Wiring to shed from house question

[woodlandfarms]

OK, I have two choices... what I need is 200 amps in my barn....

What I have is my house meter, 250ft from the shed.

I also have a transformer 190 ft from the shed.

If I go from the transformer I will need a meter (and extra costs for that).

If I want 200 amps from my house meter, what guage do I need to run? I am thinkin 1/0 AL

Oh,this will be buried so any thoughts on putting it in schedule 80 conduit?

 

[thepumpguysc]

I'm doing the exact same thing.. but I'm gonna get an electrician down the street to come & look at mine.. That kind of voltage scares me.
I HAD a large wooden shop out back but it caught fire & burnt to the ground.. {my mistake}
I found the wires coming from the house & "plan-on" reusing them, but I want to upgrade all my equipment so that might need to be upgraded as well..
Another option is calling the electric co. & have them run a separate line off the pole?? Basic service here in SC is only 11.00 amonth.!!!
I'm in the process of finishing off the inside w/ plywood & THEN I'll be ready for the electrician.. gonna surface mount everything.. seeing its a steel building, I didn't wanna drill holes all thru the metal studs to run electric wire..

 

[mmancuso13]

I would run a trench from the house to the shed off your main meter which could be 4/0 AWG aluminum or 2/0 AWG copper.

Note this is unless you think you would have a case where you have a large house draw (like summer with large AC load and you would also be welding in the shed. (I assume you are welding because 200A is a large service for a shed)

If that is the case then you would be better off running a second feed off of your transformer.

Also you may need to check the size of the transformer to make sure it is large e light to feed 400A service.

I imagine you have a 25KVA yard transformer?

 

[mmancuso13]

To tour conduit question you could just go UF and not sleeve it

 

[JD15302155870]

I built a garage/office in 2000. I placed a separate meter and have never regretted it. This allows A/C and heat as well as a freezer and hot water heater. I probably stay up there more than I do at the house. My bill is usually around $30.00 a month

 

[Erik M]

Two meters means two bills and double your administrative costs, likely cheaper to upgrade the home to 400A and run a 200A circuit to the shed, but you should talk to a local electrician about what the code requires and your specific needs. It won稚 be cheap, but hydro is nothing to screw around with as it can kill you and/or void your fire insurance if not done properly.

In my case, I bought a rural property with a century home on a 100A circuit and a large shop with little more than lighting and 110v plugs in it that I was to use as a Woodshop. In my case, as I was already installing water from a new well and geothermal heat to my outbuildings I installed a 400A panel in my shed where I had room for all the switches and panels, and pushed 200A to the house on a sub panel via the existing trench. Also installed a phase converter and transformer in the shop for 3 phase power at the same time so a large bill but no need for any subsequent upgrades.

 

[Deere Dude]

I had a 200 amp panel in my pole shed and ran a 100 amp line to a trailer house 30 feet away. Got rid of the trailer house after the new house was built 150 feet away and just buried heavy aluminum to the houses 200 amp panel. I forget the size but I surely didn't want another meter bill.

The table saw and power tools I had in the basement took a split second to get to full torque range but the hot tub, ac and everything else worked fine.

 

[LD1]

"better" to run off xfmr is relative.

Its better if you want a separate bill for some reason. Commercial? Tax purposes? Too far from house (voltage drop), etc.

I ran a separate 200a to my garage because coming off the house meter would have been about 400'.....and right through an area where I have future plans at doing alot of digging. New run from a different xfmr was a 100' run.....and its commercial an the bill needs to be separate for tax reasons.

In your case of 190' vs 250'......I'd go for the house tie-in.

I use about 1600kwh per month average at the house. And the total bill averages ~0.12/kwh....so my house bill is usually around $190.

Use far less at the garage. Maybe 300kwh/month. Prices average 0.22/kwh...or about $65/month.

So having two meters I am paying the electric co $255/month. If I had a single meter....since the more you use the cheaper it gets.....I'd be more like 0.11 for the whole usage......or about $210/month.

So using two meters will continue to cost you more every month.

4/0 aluminum us standard for 200A service......but at what distance that needs upsized I dont remember off the top of my head.

 

[Deere Dude]

I have a power line running right past my barn and has a transformer on the pole and a meter socket attached to the barn. Then the power line goes 600 feet to the house where another transformer and another meter socket is used for that area. I wanted to run 600 feet of line from the house back to the barn to do what the OP is contemplating but the distance is to far.

To have the meter in the barn separately, the cost is $50 a month (ripoff) plus commercial rates for electricity. Even though the socket is already at the barn I disconnected the wires and just run a generator for the barn. I don't like it that way but I am to cheap to pay $50 a month for lights and the few times of real electric usage.

 

[EddieWalker]

... what I need is 200 amps in my barn....

Why do you need 200 amps at your barn?

Have you calculated what your power needs will be at the barn? AC? Water heater? welder? Air compressor? outlets?

In most cases, you will only be using one outlet at a time, plus lights. 100 amps is more then enough for a shop.

If you are pulling power from your main supply at your house, how much is your house using at the same time you will be in the shop? Will the AC be on in the house, the water heater? Maybe a dryer doing laundry or an oven cooking dinner?