increasing power at the sugar house

[jimsudz]

I have 200 amp at house put in 100 amp service to barn about 90' from house and took 100 to sugar house about 200' from barn. is there an easy way to increase amps at sugar house. can this be done with a transformer? All wire is under ground. I don't remember wire size, it is direct burial aluminum ran conduit . I'm reaching my limit of 100 amps. Thank you

[maple flats]

The only way you can increase the amps is by adding the proper wire to do so. While in theory stepping the voltage up considerably then back down at the sugar house, those transformers would cost more that the wire to add it correctly.
I went thru these ideas to run 190' from the last pole (almost half way into the sugarhouse) when I connected to the grid. I was getting 200A service in. For that many amps the wire used was 250 kcmil copper, in conduit. I had to add 28' from the bottom of the trench to up the pole, then 4' tail for the power company to connect to. Then at the pole (my pole) where the electric meter was being installed I had to add 4' trench + 4' to meter box then 3' tails for electrician to work with, thus 190' became 233'. I don't have the cost of the wire and conduit right now, but my idea was to use a lighter gauge then step the voltage up, and back down. The transformers, and smaller wire with conduit came to over 50% more that the wire and conduit did for the 250 kcmil wire.

[Pdiamond]

If you are looking to put in a 200 amp service for your sugar house, it would be best to run a separate 200 amp service.

[1arch]

Did you take a current reading on each phase during full operation? A 90 Amp load seems to be extensive for 325 taps

[maple flats]

jimsudz, are you getting ready to grow? Also, what do you have that is using near 100A?
While I have 200 at my sugarhouse I have never used even near half that. However, I have a solar set up , net metered and I needed the full 200A for that, in fact I had to use a 225A panel with a 200A main because of the power I can send back to the grid. By code there is a formula to use to calculate over powering a box (because of 2 sources of power..
Then from my sugarhouse panel I have a sub panel with 100A in my shop. Soon that will have another sub 100A in a blacksmith shop I plan to build. The main thing in having the other boxes is that I will not be working in more than one of those places at any given time.

[unc23win]

Sounds to me like your ready for another service either sugarhouse by itself of or sugarhouse and barn together. I ran my sugarhouse off my house for a few years Then I talked to the power company and had a service put in called trailer service which is a 200 amp service with breaker box on a pole. Then you run the wire from the pole however and wherever you want. The service was $1500. I then ran my wire that I already had 400'. I am probably going to have to step up to 400 amps in a few years. When I do that I will cut a right away and have the service ran to the sugarhouse or I will bury it. It is a real good idea to discuss your power needs with the power company to make sure you have enough power so the power stays on and your equipment is not damaged.

[jimsudz]

Planning on a new sugar house in the next few years . For now i'm running a 600g cdl RO, vacuum pump,blower for evaporator lights, fridge, air compressor, transfer pump, TV.electric heater and a electric releaser with submersible pump will be add this season. I run as few items as possible when I fire up the pressure pump on the RO. My concern is running the electric releaser with the pump.

[Kh7722]

For what its worth, im running our vac pump and electric releaser back in our woods, which is all run through our house. We have 200 amp in house, 50amp to barn, put. 200 amp panel in sugarhouse for future hookup. But currently rinning pump house with vac and releaser on a 20 amp breaker 1200’ from house panel.
Electric is a total pain to figure out. I made the decision to upsize everything just in case. If you do run new wire be sure its 4/0 aluminum which i was told is 200 amp service wire. Hope it helps and is not to confusing

[arcticmaple8]

Need to check your amps with everything running. If motors are starting hard due to low voltage and voltage drop over the 300 feet of distance a buck boost transformer can jump up your voltage at the house depending on what your line voltage is. If its 230 at house you could step it to 250 or so

[maple flats]

For what its worth, im running our vac pump and electric releaser back in our woods, which is all run through our house. We have 200 amp in house, 50amp to barn, put. 200 amp panel in sugarhouse for future hookup. But currently rinning pump house with vac and releaser on a 20 amp breaker 1200’ from house panel.
Electric is a total pain to figure out. I made the decision to upsize everything just in case. If you do run new wire be sure its 4/0 aluminum which i was told is 200 amp service wire. Hope it helps and is not to confusing
If the distance is 300' using aluminum 4/0 you will lose 9.27V or 7.73% of the power. That means you will pay for 7.73% of the power because it is lost to heat. That is 7.73% extra every time you use a large load in the sugarhouse.
Google "voltage drop calculator" and plug in the numbers to compare. Then decide how much more you are willing to invest now for the greater efficiency year after year.

[Kh7722]

Correct mapleflats. Like i said, for what its worth. I would rather pay .07 cents on the dollar to be sure to have the juice to run nearly everything ill ever need. Ive had multiple guys in area have to reinstall wire because of things like “ill never need it” or google. Wire is expensive talk to an experienced electrician

[Tmeeeh]

We added electrical capacity to our sugar house by running another cable parallel to the old one with a junction box at each end of the cable run. That way both the old cable and new cable share the load. A quote for a pair of transformers cost twice as much for us.