We are planning to build a garage/workshop as our house doesn't have one - is it possible to install 220 volts for part of it? My husband really doesn't want to change his compressor or arc welder or loads of other electrical bits that he seems to be attached to. Advice would be greatly appreciated, many thanks.

I don't see why not unless there is a local code that prohibits it and that is unlikely. I have a dedicated 220 line for my ham radio station here in my basement.

Just to clarify, are you asking if he can bring his arc welder to Canada from the UK, or are you asking if installing a common 220 volt / 60hz circuit in a garage is possible?

Adding a 220 volt / 60 hz dedicated circuit for dryers, stoves, arc welders etc is simple, it's basically two 110 volt lines tied together. However, if you are looking to move the arc welder from the UK, I believe that in order to overcome the 50hz / 60hz difference you'd need a heavy duty transformer and that it may not be worth the cost. That said, I'm no arc welder expert.

We've had 220 outlets installed in 2 of the houses we've bought in Canada as OH likes to tinker with welders.

One house was brand new so it was installed at our request during the build.

The other house was old, so we had it done during our electrical upgrade. That house still had 60 amp service (really hard to get insured in BC) so we paid for an electrical upgrade to 200 amp. The old electrical panel was re-used as a sub panel in the garage. It was a really good selling feature when we came to sell those houses.

We didn't bring any welding equipment from the UK, I brought the fella a Lincoln welder to use here.

Sarah

I never knew it was so simple, I know nothing about elastictrickery, i thought it was sent down the wires at 110v, so that is what you get. So, simply taking two lines off the fuse box and twisting them together gives you 220v....great. i take it any electrician would know this? Would 240v uk kit work on 220v? cheers.

Yes any electrician would know this. However, just like you can't use your UK appliances in Canada without a converter or transformer, same would go here. While the voltage may be the same, you need to consider the cycles or hertz. UK is 50 cycle, Canada is 60 cycle.

Oh bless you all for your kind replies! OH is out in the garage peering at his welder now! He has just come back and tells me there is a switch that automatically converts it from 50 to 60. Thank you so much, it was a pricey item and we would get very little for it second hand....and he likes it. I LOVE this forum, there is always someone who has actually done it....and lived to tell the tale.

I think you better get the electrician in before you go twisting wires together
I use all my 240v smaller power tools from blighty here straight off the mains never had any problems.

Agreed, 120 volt shock will wake you up, 240 volt shock and we're talking very dangerous. This will be a common work for a licensed electrician.

+1. It's no problem. My OH is a potter and we have a 220V electric kiln in the garage. Cost very little to get it done.

+2 I have 220v in the garage for a socket that would power a welder, should I have one.

This is a joke...isn't it?

I am an Electrician and when we first came to Canada, I purchased a DIY Electrical book from Home Depot. I found it very useful to come to terms with the large differences between Canadian and UK methods.
I recommend it- it would give you a good insight.

Regarding your garage project:
Take a look at your electrical panel, a few of your circuit breakers will be double thickness, these are known as double pole and supply 220V circuits. For your garage, I recommend purchasing a small 220V sub panel to be fed from your main panel with a double pole breaker of the correct rating, then it is future proof for welders etc.
Darren

More damned elastictrickery! I 'll get a man in.

I'm not an electrician, but I knew a French one when I lived in the States, if I understand correctly the input to the board is actually 240V so you can run 240V appliances in your garage if you wire it up correctly, but I'd be careful obviously.

Also the output at a regular socket in Canada is 120V, not 110V. Hasn't been 110V for many years but people still say that.

Anyway the French guy I knew had brought all his stuff over from France and gotten it all working no problem.