electrial wiringl

[boxcar]

Can I wire a pole barn the same as a garage or have to use conduit or something like that,I know outlets have to be gf what about the lights

[BobT]

It depends. You called it a pole"barn" which suggests that you will be keeping livestock in there? This would require special considerations for ag buildings. Some of those considerations might be related to excessive air-borne dust, moisture, corrosive agents and protecting the wire from the animals.

Our polebarn is 52' x 75' x 12'. I built four 12' x 12' horse stalls plus a loft over the stalls to store hay. I wired mine to protect against dust and corrosive environments and used conduit for all wires below 10' above grade. The inspector told me it was a bit over-kill because the size of the building relative to the number of livestock I would house was more than adequate and he didn't feel the dust or corrosive agents would likely be a problem. I feel it's better to over-kill than cut yourself short.

[boxcar]

Im using the building for storage no critters 30x48 in the Grand Rapids area

Bat

[JohnMickish]

Are you getting it inspected?

[boxcar]

yes more then likely I will,right nowjust getting a idea how much its going to cost then go from there

BAT

[CAMAN]

I've never seen a storage shed/pole barn with conduit. It's always stapled romex to the wood structure.

[JohnMickish]

You will be legal running romex everywhere except where it comes up thru the floor. You will want to run your power in some PVC to the first box, then romex out from there.

[Whoaru99]

Is UF required in this case, or is NM OK?

[JohnMickish]

Underground for your feeder or inside? If you are talking about the feeder and are going to direct bury it you will NEED to have UF or some other wire listed for direct bury. If it's in conduit you will need a wire that is listed for wet conditions (IE; THWN)

If you are taking about the wire that will be running inside the building, romex will be fine if you are going to have walls on the pole building and it is relatively weather tight. If there are no walls then it's another issue.

[Whoaru99]

Inside, with respect to what's considered damp conditions/damp space.

[JohnMickish]

This is from the National Electric Code.

Dry Locations:

A location not normally subject to dampness or wetness.

A location classified as dry may be temporarily subject to

dampness or wetness, as in the case of a building under

construction.

Damp Location:

Locations protected from weather and not subject to

saturation with water or other liquids but subject to

moderate degrees of moisture. Examples of such locations

include partially protected locations under canopies,

marquees, roofed pen porches, and like locations, and

interior locations subject to moderated degrees of moisture,

such as basements, some barns, and some cold storage

buildings.

Wet Locations:

Installations underground or in concrete slabs or masonry in

direct contact with the earth; in locations subject to saturation

with water or other liquids, such as vehicle washing areas;

and in unprotected locations exposed to weather.

A unfinished unheated pole barn would more than likely be classified a damp location. If it was finished it would be dry. In that case you would need to run UF inside the building as well. Working with UF is a pain in the butt, but here is a tip. If your going to do the work yourself, when it comes to stripping the outer covering off, use an old patato pealer and you will shed much less blood than if you use a knife.