Imagine walking around in your shipping container, knowing exactly where all the wall outlets are to help you fire up the kettle, reheat your food in the microwave or just sit down and relax.

Installing electrics in a shipping container can be fairly straightforward if you know where to start.

Here’s how to install electrics in your shipping container unit

Running electricity in your container is not a very complicated process. If you're looking to turn yours into an office or workspace, here’s what you need to do:

Power requirements

The first thing to determine is the type of electricity you require. For example, how many devices and appliances will you need to run at any given time? You can install outlets for both 120v and 240v, although you need to know the power requirements of your devices and the supply load coming from the grid.

Wiring and power receptacle

Installing the wiring and power receptacle will require some drilling and wall cutting. While you may be able to do this yourself, it’s best to hire a professional who will use a conduit to protect your wiring from all the various elements.

Additionally, you can get a consultation from our conversions team to run the required wiring within the container, and to the electrical panel installed outside it.

GFCI installation work

Finally, install a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) along with any lighting you may need for safety.

And, that’s it! You can now run electricity throughout your shipping container.

Before you begin the electrical work

Before installing any wiring, you must have a clear picture of where all the light switches, light fixtures, wall outlets, and breaker boxes will be. Your container may have multiple rooms, so that means each room will have unique uses and requirements.

An entertainment, for example, may require more wall outlets than one room, especially if you want to run many different kinds of electronics simultaneously.

Shower blocks, on the other hand, will need to have the outlets situated close to the vanity to run electric grooming appliances or tools, hair dryers, electric toothbrushes, etc.

You must determine the type of conduit to be used in your container unit. A PVC schedule 40 conduits might be a good choice; EMT (Electric Metallic Tube) is also frequently used for shipping containers as well.

A conduit helps you manage fast wire pulls inside the container, helping to protect the wiring against crushing, impacts, and magnetic fields, as well as corrosion.

It’s also a good idea to ground your shipping container unit properly to protect yourself as well as your electronics and appliances from the risk of electric shock. However, do get your ground rod checked by our conversions team to ensure that it is below 25 ohms to the ground, as this provides sufficient lightning protection for your container’s electrical system.

Closing thoughts

Depending on the level of wiring required in your container to power everything up properly, you may need professional guidance. Our residential and workplace containers are designed on a bespoke basis to meet all your electrical demands. Call our friendly conversions team now to learn more: 0800 023 5060.