I know that this is not an electrical forum but I also know that there are a good number of you who know what you are doing when wiring your sheds/barns etc. I want to put electricity into my metal shed which is 200' feet from the house. I have already dug a trench and am using 1.25" black PVC well pipe for the conduit. I would like to put a subpanel in it. I am thinking something like a 30 amp subpanel or maybe a 40 amp. I would like to have lights in it and also have some outlets as well so I can see at night and be able to have electricity to use tools to work on things there as well.
The guy that put my new pump into my well gave me the idea of using the black plastic pipe for running the electrical wire through as a conduit. They do it all the time. I have almost finished digging the trench through some pretty rocky soil and had plenty of large rocks to move out of the way. The 990 with the 8B BH has been a great rig for doing stuff like this. I am always amazed what the thing can do. I have 2, 100 foot lengths of pipe already lade and I will have to run the wire through from the main panel which would be another 50 feet and I probably have another 40 feet to go to where it will come up through the conduit I put in when the 6" floor was poured for the shed. So that is where I come up with the 300'. I know Cu wire is not cheep now a days. I kind of wished I would have bought the wire back when I put the shed in!
My question is do you think that I am crazy doing this. I of course have started the project so I am already in the midst of it. I didn't think about the length of the run and the current I was looking for. I believe it is doable but I know I will need a pretty heavy gauge wire and that is why I was thinking just a 30 amp sub panel. A 40 amp would be better in my mind but maybe the 30 amp would be plenty for lights and having a 20 amp outlet.
I pulled this off of one site giving input on putting in a sub panel:
The wire gauge of the cable you use to connect the subpanel to the main panel depends on the size of this breaker as well as the distance between the panels. In general, you need 10-gauge wire for a 30-amp subpanel, 8-gauge for a 40-amp one and 6-gauge for a 50-amp subpanel. If you need a 100-amp subpanel, you'll be running beefy 3- or 4-gauge cable with a 6-gauge ground wire.
Voltage drop becomes an issue over distances in excess of 100 to 150 feet depending on cable size. If you have to run cable for a longer distance, it's recommended to upgrade to the next wire gauge.
From this I would guess I should be using 8 gauge for the 30 amp and 6 gauge for the 40 amp.
I am also thinking about putting in a CAT6 cable so I can have internet access there as well. We have our garden there and my wife spends a good amount of time there. It would be good to have internet access when needed.
Any comments would be much appreciated even if they are about me not doing all the thinking before I started acting..
Thanks
The guy that put my new pump into my well gave me the idea of using the black plastic pipe for running the electrical wire through as a conduit. They do it all the time. I have almost finished digging the trench through some pretty rocky soil and had plenty of large rocks to move out of the way. The 990 with the 8B BH has been a great rig for doing stuff like this. I am always amazed what the thing can do. I have 2, 100 foot lengths of pipe already lade and I will have to run the wire through from the main panel which would be another 50 feet and I probably have another 40 feet to go to where it will come up through the conduit I put in when the 6" floor was poured for the shed. So that is where I come up with the 300'. I know Cu wire is not cheep now a days. I kind of wished I would have bought the wire back when I put the shed in!
My question is do you think that I am crazy doing this. I of course have started the project so I am already in the midst of it. I didn't think about the length of the run and the current I was looking for. I believe it is doable but I know I will need a pretty heavy gauge wire and that is why I was thinking just a 30 amp sub panel. A 40 amp would be better in my mind but maybe the 30 amp would be plenty for lights and having a 20 amp outlet.
I pulled this off of one site giving input on putting in a sub panel:
The wire gauge of the cable you use to connect the subpanel to the main panel depends on the size of this breaker as well as the distance between the panels. In general, you need 10-gauge wire for a 30-amp subpanel, 8-gauge for a 40-amp one and 6-gauge for a 50-amp subpanel. If you need a 100-amp subpanel, you'll be running beefy 3- or 4-gauge cable with a 6-gauge ground wire.
Voltage drop becomes an issue over distances in excess of 100 to 150 feet depending on cable size. If you have to run cable for a longer distance, it's recommended to upgrade to the next wire gauge.
From this I would guess I should be using 8 gauge for the 30 amp and 6 gauge for the 40 amp.
I am also thinking about putting in a CAT6 cable so I can have internet access there as well. We have our garden there and my wife spends a good amount of time there. It would be good to have internet access when needed.
Any comments would be much appreciated even if they are about me not doing all the thinking before I started acting..
Thanks
