How to Wire Horse Barns
If you need to wire a horse barn make sure that you first consult you local building department for requirements. In most rural areas you will be exempt from needing a permit. It is very important that when you wire your barn you protect your wiring from animals getting a hold of it and biting it.
Things you'll need:
- Tape measure
- Drill
- 1-inch wood drill bit
- PVC electric conduit
- PVC straps
- PVC solvent cement
- Electrical boxes
- Romex cable
- Wood screws
- Wire puller
- GFCI outlet
- Outlets
- Mark all the locations around the barn where you want to put an outlet. Do your best to keep them too close to the animals and away from water. Measure your outlets so that they are at least 12 inches from off the ground.
- Make holes in the wood framing for your electrical conduit to run through. Create the holes using your 1-inch wood droll bit. Run the conduit going to each out let coming from the electric panel.
- Take the PVC conduit and push it through each hole. Connect them using the correct connectors and the electrical boxes. Use PVC solvent cement to glue the all the conduits together.
- Use the PVC conduit straps to secure the conduit to the wood frame. Make sure they are tightly secured into place using the drill and wood screws. If possible, place a strap about every three feet in the barn.
- Attach the Romex cable to your wirepuller by tying it. Position the Romex cable to run through each outlet in a circuit run. To do a circuit run, each outlet should be connected to each other to bring power to the next outlet. Regular electrical wire is fine to use, but Romex is a little easier to use with conduit.
- Install a GFCI outlet for the very first electrical box you use. Up to four outlets can be connected for each additional electrical box. To get the most protection from the wires you can put a GFCI outlet in each box.