# Service design question.



## telsa (May 22, 2015)

ONLY 50 feet ?

Out my way that run would be trenched.

Indeed, setting a new Service at the pole barn (3R) and trenching to the house to feed the old panel -- now fed as a sub-panel -- would be considered. [ The trench could reach right to the basement wall. Ohio means to me: easy digging. ] You could even drop in a second panel in his basement -- fed by a parallel feeder run -- if there's a need. 

Trenching means no worries about weather. 

As a practical matter, over head transmission to a pole barn rings alarm bells: is there ANY chance that fork lift activity will occur thereabouts?

I'll take a WAG and assume that the fellow has asphalt and concrete that obstructs ditching.


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## fargowires (Aug 26, 2010)

telsa said:


> ONLY 50 feet ?
> 
> . Ohio means to me: easy digging.
> 
> ...


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## JohnJ65 (May 8, 2008)

The first thing I said was "lets run this underground and keep it safe and pretty" 

He said nope, he does not want his driveway cut in two, and it looks like he just put in a new water well right where I would be trenching it. He said he talked to the power company about a second service drop for the barn and they mentioned they would charge him commercial rate for that service. He don't want dat.


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## backstay (Feb 3, 2011)

I wouldn't go to 1/0 for the pole building. 1 should be fine. I didn't look it up, just saying.


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## 37523 (Dec 30, 2012)

I have 500' overhead #2 Al to the house, nominal 100A. 

It's saggy (lamp-dim). 

1/10th the distance would hardly sag at all. 

And it is only a pole-barn. 

I vote #2.


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## JohnJ65 (May 8, 2008)

Drove by the job the other day and somebody cheaper took care of it! 

I still want to know if I was to install a meter panel combo and I fed a seperate structure along with a house, could I use the smaller wire allowed with 310.15 in the service mast?


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## Roger123 (Sep 23, 2007)

JohnJ65 said:


> Drove by the job the other day and somebody cheaper took care of it!
> 
> I still want to know if I was to install a meter panel combo and I fed a seperate structure along with a house, could I use the smaller wire allowed with 310.15 in the service mast?


Yes, because the service entrance wires, (the wires from the point of connection at the weatherhead and the line side of the meter) are supplying the entire load of the dwelling.


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

Is this a real farm? You said pole barn, so maybe it is a working farm? If so, article 547.2 regarding setting a pole in a central location and then all of article 547. 

If this is just a garage building in a residential neighborhood,then I would trench from the main house out to the ''barn'' and drop pvc into the trench and 3 #1/0 alum with a #2 for the grounding conductor. Run that to a disconnect mounted to the ''barn'' and then up to a sub panel. It is a sub feed so no the #2 is not allowed as the entire load is not on one panel.


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## JohnJ65 (May 8, 2008)

Hey Roger, thank you. So a seperate garage / workshop would still be considered a dwelling. 

It was just a garage, job is done now by others.


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