Electric question on new pole barn

monteu · Jan 31, 2012

Pole barn shell is going up in the next few days

. Then half of the barn gets completely insulated (spray on walls and blowin on ceiling) and interior ceiling and maybe tin on the walls right away depending how money holds out. At what stage is the best point to run my electrical is the question? Is after the interior work is done and then run conduit everywhere? That is what is making sense to me. What do you think? I am having an electrician come and wire in the breaker box. Then I will take it from there.

rasimmo · Jan 31, 2012

I would do it after the interior work is done. You may want to look at the cost of BX instead of using conduit. When I did my barn, the BX was actually cheaper than regular romex without even adding in the conduit.

monteu · Jan 31, 2012

I guess I will have to ask. What is BX?

Darrenone · Jan 31, 2012

I would use mc cable as it has a full size ground wire. Mc is an armored cable to use for branch circuits from your panel. Much easier to run then conduit.

grsthegreat · Jan 31, 2012

You better do one thing first..... either ask your electrician or ask the local electrical inspector to make sure BX will be alowed.

BX or armored cable is basically rated no stronger than Romex as far as protection. If the walls are to be left uncovered with wood/drywall/metal or whatnot the wires WILL have to be protcted in sch 80 conduit to at least 8 feet above ground level (here in Idaho it required to be shielded all the way into the truss). BX alone wont cut it.

Now your inspector may see it differently......must ask.

Personally what i LOVE to do if i can is to run pvc below the slab to all outlet locations. Id rather do all the wiring from the ground then on an extension ladder in the trusses. But to each their own.

yelbike · Feb 1, 2012

Bx is armoured steel spiral sheathing.

If you are covering the the inside walls, even just planning to, NMD (non metallic sheathing(romex)) is going to be cheapest, fastest and cleaner as you will not see any cabling when your done. As far as mecanical protection of exposed cable, here is anything below 5 feet.

Best thing, ask your electrician, even offer to pay his time for advise. When your done, pay him again for the return trip to look at it. He'll tell you if everything is good or what to change. He'll know the ins and outs.

Also don't be afraid to ask the building inspector. He's there to help. But sometimes the inspectors like to go over board and do the Mike Holmes thing which maybe expensive.

Good luck!!:drink:

Craig Clayton · Feb 1, 2012

As a Canadian Electrician I would suggest you let the contract electrician run the conduit for you.

If you help you might learn alot. If I had an eager beaver owner helper I would allow him to do all the ceiling EMT clipping.

If you do not know the code you could spend more time and money than having it done right the first time.

Craig Clayton

Jesse11 · Feb 2, 2012

Not an electrician but. . .

Had the exact situation myself. Pole is on South side of house, about 30 feet from south-facing wall. Cable enters house underground into crawlspace and up to load center which is fairly centrally located in the house. The pole has a 200 amp main breaker on the meter panel. House has 200 amp breaker on the load center. Wire from pole to load center, as I recall is 1/0 aluminum.

I spliced at the connection in my house panel using grundy clamps and connecting just below the set screws for the load center bus bars. I ran the wire back down from the panel, through the crawlspace to the North side of the house toward my workshop. I used 2/2/4 aluminum wire which is rated for outdoor use, but in my case, I trenched to 18" and ran the wire in 1" PVC conduit.

In the workshop, I used a 100 amp load center, obviously with a 100 amp main breaker. I never did check the ampacity tables on the 2/2/4 aluminum to see if it had a 100 amp rating, but rather took the building supply vendor's word for it. I run a rather large single phase 220v welder (rated at up to 72 amps input current at rated max power). I'll never use that much current, but my outfit is wired safely and functionally. We don't have code in this county, so safe and functional works for me. Some places have strange requirements on ground wires, sub panels, and such when feeding detached buildings.

If code is an issue with you OR if you don't fully understand what you're doing, make sure you get help from a qualified electrician. It'd be a bummer if you burnt the place down.

Good Luck!

grsthegreat · Feb 2, 2012

Jesse11 said:
Not an electrician but. . .

Had the exact situation myself. Pole is on South side of house, about 30 feet from south-facing wall. Cable enters house underground into crawlspace and up to load center which is fairly centrally located in the house. The pole has a 200 amp main breaker on the meter panel. House has 200 amp breaker on the load center. Wire from pole to load center, as I recall is 1/0 aluminum.

I spliced at the connection in my house panel using grundy clamps and connecting just below the set screws for the load center bus bars. I ran the wire back down from the panel, through the crawlspace to the North side of the house toward my workshop. I used 2/2/4 aluminum wire which is rated for outdoor use, but in my case, I trenched to 18" and ran the wire in 1" PVC conduit.

In the workshop, I used a 100 amp load center, obviously with a 100 amp main breaker. I never did check the ampacity tables on the 2/2/4 aluminum to see if it had a 100 amp rating, but rather took the building supply vendor's word for it. I run a rather large single phase 220v welder (rated at up to 72 amps input current at rated max power). I'll never use that much current, but my outfit is wired safely and functionally. We don't have code in this county, so safe and functional works for me. Some places have strange requirements on ground wires, sub panels, and such when feeding detached buildings.

If code is an issue with you OR if you don't fully understand what you're doing, make sure you get help from a qualified electrician. It'd be a bummer if you burnt the place down.

Good Luck!

im a little confused. where on the main panel did you splice? how come you just didnt land the wire on a 100 amp breaker in the original panel??