Running 500 feet of underground wire.

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Hi, guys, I want to run electric power from my cottage building to a small 6 acre private lake, so that I can aereate the water for stocking trout, and to make it nice and clean near a small beach that I have built.

I have been looking at shielded copper cable, and it is not cheap, so maybe I will look at Aluminum. I was thinking that, because of the voltage drop, I should probably use 10 gauge wire, but at Home Depot 10/3 nwmu is almost $800 for 500 feet!

I only need a single circuit, and I'm certainly not going to use more than 15 A, since the power consumption will be quite expensive if I do. Does anyone have any ideas about perhaps going with a smaller cable or an aluminum cable, and thus saving money? I am worried that aluminum has a larger voltage drop then does copper.

Any ideas here would be much appreciated!

 

[PorkChopsMmm]

My suggestion would be to run a larger wire than just for voltage drop because you never know what you will build out there in the future our what your power needs will be.

That being said, I needed to run a much heavier line 225 feet 2 years ago. My cheapest option was 'mobile home feeder cable' which is 2-2-2-4 wire. I was only doing 120 and it was cheaper to go with the not needed 4th wire than it was to try and find some other copper or aluminum wire. So if you price it out it may be cheaper to go with 2-2-2-4 mobile home feeder wire because it is just more prevalent. Forget Home Depot and check with large electrical supply places. HD, Lowes, and others really overcharge for wire.

 

[boggen]

for myself i generally seek out a local "wholesaler" prices can be cheaper than what menards, lowes, homedepot, sell stuff for. when speaking electrical wire.

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how deep is the lake? what is the shape of the lake? any pictures?

a lot of air to water gas exchange happens right at the surface of the lake. not at the bubbles of an air diffuser. water currents within the lake, can cause a whole lot more water to go across the water surface. and obtain that much more aeration (err obtain highest dissolved oxygen level that temperature will allow) other words water currents are the golden key.

if pond is deep, you can use a different type of air lifts. and only submerged air diffusers say 3 feet deep if that under water. and gain a lot more water current, than trying to drop air diffusers all the way to the bottom (1 or 2 feet off bottom)

if pond is shallow, you maybe better off to create large circular like current within the lake. and you might be better off with a water trash pump. or a completely different type of air lift setup.

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if you do not actually need power down by lake. you can run an air hose from cottage all the way down to lake. if properly sized, and you make sure there is no high spots in the hose (upside down U's) and everything drains to the lake. you shouldn't have a problem with running 500+ foot of air hose.

purelly guessing without looking at charts / doing the math. guessing 1" to 2" air hose... between cottage to edge of lake. (above pond water surface), and then reduce it down to 1/2" to 3/4" inside diameter. under the lake surface going out the air diffuser/s.

the long 500 foot = lots of air restriction / pressure drop if you do not up size it. if ya upsized it and things did not work out for running air that far. then you have a pipe you can pull electrical wires through.

 

[Mendonsy]

#10 wire won't be nearly big enough to get a 15 amp circuit at that distance.
wire size calculator

 

[check]

for myself i generally seek out a local "wholesaler" prices can be cheaper than what menards, lowes, homedepot, sell stuff for. when speaking electrical wire. ============= how deep is the lake? what is the shape of the lake? any pictures? a lot of air to water gas exchange happens right at the surface of the lake. not at the bubbles of an air diffuser. water currents within the lake, can cause a whole lot more water to go across the water surface. and obtain that much more aeration (err obtain highest dissolved oxygen level that temperature will allow) other words water currents are the golden key. if pond is deep, you can use a different type of air lifts. and only submerged air diffusers say 3 feet deep if that under water. and gain a lot more water current, than trying to drop air diffusers all the way to the bottom (1 or 2 feet off bottom) if pond is shallow, you maybe better off to create large circular like current within the lake. and you might be better off with a water trash pump. or a completely different type of air lift setup. ============ if you do not actually need power down by lake. you can run an air hose from cottage all the way down to lake. if properly sized, and you make sure there is no high spots in the hose (upside down U's) and everything drains to the lake. you shouldn't have a problem with running 500+ foot of air hose. purelly guessing without looking at charts / doing the math. guessing 1" to 2" air hose... between cottage to edge of lake. (above pond water surface), and then reduce it down to 1/2" to 3/4" inside diameter. under the lake surface going out the air diffuser/s. the long 500 foot = lots of air restriction / pressure drop if you do not up size it. if ya upsized it and things did not work out for running air that far. then you have a pipe you can pull electrical wires through.

Thanks, boggen, I'll check that out. The small lake is higher than the cottage, so I guess I would have to worry about a possible siphon effect.

 

[check]

#10 wire won't be nearly big enough to get a 15 amp circuit at that distance. wire size calculator

Thanks, Mendonsy. I used the calculator and it said 10 guage would be OK if I kept it down to 5 A, and was willing to tolerate a 5% voltage drop.

 

[check]

My suggestion would be to run a larger wire than just for voltage drop because you never know what you will build out there in the future our what your power needs will be. That being said, I needed to run a much heavier line 225 feet 2 years ago. My cheapest option was 'mobile home feeder cable' which is 2-2-2-4 wire. I was only doing 120 and it was cheaper to go with the not needed 4th wire than it was to try and find some other copper or aluminum wire. So if you price it out it may be cheaper to go with 2-2-2-4 mobile home feeder wire because it is just more prevalent. Forget Home Depot and check with large electrical supply places. HD, Lowes, and others really overcharge for wire.

Interesting idea. I will check it out. Thanks!

 

[check]

Actually, the lake is about 600 feet across, and about 7 acres and slightly oval. I don't know how deep it is yet, but a 25 foot measuring tape did not hit the bottom in most places when I tried it.

I believe it is springfed, and the level does go down slightly over the course of the summer.

It is just something that came with the 25 acre property that I purchased. The main part of the property has 400 feet of frontage on a good-sized lake and Haliburton County in Ontario. The main lake is lower than the small lake, and my guess is that spring water flows in from one side and then seeps through the ground towards the large lake about 700 to 800 feet away.

 

[ultrarunner]

Never thought about mobile home feeder...

Just checked Menards at $1.99 per foot in thousand foot rolls.

http://www.menards.com/main/electri...num-mobile-home-feeder-per-foot/p-1469808.htm

Home Depot has 500' rolls

Southwire 500 ft. 2-2-2-4 AL USE MHF Service Entry Electrical Cable-28712801 - The Home Depot

My question is what is the optimal breaker for a 500' run of Mobile Home Feeder?

 

[grsthegreat]

If your in conduit, id run #2 xhhw alum wires . Use 2/2/4 for 20 amp 120 volt, or add another #2 for future 240 volt. This stuff is pretty cheap. If you want to go direct burial, use 2/2/2/4 urd direct burial wire. Here in idaho, its about $1.00 per foot for direct burial. The stuff run in conduit will cost more, but i personally will never use direct burial. Ive had to find and repair it too many times over the past 30 years as an electrician.