Residential vs Commercial Meter

[fas-tel]

I have already begun excavation, with plumbing already done.

I am now on to power and gas. Regarding power, the power tap is only around 10' behind my garage. It is over 70' to where my existing residential meter is located on the back of my house.

We are adding the garage (100 amp) and a swim spa (80 amp). I only have 200 amp service in the house, so something needs to change.

I either need to:
1. Have a 300 amp line trenched all the way to the house, then run the 100 amp line back out to the garage and another to the swim spa
*or*
2. Have 200 amp service trenched directly to the garage. Terminate the 200 amp panel in the garage and feed the swim spa from there.

Issue is this - a second meter (technically #3 if you include interruptible A/C) is per the power company (DTE) a "commercial" meter, meaning I will get charged commercial rates. Anyone ever run into this before? Any caveats/issues? My builder is still gathering the facts but it sounds like there is a $15/month fee for the meter and the commercial rate may or may not be lower depending on who you ask.

Thanks for any/all input.

My build thread is here:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5902187#post5902187

 

[dw1]

I have a separate- 200 amp service to my barn, a normal residential service is charged a $12 meter fee/ service charge and I think its .07 cents a KWH, for my barn, its a $25 meter/service charge and .08 cents a KWH. I am sure its different all across the USA, I would check before you install, also make sure you dont inquire any equipment charges along the way (Xfmer-ect from Utility Co.)

 

[Muzzy]

How does the trench for natural gas / telephone /data fit in?

I have two services as well, one being a 100 Amp commercial service to my pole barn.
From memory, the commercial service has about a $25 service charge vs. $15 for the house, but the usage charge is like $0.08 vs $0.13 per kilowatt hour.

As basically a storage bldg, during the winter, we use 1 KWH per month on that meter, essentially for opening/closing the overhead door. In the summer the pond fountain runs off of there, so the bill is up to around $50 per month.

We bought the property this way. My opinion is that if you're there for the long haul, you definitely want to be on one meter. That extra $25 per month gets under your skin.

 

[DC73]

Consider a 320 amp or 400 amp meter with a base that has two outgoing feeds. Run one feed to your new building and the second back to your house thereby eliminating the existing meter.

DC

 

[Thumper68]

Consider a 320 amp or 400 amp meter with a base that has two outgoing feeds. Run one feed to your new building and the second back to your house thereby eliminating the existing meter.

DC

This or run the 300 or 400 amp meter to your shop and then add the house as a sub panel from the new main in the shop.

 

[fas-tel]

This or run the 300 or 400 amp meter to your shop and then add the house as a sub panel from the new main in the shop.

Thank you for the great replies! Once I figure out the actual costs I will figure out what I am going to do. I have plumbing in there so I do plan on keeping it heated for the winters. The trench is still open so I can use it to run the power back to the house if necessary.

I have an interruptible meter on my house, would there be any impact in this scenario?

 

[rockwithjason]

you would demo the meter connect the house as a subfeed. you will have to float the neutral at the house and separate any grounds from the neutrals in the house panel.

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

This or run the 300 or 400 amp meter to your shop and then add the house as a sub panel from the new main in the shop.

 

[Falcon67]

PUC in Texas allows the same on the electric tarriffs. I set my old shop up on a separate meter because a pole was 20' from the back wall. When we saw the rates and minimums, I think it was under 6 months payback to wire the shop to the house.

Same with the co-op that powers our new house now - $30 min charge for a meter plus commercial (residential +) rates for that 2nd meter. The run from the house meter to the new shop is 130', maybe $160 for the wire and parts. Again, 6 months to recoup the expense.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I can't speak for DTE as we have AEP. The service in my garage is separate from the house and it's considered a small general service. I believe the rate is slightly higher but I believe there is surcharge for the service.