
Thank you all for your thoughts on the matter. I know I have a call that will happen between myself and the PM once they are ready to start laying down the electric. So I'll see what they'll be able to accommodate.
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Post by jeremygillespie on Apr 24, 2023 16:01:55 GMT -6
Personally I’d go 12 wire 20amp outlets all on 1 breaker. Then wire up all lighting on a 15 amp breaker 14 wire. When the panel is wired insist the electrician keep anything with a motor (fridge, a/c, air handlers, etc) on a different leg than leg your studio outlets are on.
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Post by Ward on Apr 25, 2023 13:16:37 GMT -6
^^ at the very least! I'd have a few different circuits, but at least one 20Amp on 12 gauge BX.
BX makes an enormous difference
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Post by drbill on Apr 29, 2023 12:33:59 GMT -6
12Ga, 20A - all the way. If you're doing this from scratch, the minimal cost is soooo worth it. To get it right without having to tear walls and mains panels apart is priceless. I'd suggest a sub panel for the studio. The SurgeX 420 is pricey but worth it.
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Post by keymod on Apr 30, 2023 9:11:30 GMT -6
^^ at the very least! I'd have a few different circuits, but at least one 20Amp on 12 gauge BX. BX makes an enormous difference the reason BX cable ( metal-clad ) is better than Romex ( vinyl-clad ) is that the metal jacket acts as a faraday shield and helps minimize stray noise on the power lines. Of course, you then need to use metal device boxes. An even better alternative would be to use MC cable, which has a metal jacket but also includes an additional insulated grounding conductor. ( BX cable relies on the metal jacket for equipment ground ) You should also use Hospital-grade devices. Best is to use EMT conduit with individual THHN conductors pulled through |
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Post by Ward on Apr 30, 2023 11:40:20 GMT -6
^^THIS. 100% correct
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Post by Ward on May 2, 2023 16:16:50 GMT -6
12Ga, 20A - all the way. If you're doing this from scratch, the minimal cost is soooo worth it. To get it right without having to tear walls and mains panels apart is priceless. I'd suggest a sub panel for the studio. The SurgeX 420 is pricey but worth it. True, pricey.... but the only alternative is a Seimen's pony panel which is just as pricey. How do i know? Umm . . . .thats what I'm using. 100 amp Seimen's Pony panel which is 300' away from a Seimen's 400 amp mains. |
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Post by Vincent R. on May 3, 2023 6:19:56 GMT -6
Yeah, the idea of putting the studio on it's own circuit is so that I can add a surge protection device/power conditioner if needed down the line. My current home is 70 years old, and there are pieces of gear that just don't work in there due to the old wiring. Those pieces work fine other places. SMH.
A quick note to all of you. I'm a commercial electrical estimator. It's my muggle job. So, I have a good understanding of all of this. I'm building a kit house and trying to get some things done like this dedicated circuit. Sometimes its hard to modify these kit homes. I put in a couple of requests due to my knowledge and needs. My studio is not as robust as some of yours and probably never will be, but I wanted to weigh how hard I should push for this 20A circuit. The BX cable is also a good idea. The panel for the house is actually right below what will be my control room. So this shouldn't cost too much extra. In fact I could probably put together what I think it would cost easily. Anyway, pushing forward with the 20A circuit, which should be plenty.
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Post by drbill on May 3, 2023 11:26:37 GMT -6
Good luck Vincent!!
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Post by Vincent R. on May 3, 2023 20:20:26 GMT -6
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Post by the other mark williams on May 3, 2023 22:21:58 GMT -6
Excited for you putting together a new place, Vincent R.! |
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Post by Vincent R. on May 4, 2023 8:27:35 GMT -6
Thanks Mark. It will be a little bit. I'm about to go into limbo for a few months, but hopefully I'll be in there by the end of the year. I have the panels I need for the small room. Then I'll have to make or buy some panels for the big multipurpose room. A little bit at a time.
I'm sure my project manger hates me. I've sent these request over on professional looking marked up drawings. Did I mention I estimate huge commercial jobs. LOL.
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Post by thehightenor on May 5, 2023 4:44:46 GMT -6
It surely depends what your running!
15 amps is a lot of current for the average home project studio.
My entire rig, which is quite big can run off a power conditioner that only has a 3 amp fuse in it!
20 amps is good I imagine if your adding in heating, lighting, AC and a large desk (though those systems are best kept separate of course)
My studio is fed by it's own dedicated fuse box (RCD) and is a 13 amp ring.
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Post by EmRR on May 5, 2023 8:26:51 GMT -6
The computer start-up surge is by far the largest demand in most systems. A console startup is similar, or a room that’s fully cycled by the breaker rather than individual power switches. My whole control room is off one 15A. Most things draw a tiny fraction of startup surge the rest of the time, exception being class A gear, which I sometimes run a lot of.
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Post by thehightenor on May 6, 2023 8:18:45 GMT -6
Thanks Mark. It will be a little bit. I'm about to go into limbo for a few months, but hopefully I'll be in there by the end of the year. I have the panels I need for the small room. Then I'll have to make or buy some panels for the big multipurpose room. A little bit at a time. I'm sure my project manger hates me. I've sent these request over on professional looking marked up drawings. Did I mention I estimate huge commercial jobs. LOL. More important is a proper star point earthing system. I had one installed for my system and I never have even the tiniest bit of hum. |
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Post by thehightenor on May 6, 2023 8:22:59 GMT -6
The computer start-up surge is by far the largest demand in most systems. A console startup is similar, or a room that’s fully cycled by the breaker rather than individual power switches. My whole control room is off one 15A. Most things draw a tiny fraction of startup surge the rest of the time, exception being class A gear, which I sometimes run a lot of. My system has a main switch but gear is then individually switched on via switched mains sockets on a large star earthed distro board, so my whole rig isn't "on" from the get go. Only my computer and small Mackie tracking monitor desk come on at start up and then I switch on gear as and when I need it. |
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Post by drbill on May 6, 2023 17:21:23 GMT -6
Thanks Mark. It will be a little bit. I'm about to go into limbo for a few months, but hopefully I'll be in there by the end of the year. I have the panels I need for the small room. Then I'll have to make or buy some panels for the big multipurpose room. A little bit at a time. I'm sure my project manger hates me. I've sent these request over on professional looking marked up drawings. Did I mention I estimate huge commercial jobs. LOL. More important is a proper star point earthing system. I had one installed for my system and I never have even the tiniest bit of hum. Yup. 1000%. Many ways to do this, but a starter is not looping any of your AC receptacles. Home runs back to the sub panel with all of them. (Very important) |
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Post by Vincent R. on Jun 16, 2023 9:07:13 GMT -6
So, I had a conversation with my builder and they were able to give me (2) 15A dedicated circuits for my studio room. It was the best they could do, and I imagine will be great for what I'm doing. Thank you to everyone who chimed in on this. I appreciated everyone's input and hearing your experiences.
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Post by svart on Jun 16, 2023 14:26:07 GMT -6
So, I had a conversation with my builder and they were able to give me (2) 15A dedicated circuits for my studio room. It was the best they could do, and I imagine will be great for what I'm doing. Thank you to everyone who chimed in on this. I appreciated everyone's input and hearing your experiences. Should be fine. |
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Post by ragan on Jun 16, 2023 15:12:39 GMT -6
That’s what I did when I built my room. Two circuits of outlets, third circuit for lights. No issues. Audio gear doesn’t really pull that much current.
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Post by johneppstein on Jun 16, 2023 16:55:14 GMT -6
It surely depends what your running! 15 amps is a lot of current for the average home project studio. My entire rig, which is quite big can run off a power conditioner that only has a 3 amp fuse in it! 20 amps is good I imagine if your adding in heating, lighting, AC and a large desk (though those systems are best kept separate of course) My studio is fed by it's own dedicated fuse box (RCD) and is a 13 amp ring. Heating, lighting and AC should always be electrically separate from audio. |
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Post by Vincent R. on Jun 16, 2023 18:33:32 GMT -6
Now comes the hard part, putting a good chunk of my studio in storage while they finish building my house.
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Post by thehightenor on Jun 17, 2023 1:37:45 GMT -6
It surely depends what your running! 15 amps is a lot of current for the average home project studio. My entire rig, which is quite big can run off a power conditioner that only has a 3 amp fuse in it! 20 amps is good I imagine if your adding in heating, lighting, AC and a large desk (though those systems are best kept separate of course) My studio is fed by it's own dedicated fuse box (RCD) and is a 13 amp ring. Heating, lighting and AC should always be electrically separate from audio. Agreed. I have a separate mains just for my studio gear. As I said in my post above! But thank you for saying it again :-) |
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Post by johneppstein on Jun 20, 2023 8:56:19 GMT -6
BTW, I've always used 20 amp 12 GA STRANDED wiring. Not a place to skimp. Drawn in conduit.
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Post by nobtwiddler on Jul 24, 2023 15:56:43 GMT -6
"Now comes the hard part, putting a good chunk of my studio in storage while they finish building my house."
Hey Vincent, I've had my stuff stored since Jan 8th, in 3 climate controlled storage rooms, 2 garages, and one barn, for my upcoming move to TN.
I can't put into words what this has been like for me, especially at my age.
Haha
As a matter of fact, I have the first 26 foot truck coming on Thursday to unload two of the rooms, and drive that equipment down to Hartsville TN.
It's a drag, trust me...as this is the second move in three years. But it will get done, and then you're all set!
For me, this is the last time I'm moving my studio!
Good luck, hang in there, as it'll be over soon enough~!
Keep us posted.
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Post by Vincent R. on Jul 24, 2023 18:58:24 GMT -6
"Now comes the hard part, putting a good chunk of my studio in storage while they finish building my house." Hey Vincent, I've had my stuff stored since Jan 8th, in 3 climate controlled storage rooms, 2 garages, and one barn, for my upcoming move to TN. I can't put into words what this has been like for me, especially at my age. Haha As a matter of fact, I have the first 26 foot truck coming on Thursday to unload two of the rooms, and drive that equipment down to Hartsville TN. It's a drag, trust me...as this is the second move in three years. But it will get done, and then you're all set! For me, this is the last time I'm moving my studio! Good luck, hang in there, as it'll be over soon enough~! Keep us posted. I’ve had my stuff packed up since the end of June. We head down to Florida on Thursday. Our home probably won’t be ready till December though. I do have a small rig with me, with my main FleA 49, MK67, and a small rack with my Carbon and a couple of preamps. I just won’t have any kind of ideal room to record in for a while, and with mine and Emily’s voices a decent room is key. There is a nice local studio where I’m headed. I will probably reach out and introduce myself. |
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