Electrical Design Layout Software

[jd_chi02]

I am looking for software to do Electrical Design layout i.e. Power Panels, Light switches,receptacles, data, telephone, intercom systesm, etc. Does anyone have suggestions for software I could use.

I was thinking Visio ....

 

[PEmAGic]

I am looking for software to do Electrical Design layout i.e. Power Panels, Light switches,receptacles, data, telephone, intercom systesm, etc. Does anyone have suggestions for software I could use.
I was thinking Visio ....

In my 6 years doing electrical design (commercial and residential), AutoCAD software is the most common and best tool used from the design phase (simple to complex) to printing/presentation for the client. AutoCAD Light may be an easy starting point for your electrical design. It all depends on the size & complexity of the design and how much you will like to invest in a design software. AutoCAD is very friendly, interfaces well with other design software, and has a wide range of symbols (national standard). Visio is ok for simple rough design and presentation, but it has limited capabilities pertaining to complete electrical designs. Hope this helps to get you started.

 

[jd_chi02]

Does the AutoCad LT have all the symbols? I don't want to be creating alot of symbols.

I will be working on Housing and Small Commercial projects.

 

[Misha]

Does the AutoCad LT have all the symbols? I don't want to be creating alot of symbols.
I will be working on Housing and Small Commercial projects.

Am doing commercial electrical design for 7 years in US and before that electrical design for industrial apps in Europe. Have been using MS-Excel for panel layout and importing into Autocad from day one. By now my panel schedule is pretty sophisticated and calcs CB, Wire, Conduit sizes based on HP, Recpt count, MCA, FLA/RLA's. Assign Load type and the demand is brougth forward from the sub panels to the MDP also. Like most self-grown SW it's poorly documented and not fit for distribution. However, familiarize yourself with the VLOOKUP command in Excel you can do something similar based on the NEC tables in a day or so. You can combine it with RS means cost data and have your construction cost estimate done as you go.

Am now working with AutoCad MEP 2008. It has a nice symbol library. I especially like the annotative functions. Different viewport scales adjust text height and annotative symbols automatically for consistent i.e. 3/32" paperspace text height.

Other than that IMHO the build-in Electrical Package with auto-panel schedule creation and home runs is limited in function and seems buggy.

Don't know much about Autocad Lt. It would not have the symbol libraty of MEP for sure. I would probably make my own symbol library anyway if I had to work with it. But try googling for libraries as a starting point. The other down side of Acad Lt is that you cannot do 3D design. You can view it, but not easily modify it. I use 3D to model spaces if I cannot get them from the Architect for point by point lighting calcs. The vendor-SW is a little cumbersome for my taste, but imports the dwgs nicely.

 

[AHMED_AIAAI]

I am looking for software to do Electrical Design layout i.e. Power Panels, Light switches,receptacles, data, telephone, intercom systesm, etc. Does anyone have suggestions for software I could use.

I was thinking Visio ....

 

[KnowledgeAcquirer]

Take a look at: SmartDraw

http://www.smartdraw.com/specials/electric...CFRcaagodFUxNWg

I think they allow 30-day FREE TRIAL of their software. I used an earlier version to layout an office with light switches, receptacles, telephone, network cables, network infrastructure including equipment rack and wall racks. I used a version about 2 years ago.

I am looking for software to do Electrical Design layout i.e. Power Panels, Light switches,receptacles, data, telephone, intercom systesm, etc. Does anyone have suggestions for software I could use.
I was thinking Visio ....

 

[UTKSPARKHEAD]

I have been producing layout and electrical/control drawings for a number of years. I started using Autocad but thats really like using a elephant gun to shoot a bunny rabbit. I migrated to Autosketch which is a $99 package. It has lots of templates and you can easily build your own. It will save the drawing in the current Acad dwg format. Every thing is a mouse click. You can see this product on the autodesk website

 

[KnowledgeAcquirer]

As an appreciation for the moral support (and encouragement) that the folks at engineerboards.com has given me, I wanted to "give something back" to the community. You may want to look and consider the following product for electrical schematics and layout drawing.

http://www.smartdraw.com/examples/view/ind..._%26_Schematics

You can download it FREE and use it for I believe, 30 days. While it states you can't print or save using the TRIAL VERSION, those of you who are astute can easily figure out how to get around this.

While I may not be a licensed PE (and probably never will be in the current state that I reside in), this package is in use by Fortune 50 companies by non-engineers. I can state this because I was with an international management consultancy, specifically hired because of my engineering education and experience. I used this along with Visio (company paid for both S/W packages).

This became the "de facto" standard for the management consultancy for clients who did not require Visio. Basically its strength is that you don't need an engineering background to figure out how to use the package, much less the capabilities of AutoCad that most users never utilize.

For smaller engineering practices or smaller jobs, this may fit the bill (doesn't generate an engineering parts list) but the financial and business executives love the graphics and detail that is provided.