Electrical wiring requirements for a studio

[David R Munson]

I'm in the process of putting together the specs on a theoretical (hopefully to materialize in the future) studio space, and one of the few areas of the outline that has me realizing how little I know about it is electrical wiring. I am familiar with stage pin connectors, gang boxes, and all the stuff on the user end from assisting work on many, many commercial shoots in many different studios. What I want to know is the likely sort of electrical wiring necessary in the building/studio space in order to support these heavy duty electrical needs. What do you need for four 2,400Ws power packs all firing simultaneously at full power? What about a dozen of 'em? Can someone educate me on this or point me toward a good resource for learning about such things?

Many thanks.

[ckimmerle]

A studio with four 2400Ws lights? or 12? I would worry less about wiring and more about going blind. That said, my experience has been that each 2400W power pack may very well require it's own 20A circuit to avoid errant breaker trips. If you're using something like the Speedotron Black Line strobes, and are using quick recycling, even 20A may not be enough. Back when I was shooting hockey, we had make sure each 2400Ws power pack had it's own 30A circuit as they kept tripping the 20A breaker, which was a rather significant pain in the arse

[David R Munson]

A dozen packs might sound crazy, but I've been on shoots with nearly twice that many. Fashion people are crazy. I don't foresee the need for that many for my own purposes, but if this project ever happens it may also function as a rental studio and who knows what clients might require.