Electricity to Barn (350 ft)

[Gale Hawkins]

I believe the code specifies a range, not just a minimum. When we had a house built a dozen years ago, the contractor dug the power line ditch too deep. The utility company made him backfill to the proper depth before putting in the line.

This was the line from the street to the transformer, so maybe they were more picky on that.

Ken

Locally they are doing fiber to the homes for only about 100 million dollars but it was a shovel ready project. :laughing:

They are doing a ton of boring over the entire county. I could see AC lines below a certain depth limiting boring perhaps.

 

[dstig1]

You've gotten good advice from the electricians here on details, so I won't add anything there except this: If you're gonna do it, go big.

I'd put in a 100A (min) subpanel, not 60. The additional cost is not huge, but the flexibility gain is significant. I'd go even bigger if possible, but 100A is a good minimum size. Remember 30 years ago, 60A service was considered "plenty" and now 200A service is typical for most new houses (around here at least). Electrical needs won't go down with time, so a little extra now will help you future proof the place.

IMHO, of course.

 

[RJJR]

Can't imagine a regulated utility being able to charge a basic monthly fee of $65. I'd understand them wanting you to pay something up front if your load/usage doesn't cover the install cost but that seems high. Oh, and the reason they monitor depth is usually related to future maintenance as they don't want to get into mandatory shoring or sloping of the trench when repairs are needed. Splicing a secondary at 5 feet is a whole different egg than splicing the same cables at 2 feet of depth.

 

[tommu56]

Can't imagine a regulated utility being able to charge a basic monthly fee of $65. I'd understand them wanting you to pay something up front if your load/usage doesn't cover the install cost but that seems high. Oh, and the reason they monitor depth is usually related to future maintenance as they don't want to get into mandatory shoring or sloping of the trench when repairs are needed. Splicing a secondary at 5 feet is a whole different egg than splicing the same cables at 2 feet of depth.

You need to be up the north east

The meter charge is the begining if it now you have transportation charges and maintenance and stranded costs (I still don't understand that one 100%)

tom

 

[Gale Hawkins]

You've gotten good advice from the electricians here on details, so I won't add anything there except this: If you're gonna do it, go big.

I'd put in a 100A (min) subpanel, not 60. The additional cost is not huge, but the flexibility gain is significant. I'd go even bigger if possible, but 100A is a good minimum size. Remember 30 years ago, 60A service was considered "plenty" and now 200A service is typical for most new houses (around here at least). Electrical needs won't go down with time, so a little extra now will help you future proof the place.

IMHO, of course.

2x

If I was going to put a meter base on an outhouse I would make it 200 amp.

Around here the second meter base is VERY expensive and we are in red neck country, not CA.:laughing:

 

[crbr]

getting there but good

 

[JD 4520]

You've gotten good advice from the electricians here on details, so I won't add anything there except this: If you're gonna do it, go big.

I'd put in a 100A (min) subpanel, not 60. The additional cost is not huge, but the flexibility gain is significant. I'd go even bigger if possible, but 100A is a good minimum size. Remember 30 years ago, 60A service was considered "plenty" and now 200A service is typical for most new houses (around here at least). Electrical needs won't go down with time, so a little extra now will help you future proof the place.

IMHO, of course.

SOS - you got a lot of good advice here including the noted comments here, go big. Your needs won't go down and with your usage I would likewise suggest 100A.

 

[SuperCobra]

My wife is going to call Rapahannock Electric again for the monthly price of the meter but if its $65 a month, we are going with the subpanel off the house.

Also have them give you a quote to do all of the work. They own the trencher and buy the wire in bulk, and as a coop member, I don't think they are looking to make a profit off you. I'd called them out to just do the hook-up after I dug the trench and installed the wire and the guy told me it probably would have been cheaper to have them do it all.

 

[SOS]

We had the county come back out and they agreed that prices ranging from 3 to 5-K were way too high. They also said that with a 1/0 we should be geting 125 to 150 amps at the barn.

So I'm off to get more bids based on some suggestions from the inspector.

Thanks for all your inputs. It made me suspicious enough to keep questioning quotes.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[MikeInMaine]

Looks like you've got some pretty good advice already, but I'll add my voice to the crowd.

Firstly, it would be good to talk to your power company. Where I live in Maine, the power company will combine two residential meters on the same property onto one bill, thereby saving the customer that second annoying monthly charge. It's called "combined-use metering" or something like that. If your electricity provider has something like that, you'll save a lot by installing a new 100A service.

It used to be that homeowners here would go to extreme lengths to avoid that second monthly charge, running cables through the woods, in the trees, through culverts.... Once they offered combined-use metering, it became a no-brainer to simply add that second service. It would be worth checking that out.