Powering outbuildings further than 600 feet from your homes main panel.

[JeepHead]

Glad it all worked out for ya! I, too, own every 20v Dewalt tool made. Have a few extras of the drills and impacts. I do wish I had chose the Milwaukee for the die grinder though. It's a much better grinder than the Dewalt one. I will eventually get it though as I am building up my Milwaukee collection now. But have started with impacts and ratchets first...

 

[grsthegreat]

i was contemplating a separate service at one time for my shop, which was 300 feet from house and 350' from transformer, but opted instead for swapping out my old 200 amp service to a post mounted 400 amp service and running underground to my shop with a 200 amp service. i did this about 10 years ago when prices wern't as ridiculous as they are today.

if i was to do this today i would have gone overhead to shop and separate service. just price out 3" conduit and 350 MCM wire nowadays. 3"sch 40 pvc is $3.98 per foot today (was $7/foot last year) . i looked into the cost when i installed years ago and it was $1.42 per foot. wire prices for aluminum wire is over twice the cost. copper feeder wire is 4x the cost it was.

 

[PeteN]

I just did something like this but my distance was about 350'. I originally planned on running from my house main panel. After checking with the power company, it turned out to be much cheaper to run a new line. They originally were going to run the secondary voltage the entire distance but after seeing the setup they suggested to put in another transformer to keep the voltage drop low. I get 100' of line "free" from the transformer to the panel and since I put in a transformer got a construction allowance. My soil is tough to dig (either sand/stone or mixed with some clay) so I'm glad I didn't have to do it. I now have a solid 100amp service and it cost around $1700. $2000 with the meter base and panel. Monthly cost for the extra meter is $5/month. My house meter costs around $15/month. It's amazing what other power companies charge for the same service in different states.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I ran a 100A service to my shop. I think it was only about 70' and it still cost me over $1,000 between all the materials and panel.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I recently purchased my neighbors property. It had a decrepit mobile home which I have removed and a well made 24x30' garage with a 30x30' concrete pad in front. I have fully insulated, Sheetrocked the walls, changed the locks and am in the process of electrifying it. I have moved much of many of my toys into it, Bridgeport, Unisaw, Miller Multimatic etc that require 220v. Because of the distance over 600 feet, to avoid voltage drop issues I would need a second 200 panel, up graded transformer and 3/000 wiring minimum but at a cost of over six grand my thoughts were a new meter and panel. The benefit are a tax write off as an llc property. Am I wrong?

I'm glad you got things worked out. IMO, you did it the right way.

I did the exact same thing a few years ago.

I bought the neighboring property, tore down the house an kept the pole barn. I dug up the underground service conduit to the old house about halfway to the pole. I cut the 2/0 copper service cable and pulled out the 200' section that went to the house. I put a bend on the 3" conduit and built a meter pedestal.

I then ran 3" conduit from the pedestal to the pole barn and re used the 2/0 copper cable. Man did that ever save a few $$! I even re used the breaker panel and interior copper wiring I tore out of the old house in the pole barn.

The electric service to the barn costs less than $20/mo. It will take many years to equal what the cost of running a line from the house would have been.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

When I was faced with the same problem I decided to put a separate service to my barn, so I had a 200-amp service put into it, at over 300' from the road.

Power company would put overhead in for free, at least the first pole is free, but I didn't want wires around the building so the last 100' feet or so I had them go underground at the cost to me of $3.50 per foot. They do all the work to get power there.

Meter loops are free here and I did all the electrical work inside the building myself, I only needed the original inspection when power was put to the bld./breaker panel.

If I shut all power off to my building, my monthly bill will be less than 10 dollars a month and even with all that goes on out there, it runs about 20 bucks a month in the summer, or even less.

SR

 

[lman]

I moved here about 25 years ago after the previous owners had just built the home. The husband died of cancer shortly after it was built. He had plans of putting a second home about 400' behind my house and already had a line buried and another meter/transformer at that location. I had two barns built that use that account. Some months I don't use much electricity but their user fees are up to $43.50 for each account, so I guess they are collecting their share for the wiring and transformer every month. My home transformer has buried cable from the road about 450' to the house.

 

[dstig1]

I now have two services at the new house, one at the home/our buildings, other down by pond, with just a single outdoor light (not utility light, it's after the meter), and with service fees, and all, just that single light runs $51/month. I think that's $50 in fees and $1 in usage.

Flip side; 600 lf of wire, DB or conduit, is going to be several thousand. Pipe ain't cheap, and wire isn't either.

That sounds like the perfect application for a solar setup. One light all by itself? I'd think solar would be FAR cheaper than paying a few months of that service charge...

 

[paulsharvey]

That sounds like the perfect application for a solar setup. One light all by itself? I'd think solar would be FAR cheaper than paying a few months of that service charge...

Well, the previous owner's son had an RV set up down there, and in the future, we plan to build a small covered area, and lights and a couple outlets would be nice. I have thought about closing that meter out for the time being though.

 

[grsthegreat]

Be careful just closing the account. A friend of mine did that for a service to a well house. A few years later they decided to restart that well, the power company wants everything brought up to current codes, incl new transformer and meter main, and all drops. Would have been way cheaper if they never shut it down.
The last estimate from power supplier was closing onto 8 grand.