FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Alan guard house have a pre-installed electrical subfeed load center with "lugs only". They need to be "hardwired" to an upstream branch circuit.  Some people do this with an extension cord with one end cut off.  The correct way is use electrical conduit though.

In any case, you'll need a minimum of 30 amps at 120 volts.   Or a minimum of 20 amps at 120/240 volts.  

That will cover the air conditioner/heater, inside light and outlets for light draws.  If you install heavy draw appliances, such as coffee maker, microwave oven, water cooler, or copier, those will increase the power requirement.  Insufficient amperage due to heavy loads or long wiring runs will cause a voltage drop and the air conditioner will not work and may burn out the air conditioner control panel.  This is not a warranty item.

*Can I hookup the building to a generator?

Yes, but.  You need "clean power".   Which means a true 'sine wave' generator.  Also known as an RMS (root mean squared) generator. Also known as low TDS (total harmonic distortion)   generator. And it needs to deliver the mininum 30 amps, so it needs to be 3500 watts minimum.  Hooking up the building to a cheap "step wave" generator means "dirty power" and it will probably burnout the LED light and air conditioner control panel. Then there's the problem of the generator needing to meet CARB requirements.  If it doesn't then it can't be sold in California, so finding one that can actually be shipped to California can mean a lot of searching.  

Here's one:

LIFAN Power USA  LF4250EPL-CA   It has the minimum power output for the guard house with AC-heat.  As of Sept 2022 it was available at Walmart for $720.

*Can I use solar power panels?

Probably not.  The panels required to run the air conditioner far exceed the building roof area by around a factor of 10.  You can use a solar panel that takes up the available roof area but it would only supply enough  power for the inside light and a laptop computer.

*Who is responsible for maintenance? 

The user of the building is responsible for all maintenance.  Beside janitorial, we suggest putting down a plastic chair mat or door rug to protect the plywood floor from a chair or stool.  The air conditioner must be cleaned occasionally or the air conditioner will eventually not work.  It's a washable filter and can be reused.  Sometimes people throw the dirty filter away and run the air conditioner with no filter. That works for awhile but eventually the cooling fins get clogged and the machine won't cool. That is not a warranty issue and replacing the air conditioner will be charged for.

*Will you bring out forklift and move the building? 

No.  We only deliver to "best access" using a tilt bed truck.  We'll get the building on the ground without a forklift, but only to a place that the truck can back up to and still get out.   Depending on the ground surface the smaller buildings can be moved with a pallet jack or 4,000 pound forklift.  The customer is also responsible to level the building if it needs it.  This usually means placing a wedge or block under one corner of the building.