Garage Electricity

[skcj213]

I have long term plans to buy the run down, trashy, rental property next door, tear it down and build a the garage/shop I have always wanted. In thinking through the details I have come upon a question. Power comes into the south side of my house and the new garage will be on the north side. I don't really want to run the cable the width of my house then trench through the yard to get to the location of the new garage. Since there is already service coming into the afore mentioned property would it make more sense to just run power directly from the pole to the new garage? I am pretty sure that since the usage will probably not meet a minimum requirement I will have to pay a minimum chanrge (customer fee + meter fee). I know you the folks on this sight have pretty done and seen it all, I am looking some insight. For what it is worth, I am in southern Illinois and get my electricity from Ameren Illinois.

 

[Stuart in MN]

There's a couple things to consider. If you tear the old house down and build only a shop on that property, check with the city to see if you can keep the two lots separate or if you have to combine it with your existing lot into a single property. The zoning in your neighborhood may or may not allow having a lot that only has a shop building on it with no house.

Then, if you have to combine both lots into a single, check with the electric utility to see if they will provide two separate services to a single property. If the two lots are kept separate there should be no issue, but if it's a single property they may not allow more than a single service.

edited to add: now that I think about it, for tax purposes you probably want to have both lots combined into one, otherwise the other lot wouldn't be homesteaded and the taxes will probably be higher.

 

[Robbo]

Also check into rates if you're going to have two poles on one property. Here, I moved onto a property with two (one at the barn) and am required to pay commercial rates on the second. Previous owners said it was the same way for water (the sprinkler is on it's own meter) so they didn't have second water meter turned on...and I have never turned it on....


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[skcj213]

Stuart, thanks for the reply. I hadn't thought about the zoning issue. I live in a small town, roughly 6500 population, and zoning is not always strictly enforced. But, I don't want to be the guy that gets his shop built and then is told by the city that it has to come down because they don't allow it.

I had though about the separate lot deal with the power company, even to the point of setting up an address for the garage for them to mail the bill to. I am thinking I can pay the minimum charge each month for a lot of months before it will equal the cost of runing power from the house to the new shop.

 

[skcj213]

I read through Ameren's policies as best I could, the legaleze and technical speak make it tough to read and understand. As best I could tell you don't necessarily have to pay commercial rates if you get a second service. However, it is up to Ameren to decide if a second service will be installed. The requirements, and I am going from memory, were either a minimum monthly usage of 10,000 kW or if extending power from the first service to the second location creates a safety issue or isn't economically feasible.

 

[Mustang51js]

Build a shop with a apartment above it and don't rent it out

 

[kbs2244]

I have a unit in FL wher the nobody there, min, power cost is less than $25.00
The phone that I have so someone call call 911 is more expensive.

 

[Zeke]

Build a shop with a apartment above it and don't rent it out

If that meets the township requirements. But, a good train of thought. Just remember that a livable unit has minimum space requirements.

 

[skcj213]

I spoke with a guy with the county today about zoning. I described what I was wanting to do and he said he didn't think there would be a problem. He is going to check with his counterpart with the city and will give me a call back.

So....assuming putting a garage on the lot is not an issue. I am thinking a minimum monthly chanrge would parobably be the way to go. At $25 per month it would take almost 7 years to offset a cost of $2000. I am guessing it would be at least that much to have power ran from the house to the proposed garage. 7 years is not a very good payback on money spent.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

How long would the wire be if u hooked up to your current house. If its a good distance and depending on your load requirements, the wire could be pretty pricey!

 

[TheEquineFencer]

I have long term plans to buy the run down, trashy, rental property next door, tear it down and build a the garage/shop I have always wanted. In thinking through the details I have come upon a question. Power comes into the south side of my house and the new garage will be on the north side. I don't really want to run the cable the width of my house then trench through the yard to get to the location of the new garage.

You've answered your own question. Put a new service in the shop. You can do it all yourself, just do it to code. That's how it works here in North Carolina. The building inspector is not crazy about it, but as long as it's right, he passes it. My nephew just installed a 200A service in my parents old house. It feeds the old 100A service. He's running the new HVAC system off the new 200A and taking some of the loads out of the 100A panel and adding them to the 200A panel. Local codes are what I'd be worried about. I'd build it with a small kitchen and living quarters. The wife might make you stay there because of all the time you'll be spending there.

 

[skcj213]

The wire would be roughly 75' long to get from the south side of the house to the location of the new garage.

A new service would certainly be cleaner. The only concern is that my wife manages the money and pays the bills. It would certainly be a source of irritation to have an extra bill each month just for power to the garage. I'll just have to keep pointing out to her how much money we save each time a do a car repair, home repair or make her something nice in the woodshop rather than having to pay someone else or buy it.

I heard back from the zoning guy and replacing the current trash pile house with a garage will not be a problem. I think they would rather see a garage than the derelict building that is there now.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

The wire would be roughly 75' long to get from the south side of the house to the location of the new garage.

A new service would certainly be cleaner. The only concern is that my wife manages the money and pays the bills. It would certainly be a source of irritation to have an extra bill each month just for power to the garage. I'll just have to keep pointing out to her how much money we save each time a do a car repair, home repair or make her something nice in the woodshop rather than having to pay someone else or buy it.

I heard back from the zoning guy and replacing the current trash pile house with a garage will not be a problem. I think they would rather see a garage than the derelict building that is there now.

O 75' is nothing. I thought we were talking hundreds of feet...

 

[Slonaker]

I just went through this. My all electric house is on a 100A service, so there was nothing left for the new shop. I could upgrade the house to 200A, then trench about 400 feet to the shop (across sewer lines for the house, water lines for the shop, and the electrical for my barn), or I could run new 200A service from another pole directly to the shop. The power company had no problem with a second service on one address. I just have an $18 fee each month for the service.

I have a friend in the next town over. He originally had two houses on his property, and now has one and a shop. He has two meters with one address for this reason. No issues with the power company.

Slonaker

 

[skcj213]

Thanks all for your input. I think the best solution is for a new service top the garage. Now all I have to do is buy the house next door from the slum lord owner.