Power...

[Steve C]

So we plan on building our sugar house this summer, but one of my main concerns right now is power. The sugar house will be built across the road from where our house is and after seeing the kind of number its takes to even run 1500 taps (book says just under 10,000 watts min.)

Just curious what suggestions you guys might have? It seems the only 2 options are to either get the city to run another power line over the road, which is apparently a big deal up there, or I run the whole thing on 2 generators...which doesn't sound so great.

[mapleack]

Could you build the sugarhouse on the same side of the road as your house and pump the sap across instead?

[jrthe3]

my sugar house in not near any house i had power company hook it to pole put in my own meter the only cost was the breaker box (200 amp) meter box and inspection had less then $200 in it i have never had a electric bill over $100 for the whole year

[Haynes Forest Products]

Have you called the power co they are the ones that put in new service lines to bldgs? I would put in a 100 AMP min service that will give you 200 worth of amps to draw from dont worry about the Watts. count amps filter press 2.5 blower 1.5 lights .5 fridgerator1.5 TV all the things you will need at peak load so plan plan plan. The cost of a 100 or 200 AMP service is so small but if the power co put in a drop from the pole for a 100 AMP and then you decide to upgrade then your going to spend money. Having your own service will cost every mounth but then its done right.
Im going the seperate service route this year I have been running water line and elec together in the woods for the last 18 years back when all I need was lights. Now with all the pumps fans lights fridge and welder 220 coffee maker oil gun Im using 150 AMPs on a 50 AMP circuit YIKES the only good thing is the wire acts like a heat tape and keeps the water line from freezing

[firetech]

Steve C Contact a local electrical contractor and get him out for an estimate, most of the time the estimate is free and he has alot of experinace working with your local power company and can give several differt ideas to work with. Even if he charges you a service call it will be the smartest money you will spend this year. The other thing service size and demand are two different things. On our side of the boarder we can only run 80% of rated service for our demand load.

[Steve C]

I'll probably talk to the city to see what it would cost to get it hooked up but I'll still probably have to get a generator because I'm being told power isn't too reliable up there.

Found this one generator that is 15,000 watts and costs $2k - $3k. Seems a little excessive but the Maple Syrup Producers Manual says a 1500 tap production takes 10,000 watts/100 amps. I'm hoping getting the city to connect the power doesn't cost that much....

[H. Walker]

Frends of mine run a 4500 tap operation off a tractor and a pto generator. The big expence of a generator is the engine, if you have the tractor that's half the battle.

[yarg]

There is a way to bore a hole under the road with just a regular drill and a garden hose...takes a couple hours and you can do it yourself....my friend who is in florida now did many of them..I have to contact him to get the finer points or you can research it.

[dano2840]

do you have a culvert? put in one of those welding plugs run one of those big welding cords through the culvert and upgrade the breaker? idk any thing about elec. but wouldnt that work?

[Steve C]

No theres no culvert, and since its a city road I don't think we can get one without a permit. I've also heard that running a mainline for sap underground can cause the sap to freeze.

Thanks for the suggestions, we don't have a tractor, only a huge backhoe which would be a pain to get to the sugar house unless we cleared out a lot for it to get through...although we might have to for when its time to build.