electricity for shack?

[seandicare]

well this year I am building a new shack and planning on just using a 100ft extension cord for lights (4ft florescent shoplight), blower (small air mattress size) and maybe a small RO.

in a couple years I plan on building a bigger true sugar shack, and trying to figure out the electrical for it.

the electrical in our house is pretty bad... cob-jobbed would be a compliment really......I am thinking of having the electric company put in a second entrance to the house to a new 200amp breaker box. does anyone have a ballpark idea what that would run? I would run a line out to the shack off the new box.

I had a general contractor tell me that they could just slave a 100A box into the existing one, but I have a feeling that will just be a pain further down the road when I start trying to fix the wiring in the house.


next question is for an oil-fired evaporator. I am looking at something in the neighborhood of a 18in x 5ft or slightly larger (when I build the new shack). what kind of electric do those need, would it be 115V or 220V??


thanks for any advice or tips you can give on this.

[Cedar Eater]

well this year I am building a new shack and planning on just using a 100ft extension cord for lights (4ft florescent shoplight), blower (small air mattress size) and maybe a small RO.

in a couple years I plan on building a bigger true sugar shack, and trying to figure out the electrical for it.

the electrical in our house is pretty bad... cob-jobbed would be a compliment really......I am thinking of having the electric company put in a second entrance to the house to a new 200amp breaker box. does anyone have a ballpark idea what that would run? I would run a line out to the shack off the new box.

I had a general contractor tell me that they could just slave a 100A box into the existing one, but I have a feeling that will just be a pain further down the road when I start trying to fix the wiring in the house.


next question is for an oil-fired evaporator. I am looking at something in the neighborhood of a 18in x 5ft or slightly larger (when I build the new shack). what kind of electric do those need, would it be 115V or 220V??


thanks for any advice or tips you can give on this.

If you leave your old service panel in, but reconfigure it to become a subpanel of your new service panel, then feed a subpanel in your sugar shack from a breaker in your new panel, it probably won't cost all that much, but the power company only does a small portion of the work and you can do the rest, unless your state has some funky ridiculous laws that say otherwise. In MI, the powerco only wires to the hot side of the meter socket after the local inspector has signed off on the installation. Is an outdoor panel mounted on pressure treated posts and 2X4s out of the question?

[Michael Greer]

Putting in a second service sounds good unless they send you a second bill. There's a basic service charge of $23 or so for every meter. Here in New York (NationalGrid) that second service for a non-residential building pays a commercial rate....higher that your residential rate. You can't re-certify that building and get a residential rate unless you get a "certificate of occupancy", which of course you can't get for a sugarhouse.
If you want a nice new 200 amp service, do it, but don't do it twice.

[seandicare]

the second service box would be mainly for the house, (to help fix the mess that was made) and a single breaker to supply the shack. and I would be wiring that myself, most likely.

I am not sure of full requirements. the second panel would be in the house in an enclosed area. then I would probably just run 10ga wire to the shack and split it out for outlets as needed. last I checked, code allows 7 outlets/circuit, so figure 1 breaker MAY be enough

[Cedar Eater]

the second service box would be mainly for the house, (to help fix the mess that was made) and a single breaker to supply the shack. and I would be wiring that myself, most likely.

I am not sure of full requirements. the second panel would be in the house in an enclosed area. then I would probably just run 10ga wire to the shack and split it out for outlets as needed. last I checked, code allows 7 outlets/circuit, so figure 1 breaker MAY be enough

I personally wouldn't build a powered outbuilding without a 30A 240/120 subpanel (minimum). You've already got the ground open. A 10/3 UMB feeder is not that much more expensive than a 10/2. A subpanel box with a disconnect is relatively cheap. A 30A 2pole breaker to feed it is relatively cheap. A ground rod is relatively cheap. You may eventually want to run something with a 240V heating element or even a welder out there. You might want to put a GFCI circuit in, but you might not want the whole building to be fed by a GFCI breaker. You might kick yourself later either way, but I hate underpowered buildings.

[seandicare]

I personally wouldn't build a powered outbuilding without a 30A 240/120 subpanel (minimum). You've already got the ground open. A 10/3 UMB feeder is not that much more expensive than a 10/2. A subpanel box with a disconnect is relatively cheap. A 30A 2pole breaker to feed it is relatively cheap. A ground rod is relatively cheap. You may eventually want to run something with a 240V heating element or even a welder out there. You might want to put a GFCI circuit in, but you might not want the whole building to be fed by a GFCI breaker. You might kick yourself later either way, but I hate underpowered buildings.

thanks for the reply........though I am not planning on anything big like a welder (not sure what power needs of evap is yet) I didn't think I would need 220V, but, after reading your post I recall coming across a RO wired for it.

[1arch]

So being one of those overpaid electricians :confused:I would estimate an average 200 amp service upgrade somewhere between $1,500 to $2,500. There are plenty of variables.
Sizing a feed to your sugar house can be most cost effective with a direct burial aluminum feeder. Size your over current protection to the cable ampacity and feed a small panel in the sugar house. 30 amp 240 volt really is quite a bit of power which can be achieved by installing a 10/3 copper Uf cable however a larger aluminum cable will cost less per foot and offer a greater ampacity.

[seandicare]

So being one of those overpaid electricians :confused:I would estimate an average 200 amp service upgrade somewhere between $1,500 to $2,500. There are plenty of variables.
Sizing a feed to your sugar house can be most cost effective with a direct burial aluminum feeder. Size your over current protection to the cable ampacity and feed a small panel in the sugar house. 30 amp 240 volt really is quite a bit of power which can be achieved by installing a 10/3 copper Uf cable however a larger aluminum cable will cost less per foot and offer a greater ampacity.

thanks for the reply.... my father was an electrician by trade, so have an idea what you are talking about ( a little...lol) at least gives me a ballpark to plan on later....tried calling the elec company about it....they wouldn't even give a ballpark without coming out first.