Although I certainly agree that getting mains power to the garage is something that should be highly recommended, I think you may be being a bit optimistic here Eddie - have you seen the price of SWA lately.
Yes and SWA is not that expensive, wired up lots of friends garages and sheds. Yes you do have to pay for the cable.I always wire to the 17th edition of the IEE regulations which usually adds say £10 to the SWA cost as you need to increase the conductor size of the SWA to get the lighting voltage drop below 3%. It's not a game changer
If as in my case the electrics were up to date in the house and I had a spare "way" not a problem when I did my new workshop garage.
With all due respect if the electrics in my house were out of date, I would do what I did when we moved in to the house 20 or so years ago. I updated the electrics to modern rcb and earth leakage protection and I replaced cables that were old or over capacity in the house.
That's not a garage wiring cost it is the cost of home safety.
Remember also that work like this has to be certified and inspected, and if it involves replacing the consumer unit - to add a new RCD/MCB for example - then the whole house has to be inspected, and any deficiencies must be fixed before work can be done.
We found this out when we had security lighting installed, I nearly had a heart attack when the electrician told us he had to test the wiring in the house first. Not normally a problem, but in our ancient cottage, that had been rewired more than 40 years previously, it was a different matter. Fortunately the wiring passed, so we were ok.
Yes I did get my house electics proffessionally tested and I did not consider that anything other than what you need to get done every say 5 to 10 years or so. Just like I get a roofer round every few years to go up on the roof and check the slates and flashings.
Sorry but being able to mess about in a bright warm garage is just great but yes insulation, electics and other stuff has to be paid for.
eddie
