Powering house from barn, moving meter.

[madosta]

So this is just a preliminary planning idea I have been having as I have been getting quotes for a pole barn.

The house is currently fed with AL from the pole underground to my meter on the house and 200amp service. It's prob 2/0 or 4/0 whatever, doesn't matter yet.

My barn would be constructed behind the pole, as follows:

__________
| |
| BARN |
| |
| |
-----------y

(p)

-------------|
house |
----------x--|

p - pole
x - current meter
y - new meter/panel

So my idea would be to move the meter from the house to the barn and then feed the barn from the pole and the house from the barn.

If I wanted to fee the house with a generator from the barn I could do so.

What kind of options do I have?

I was thinking I could feed 200amps from the new barn panel to the house/breaker. Or would I need to feed the house from a new meter can with dual service disconnects?

Like I said, just planning and looking for some thoughts.

 

[madosta]

I will have to then cover the meter can and shunt it on the house, is this ok?

And I would have to splice the feed to the house in the ground.

And it would have to be a new 4-wire sub-feed, which would probably require a new green ground... ?

But it's in conduit so not terrible...

 

[ishiboo]

I'm doing this same thing eventually, it's about $10/month or $120/year for having an extra meter, plus I want to hook up a generator at the barn and loose the overhead feed.

My plan is to do 400A service to the barn with two 200A panels. One 200A panel would have a 200A breaker feeding the house. This would allow easy shutoff for maintenance of the house panel.

They make covers for meter cans, but why would you? Remove the can. You need new conduit to feed in from the ground anyway.

Yes, 4-wire is required... you'll have to bring the whole setup up to code with ground rods at the house and barn if UFER is not present.

 

[madosta]

They make covers for meter cans, but why would you? Remove the can. You need new conduit to feed in from the ground anyway.

Yes, 4-wire is required... you'll have to bring the whole setup up to code with ground rods at the house and barn if UFER is not present.

Nice!

There is already a 2 or 2.5" conduit buried from the pole to the house panel and I would try fishing a ground through it (ugh) or perhaps just pull all new 4-wire one run and eliminate the meter can as you suggested... Ground rods are present at the house already.

I guess I could put a meter on the pole maybe and feed both of them from there, but it makes most sense to do the entire swap and in the end have just one meter. I wonder if there's any regulations regarding having your primary house fed from the barn and having the meter on a barn and not your house... not sure.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Why not check with the PoCo and see if u can get a separate service to your barn off the pole? Would be a whole lot easier and cheaper than redoing the electrical feed to your house!

 

[tjcanno]

Why not check with the PoCo and see if u can get a separate service to your barn off the pole? Would be a whole lot easier and cheaper than redoing the electrical feed to your house!

Yes. But not so easy to feed the house from a generator out at the garage...

 

[trbomax]

I feed the house from the shop.House is a subpanel with gnd rods and 4 wire feed.Been that way 4 yrs now,but it wasnt built that way.Originally the house was fed from the meter socket which was on a pole.When we built the shop we had a new service (underground)at the shop useing a feed thru panel.The lower lugs power a 200a disconect which feeds the house.When we were in the planning stages the inspecter guy came out and I ran through my plan. He had some suggestions (which I implemented). I would suggest contacting the inspection dept and do the same. They like it when you "consult" with them and you dont end up doing things twice.

 

[madosta]

Yes. But not so easy to feed the house from a generator out at the garage...

This is the primary reason for feeding from the barn, yes. So two meters when the power goes out is the same money going out and no electrons coming in...

I feed the house from the shop.House is a subpanel with gnd rods and 4 wire feed.Been that way 4 yrs now,but it wasnt built that way.Originally the house was fed from the meter socket which was on a pole.When we built the shop we had a new service (underground)at the shop useing a feed thru panel.The lower lugs power a 200a disconect which feeds the house.When we were in the planning stages the inspecter guy came out and I ran through my plan. He had some suggestions (which I implemented). I would suggest contacting the inspection dept and do the same. They like it when you "consult" with them and you dont end up doing things twice.

Well I will definitely do that, but as with any government they are lagging behind, thus I figured I would see what kind of suggestions you geeks had. I don't think I'm putting in any load shedding panels or anything crazy so it should be fairly easy.

 

[Highbeam]

I have the same situation with an aerial feed to the house and then a subpanel at the shop. Would love to mount a big double tap meter (320 or 400?) on the outside of the house fed by an underground service drop. Then from the meter can feed each "main" panel in the barn and home. Not sure if you'd need any sort of disconnect at the meter other than the meter itself.

 

[Jamie V]

Not sure if the generator plan will work either way. I had a new service put in at my home when I put the pole barn up. I put a 400amp meter socket in (300amp service) off of that meter socket they ran two sets of wires. One set to my 150amp panel in my basement and the other to a 150amp disconnect in the basement then from there to the 150amp panel in my pole barn.

When I use to back feed my house with the generator I would kill the main breaker and back feed the house through a dryer plug. Now if I try to back feed from the pole barn it won't make it to my house panel unless I pull the meter so it doesn't go back to the grid. Unless your garage is fed from a 200amp breaker inside a 400amp panel you would have the same issue I believe.

Does that make sense to anyone? LOL

 

[RickP]

So this is just a preliminary planning idea I have been having as I have been getting quotes for a pole barn.

The house is currently fed with AL from the pole underground to my meter on the house and 200amp service. It's prob 2/0 or 4/0 whatever, doesn't matter yet.

Have you thought about making the electrical changes in stages? I don't know about you, but I hate changing everything all at once if it can be avoided. After the cost of the pole barn, you're talking about adding a genset, transfer switch and a new PoCo drop/meter installation. Sounds like a lot of extra cost over and above just building the pole barn.

Couldn't you just keep the meter at the house and add a transfer switch at the house when you install a generator in the barn? That way you could feed the barn from your house until you decide to buy the genset and upgrade the electric service. If you do upgrade your service to 400A someday, you could install a new main panel next to the meter, and use that to feed 200A subpanels in both the house and garage. You might need one extra feed from the genset to the transfer switch, but that sounds a heck of a lot cheaper than the cost of changing the location of the PoCo drop.

Have you thought about the size of the generator/transfer switch you're going to need to feed the whole house? Are you going to buy a 200A generator? That's a ton of cash. If you go with a smaller one, I'd recommend installing the transfer switch as close as possible to the panel in your house, because each circuit you decide to power will have to be re-routed from the current panel to the transfer switch. If your transfer switch comes with a wiring harness already installed, the length of those wires will determine how far away from the panel you can install the switch (usually only a few feet).

What do you plan to run in the barn during a power outage? Could you just use extension cords for that equipment during the outage? That way you wouldn't need a transfer switch for the barn. I just run extension cords to a fridge and a freezer in the garage during an outage, and it's not too much of a pain, compared to the cost of a much bigger genset. Mine is 15kW, and that runs everything in the house that I need.

I keep thinking about building a pole barn, but I haven't pulled the trigger yet. Good luck with your build!

- Rick

 

[dgarcia6212]

i fed my pole barn from a sub panel in my house(garage) i was told to use 3 wires and install a ground rod at the pole barn panel, no need for 4 wires if your installing a ground rod

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Not sure if the generator plan will work either way. I had a new service put in at my home when I put the pole barn up. I put a 400amp meter socket in (300amp service) off of that meter socket they ran two sets of wires. One set to my 150amp panel in my basement and the other to a 150amp disconnect in the basement then from there to the 150amp panel in my pole barn.

When I use to back feed my house with the generator I would kill the main breaker and back feed the house through a dryer plug. Now if I try to back feed from the pole barn it won't make it to my house panel unless I pull the meter so it doesn't go back to the grid. Unless your garage is fed from a 200amp breaker inside a 400amp panel you would have the same issue I believe.

Does that make sense to anyone? LOL

Backfeeding from the barn in this situation has to do with making sure to not bacfeed the grid. The size of the panels and breakers has NOTHING to do with it.

i fed my pole barn from a sub panel in my house(garage) i was told to use 3 wires and install a ground rod at the pole barn panel, no need for 4 wires if your installing a ground rod

Incorrect and so wrong! Did u have an inspection? Who told u this?? As I have explained so many times, ground rods and EGCs/ground wires serve 2 different purposes and ARE not the same! People often confuse the 2 because they share the same word! If u have parallel metal pathways between the 2 buildings, u have the potential for a dangerous and shocking situation! And u have made it even worse by feeding a subpanel with a 3-wire feeder off of another subpanel! Regardless, any and all subpanels after the main service panel or service disconnect REQUIRES a 4 wire feeder, PERIOD!!