Understanding Electrical Installation for Commercial Spaces

There are certain electrical layouts you must keep in mind when you own a humming, air-conditioned office space or a clamorous factory floor full of machinery.

The wiring and electrical components used in commercial spaces extend into a greater degree of complexity.

To keep the whole thing running smoothly, you have to make sure that all electrical accessories and wire requirements are properly installed. Because industrial facilities and offices can greatly suffer in the event of downtime. When work hours are wasted, revenue is irreversibly lost.

Commercial spaces, more than any other space, require 24×7 operation of their appliances and machinery. Here, we have presented a guide to installing safe and effective commercial electrical systems.

How do Commercial Electrical Installations Differ From Residential Ones?

Commercial spaces, with their connected machinery and their greater number of inhabitants, require a high load of power supply. For this purpose, most of them utilize a three-phase power system as opposed to the single-phase power system mostly used in residential spaces.

A three-phase system delivers electricity on a constant basis, avoiding the spikes and dips in voltage that a single-phase system often finds itself with. A three-phase system can supply three times as much power as a single-phase power supply. Only needing one additional wire, they use less conductor material to transmit the same unit amount of power.

In residential areas, two and three-phase systems are generally used for heavier appliances such as washing machines, ranges and cooktops, and dryers. But, in a commercial space, they are used for almost every outlet. This is why there will be more 240+ V outlets in the latter.

Well-Spaced Electrical Outlets

Commercial properties always necessitate the installation of numerous, well-spaced convenience outlets by a professional electrician. All of your computer equipment, electronics, devices, industrial machinery, air-conditioners, and other plug-in items require wall outlets to be powered. And these will be placed all over the premises, so you need a corresponding number of outlets. Gang boxes and concealed PVC boxes can help you arrange wiring within and on your walls. 

The number of outlets required is also determined by factors such as the number of occupants in the workspace at any given time. Aside from that, the other electrical components in your commercial space (such as cables) will influence the type of sockets you require. To circumvent this problem, you can find universal plug adapters and multi-plug tops in the Plug Top section of our Electrical Accessories page.

Well-spaced Lighting

Task lighting in the public areas of a commercial building requires modular, even-spaced light fixture nodes. In other cases, there will be private offices and rooms where the lighting is more regular. In short, there are numerous factors to consider when designing a lighting scheme for your commercial space.

Because electricians typically install lights at the end of the fit-out process, it is best to start with general light wiring and then progress to the more complicated lighting components. For specialized lighting fixtures, such as multi-holder pendants and adapters, you can check out the Miscellaneous section of our Electrical Accessories page.

Distribution Panel Boards & MCBs

The distribution panel board in your commercial space is in charge of supplying electricity throughout the building via miniature circuits. Choose distribution boards with extensive wiring capacity and handles if you want faster reactionary speed.

The placement of distribution boards and other electrical panels are important for the overall management of your machinery, computer, and appliances. As for electrical protection, you will need double-pole and three-pole miniature circuit breakers to handle three-phase power of commercial spaces.

Service Entrance

The service entrance is the location where grid electricity enters your premises for routing to the rest of the service or building in commercial applications. The service entrance could be as simple as overhead wires connected to a utility pole or as complex as a trough with multiple switches. Spend your time and effort to install the most compartmentalized electrical system at this location so that the inevitable problems that emerge can be solved quickly.

If you are in need of electrical accessories and switchgear for commercial applications, you can always consult with a supplier like Precision Electricals. We offer broad ranges of miniature circuit breakers, electrical panels, and concealed boxes to make your work life easier.