Yes, if you’re running electricity to a new outbuilding, we’d always recommend getting a qualified electrician involved.
At Maytrics, the cost will depend on the distance from your house and what you want to power, but a typical installation can cost around £1,500–£3,000. We recently worked on a three-bedroom semi-detached home on Hawthorne Crescent, Blackwater where the family was having a new garden studio built for Mum, a mature art student who needed somewhere to paint without filling the house with the smell of oil paints!
Planning your outbuilding electrics
If you’re spending money on a new garden room, studio, office or workshop, it’s worth getting the electrics planned properly from the beginning. You don’t want to be relying on extension leads running from the house, especially if you’re going to use the space regularly.
The family on Hawthorne Crescent wanted the new building to be a proper working studio. Mum works in oils and, while her husband was very supportive of her hobby, he wasn’t quite as keen on the smell travelling through the house! Having a dedicated space at the bottom of the garden meant she could paint comfortably, leave her work set up and enjoy her hobby without taking over the kitchen or living room.
For Outbuilding electrics Blackwater, the first thing we look at is what the building is going to be used for. That tells us how much power is likely to be needed and where the sockets and lighting will be most useful.
How do you get electricity to an outbuilding?
For the Hawthorne Crescent studio, we installed SWA, or steel wire armoured, cable to supply the building. This needed to run from the house to the new studio, which meant a bit of digging was required to get the cable where it needed to go.
It’s not necessarily the most exciting part of building a garden studio, but it’s an important part of getting the electrical installation right. SWA cable is commonly used for external supplies because it provides a robust way of getting electricity from one building to another.
The route and installation will depend on the individual property. Things like the distance between the house and outbuilding, the ground conditions and what you want to run inside all need to be considered before the work starts.
What happens inside the outbuilding?
Once the supply had reached the studio, we installed a sub-consumer unit with 30 mA RCD protection. This gives the electrical circuits within the building their own protection and allows them to be isolated if there’s a problem.
From there, we installed the lighting and sockets Mum needed for her studio. Having proper sockets positioned around the room meant she could plug in equipment where she needed it, rather than relying on extension leads or trailing cables.
This is something worth thinking about before your outbuilding is finished. Have a chat with your electrician about where your furniture, workbenches or equipment will be going, because it’s much easier to install sockets in the right places while everything is being built.
Do you need an electrician for Outbuilding electrics Blackwater?
We’d always recommend it. You’re not simply adding a socket to a garden shed; you’re installing an electrical supply between your home and another building and then creating circuits within that building. There are safety requirements to consider, particularly where cables are being run outside or underground, and the installation needs to be suitable for how you’re going to use the space.
It’s also worth thinking about what you might use the building for in the future. A simple garden office today could become a hobby room, workshop or even a home gym later, so it’s worth having that conversation before the work begins.
For the family on Hawthorne Crescent, getting the electrical work planned properly meant Mum ended up with a comfortable, practical studio where she could paint without worrying about the smell taking over the house.
At Maytrics, we’ll talk through what you want from your outbuilding, look at the property and explain what will be needed before we start work. Whether you’re creating a garden office, art studio, workshop or somewhere to escape for a bit of peace and quiet, we can help.
If you’re planning Outbuilding electrics Blackwater, contact Maytrics today by phone on 01252 266277 or via our contact form.
We’d be happy to talk through your project.
