few electrical questions, materials related

[383 240z]

I need to run 120v AC down to the temporary goat shed It's 6'x8'. Once the bigger proper barn is built I will have cable run underground from my shop.

My plan is to run the wire from the breaker box, thru the basement wall, into plastic conduit, this will either be buried in a shallow trench, or mounted to the top of the split rail fence. If I go with mounting it to the fence, I'd prefer metal conduit, less chance the goats will chew on that. I could seal the joints with silicone. This circuit will feed an 300 watt halogen outside light for their pasture, a single 60 watt incandescent lamp in the shed, and a 1500 watt water bucket de-icer. The run will be 100-150 feet.

The real barn is getting started in the spring, this is a temporary solution, however I really am not looking to cut corners, I don't want to electrocute my goats, or my wife when she is down there.

what gauge wire and amp breaker do I use. Are either the plastic or metal conduit rated for this kind of exposure? other plan could be some direct burial cable, in a shallow trench along the fence and into the shed.

Ok I am willing to cut one corner, I'm not wanting to dig 150' of deep trench by hand for a circuit that will only be in service for 6 months. GJ, what are your thoughts? Keith

 

[sberry]

This is a problem, there is no legal shallow trench burial, 1 ft minimum if you have it gfci before it leaves the first building. Fix the de icer so it pulls half the wattage would help. V drop probably wont hurt this circuit a lot.

 

[383 240z]

I know it's not legal, however it's on my farm and is temporary. Nobody will know its there. It will be gone by late spring.

How would I cut the wattage down on the de-icer? It's a large heating element that screws into the water trough. It's controlled via a thermostat. Turns on at 35* and off at 40*. Or did you mean buy a lower wattage de-icer? Keith

 

[wyliesdiesels]

With that length of wire @ almost 16a youre gonna need at least #12 wire to keep voltage drop at around 5% and #10 wire would be better especially if u ever want to run power tools on it. 20a breaker should be fine!

 

[383 240z]

I talked to an electrician guy I know thru a buddy of mine. His idea was to bury 12-2 UF cable on a 20 amp breaker with a GFCI. That way if the water de-icer fails I won't electrocute the goats. He even offered to loan me a trench cutter that hooks to the 3 point on my tractor, do save me the digging.

Now I was thinking that since this will be a temp setup, and I'll be ripping it all out in the spring anyway, I came up with revision 2.

Put an outdoor outlet box on that side of the house. Wire the male end of an extension cord into the first junction box inside the shed. Plug a 100' 12-2 extension cord into it and run that to the shed. Basicly I would be plugging the shed into the cord.

This way I end up with an outlet on that side of the house. It would be nice since I don't have exterior power there.

Will the 12-2 extension cord carry the same load as the 12-2 UF? Keith

 

[wyliesdiesels]

No, cordage has lower ampacity than building wire. #12 cord is rated at 15a. The GFCI is a good idea. If youre gonna use cord get #10 cord. But it will cost 3x as much per foot!

The 12-2 UF-B would work!