Yes, another electrical question. Oh, and propane too.

[Diggin It]

Typically when one uses a buried cable to a building, they bury the primary and place a transformer near the building.

I don't want to do that. I want to bury the service drop from the pole mounted transformer. If distance matters, I'd only be about 250' or so. This is part of a larger plan to protect the service from storms (large oak tree overhead), and installing a transfer switch and standby generator.



Is there any general, nationwide rule regarding clearance between a 500 gallon LP tank and a public road? I'm looking at about 15-20 linear feet, but it would also be up a slight grade above the road and behind a hedge row. Not possible to be hit by traffic.

 

[mred2]

I don't know about the propane. In Alabama, you request underground service. My BIL had to provide conduit from the pole to his house. It was inspected. The power company installed the wire. Transformer on the pole, wire underground, meter on the house.
At my house the pole was 450 yards away. From pole underground to front of house, transformer, underground to my house, meter on house.
I think the biggest difference is the distance to the pole. Here, they charge by the foot to do it.
I would call the local power company. They should answer the question and estimate the cost.

 

[Diggin It]

I have their safety rep coming out Monday for a walkthrough, but I'm trying to be prepared in case it's an overall stupid request that will be denied outright. I'm thinking distance too. The ones I know have ground transformers are well over 1500 feet from the line.

But this may also require a pole move or change and I'm not sure they'll do that at no charge.

 

[dragoneggs]

All I am aware of on propane tank location is 500gal must be 10ft from building and 10ft from property line. I had to go with 125gal so it could go against my garage. My larger tank for the house is is 250gal and it is 15ft from the road, a private shared driveway and about 40ft from the house.

Funny thing is you can daisy chain up to 4 125gal tanks and not have to meet the 10ft requirements

Propane Tank Distance Rules and Requirements

 

[mred2]

15 plus years ago, they installed my underground at no cost to me. 450 feet underground to transformer base and 120 feet underground to house. 5 years ago, a friend at to pay $280 to go from a pole on the corner of his property to a new house about 100 feet. And he dug the ditch and laid the conduit. I think they now charge by the pole and by the foot for everything.

 

[3Ts]

The electric depends on the company. What can be done at my mom's place is not the same as to what I'm allowed to do at my place. Who digs the ditch is different, where the transformer is placed is different, even where the meter is placed is different. So, contact your electric company and ask them what they require and who is supposed to provide it.

 

[grsthegreat]

Here in idaho i have never seen a buried secondary off of a transformer. If the transformer is on A pole, its fed overhead to a building. If a transformer is on the ground, its fed underground to a building. Not sure why they care, but they do..... probably because they can charge alot more for underground. Also, here they TRY to keep the distance between transformer and house meter less than 100 feet if at all possible to prevent voltage drop and help reduce light dimming from heavy loads such as heat pumps.

 

[Tinhack]

My service comes from a side road. There's a pole transformer there with overhead secondary feeds to "my" pole 100' inside the property with a service box and meter. From there, my service runs under ground about another 250' to my house. I have 240vac at my house breaker box by my volt meter. No drop there. I also have another run from that same pole to my barn/shop. That's about 360' of buried cable. Or a total of 460' to the transformer as the crow flies. I'm getting 240vac there too. I've never checked at the meter. Perhaps it's higher there, I don't know. But I am running 1-0 copper cable through plastic conduit for all feeds. That's larger that what's running from the transformer to my pole by the service company.

 

[grsthegreat]

Getting 240 on meter is not voltage drop. That's calculated using amperage draw x length of wire with wire diameter and Wire composition factored in. You dont see it until a larger load is run on a circuit. After 100 feet of run voltage drop comes into the picture. Ive seen gate motors at the end of a 300 foot run of wire produce greater than 10% voltage drop. As voltage decreases, amperage has to increase to keep motor operational. This produces extra heat on motor and circuits, and can compromise wire insulation.

 

[dstig1]

Depends on the local utilities. Mine doesn't want to run secondary wire more than 200-250', so you would be right at the limit. I was 300-400' (I forget exactly) so they pulled underground primary next to my shop where the transformer is then the secondary is 10' to the shop but then goes on another 300'ish to the house