Hello,
How do you run a wire from the house to the barn for electricity? I want it to go underground. So far the trench had to be dug 18" deep (that much i know (legal stuff)). Is there a wire that can be used or do you have to use conduit? If you can use a wire, can you run the part that is in the house with normal wire and at the outside point change to outside wire? Are there special connection for this change? Is the outside wire a great deal more expensive, as i suspect?
There is "UF" cable, which is direct burial. You would use NM or AC (standard cable), in the house and transition to the UF in a junction box, using wire nuts, before going outside or underground. You need to check on the buried depths for your particular circumstances, as it may require a trench of 24 inches. UF cable is more expensive than NM cable but probably less expensive in the labor involved in doing the job in conduit
UF (underground feeder) wire is okay if buried to the proper depth for your local code. Based on the length of the run and the load demand you may need to step up the wire size for the given ampacity because of voltage drop.
The only advantage to conduit is additional protection in rocky ground and the ability to replace the wire with no digging at some point in the future.
Considering the current price of copper cable, conduit and wire might be cheaper.
Colbyt
I just did this on my new barn. On end of it is only about 15 feet from my garage. I hit lots of rocks, and have a mole problem, so I decided that conduit was required, and besides that, the trench dont need to be as deep, and digging is the hardest part of the job (by hand). I just used that gray pvc conduit, I used 3/4" to allow for expansion. I ran TWO 20A circuits from the garage. I probably could have done fine with one, but what the heck, 2 is better. I am already glad I did because I keep horses in there and sometimes use 1000watt water trough heaters. Last week I had 2 of them going and turned on a electric space heater in my little entry way so I could warm up while working in there. I'm glad I had 2 circuits. I got these two 20A breakers on opposite sides it the line so I can share the neutral. Then, for the heck of it, I shoved an extra #14 wire and a #14 neutral. That's not connected, but it's there if I want to expand. In summer I might run a 15A breaker to that for my lighting only.
I dont know the size or use of your barn, but I'd recommend at least 2 circuits. Of course that means using a 12-3 UF (costly). So, consider pvc conduit. In the end it cost less than UF. I am really not sure what the code says these days for pvc conduit burial depth, but it's much less than UF, allows for expansion without digging again, and is more durable if you got digging critters. I actually paid less per foot for conduit than for UF, and I already had the wire to shove thru it. I placed my conduit 8 to 10 inches deep. I was hitting lots of rock at 8" so thats where I stopped. But on the garage end there was no rock so I got carried away digging. plus I had to tunnel under the wall footing, which is a cement block set in the soil with the slab poured on top. (It was built this way because of lower soil on one end and to stop or slow down those damn critters that dig under slabs. So, at the actual garage wall, I went down over 12". An 8" block and
4" slab.Now, if I want to add anothe circuit, or run something like a phone wire to the barn, I got the conduit there and dont have to dig again.
(It's probably not legal to run a phone line thru conduit that contains AC power wires, so you did not read that part.....)
How do you run a wire from the house to the barn for electricity? I want it to go underground. So far the trench had to be dug 18" deep (that much i know (legal stuff)). Is there a wire that can be used or do you have to use conduit?
***********************************************************A few years ago I ran 220V power to a garage I built 150 feet from the house. I used #4 copper stranded wire and ran it through 2 inch pvc, in which I sealed all joints just as if it were going to carry water.
Another thought: I used the same ditch to run a 3/4 inch pvc for water and ran a phone cable as well. Phone company gave me the underground wire they use.
All works fine.
Bob
Mr Overkill writes;
I had an electrical contractor who owed me a big favor, so I had 2" conduit run 240' with 4-0 aluminum wire to a sub panel. I can weld, & run pretty much anything else at the same time. While the trench was open, we ran water to the shop, and had the trencher guy run to the car port, the street, the watering trough, and the far cross fence and ran water there as well.
if you run conduit put a extra empty one too, for future use.
its cheap and saves digging
Lots of good ideas here and I'll add one more:
Run a separate circuit for the lights, either from the house or from an auxiliary breaker box in the barn. Just like in a workshop with power tools, you don't want a heater or a tool or other device plunging you into darkness when it trips the breaker. For safety reasons, always put the lights on a circuit that is separate from something that is more likely to trip a breaker.
Harry wrote:
When I did this I ran 2 strings through the line so I'd have something to pull the future wire with. I also used a larger conduit than needed.
Is there any rule about putting wire and waterlines in the same tube?
Excellent advice.
I have several houses with strings running from here to there as the case might be. Someday someone is really going to appreciate them or think I was a total nutcase.
Colbyt
Tube or trench?
It has been 20 years and time or your codes may be different. I put water, gas and electric in the same trench. As I recall it now water and gas were at the bottom with a few inches of fill and then the UF cable. Whatever I did then was 100% legal at the time.
Colbyt
not same conduit just same trench
I think it was "Colbyt" who stated:
Those are NOT mutually exclusive notions . . . .
I bet that cost a bundle
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