Seperate meter?

[Mx391]

Just had a 36x50x14 pole barn built. Trying to decide what to do for power. 100 amp sub panel off the house or the shop have its own 200 amp meter.

Price really isn't an issue as I plan to live here for a long time. Only small issue I have is 20 or 30 dollar monthly charge for shop meter. Not a huge issue.

Would 100 amp service be sufficient? Just the common shop items. Compressor, lift, welder, plasma cutter, grinders, stereo, beer fridge, etc. Will run the above ground pool power off the shop. Also hot tub in the future.

 

[Falcon67]

That should be plenty but if you are going to pay for the 2nd meter, might as well put in a 200A panel because that's what the poco will drop to you. Doesn't cost much more for the larger panel IMHO.

Note - before you commit, check the rates on the 2nd panel. Some tarriffs may allow the poco to charge commercial rates on the 2nd meter at a residence. That used to be the case here. If so, the "payback" for running your own wire is pretty quick.

 

[larry_g]

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=931715#post931715

The above is a thread from 2010 where I show what I did with along with others putting their solutions to the same subject. Now I'm still happy with the decision.

As for the 100a to the shop that will work. Now adding the pools I don't know, how much power do they pull? That panel that I show in the other thread has 2 two hundred amp main breakers, one for the shop and one for the house. It also has slots for smaller breakers that I run the well pump and outside outlets from.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Richard Cranium]

Here in Washington, they have a much higher rate for an out building on it's own meter instead of the one for your house.
Plus the extra meter monthly fee

 

[Mx391]

The above is a thread from 2010 where I show what I did with along with others putting their solutions to the same subject. Now I'm still happy with the decision.

As for the 100a to the shop that will work. Now adding the pools I don't know, how much power do they pull? That panel that I show in the other thread has 2 two hundred amp main breakers, one for the shop and one for the house. It also has slots for smaller breakers that I run the well pump and outside outlets from.

lg
no neat sig line[/QUOTE]

Do you have a link or name for that? I will look into it.

 

[Toomanytools?]

More is better right? Depends on what your future needs may be I went through the same I was going to pull 125amp off the main house 400amp, having a second meter I was told would be $55/month. So I had REA upgrade transformer to 600 amps and pulled 200 amp for shop no second meter. Will I need 200a doubt it, but it's there for future charging of my Jetsonmobile.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Many POOCO will not do a second meter unless it is for "agricultural" building. There is always a "base" charge per meter.

 

[bamawildcat]

Where I'm at, there is a base billing rate of $20/mo for a meter. I don't have climate control in my shop, and didn't want to pay $240 a year to use a couple cents of electricity on lights some months.

 

[larry_g]

The above is a thread from 2010 where I show what I did with along with others putting their solutions to the same subject. Now I'm still happy with the decision.

As for the 100a to the shop that will work. Now adding the pools I don't know, how much power do they pull? That panel that I show in the other thread has 2 two hundred amp main breakers, one for the shop and one for the house. It also has slots for smaller breakers that I run the well pump and outside outlets from.

lg
no neat sig line

Do you have a link or name for that? I will look into it.[/QUOTE]

I used a CU12l400 https://www.schneider-electric.us/en/product-range/60251-meter-mains/

lg
no neat sig line

 

[NUTTSGT]

What's the pool require ? The hot tub ? You may find it easier, if the PoCo doesn't want an arm & leg for the second service.

My garage bill is about $40/mo.

A quick Google search comes back with this..

A large portion of 240V spas manufactured today require a 50 amp 4-wire electrical service. Some hot tubs have load requirements of 30A or 40A, and a few even 60A, which should correspond to the size of the new feed circuit breaker installed in the house service panel.

 

[rsanter]

Where are you?
If you are on what is considered AG land then you can typically get a second meter on an AG rate that is often lower

 

[HoosierMark]

You might want to talk to the electric company about upgrading your existing house service so you can run a 200 amp line to the barn. When I built my house a few years ago I told them I planned on a barn so they ran 400 amps in which included a separate connection for the line to the barn. When I hooked it up this summer we just connected the wires to the breaker. (My electrician may have installed box for future when house was built, not sure)

 

[dcg9381]

Would 100 amp service be sufficient? Just the common shop items. Compressor, lift, welder, plasma cutter, grinders, stereo, beer fridge, etc. Will run the above ground pool power off the shop. Also hot tub in the future.

I believe so.
Beats $360 per year for the honor of being connected to the grid.

I dunno where the new meter would be in relation to the shop/house, but just run 2" conduit if you really want to be future-proof.

Hot tub and pool being on at the same time - those are your high draw items. Hot tub will pull less than 40A flat out while heating (most typical). You'll have to tell me what the pool pump pulls.... The rest of the power - that's a lot for one guy to consume - you can only operate so many tools at once. Or so they tell me.

 

[Falcon67]

Would 100 amp service be sufficient? Just the common shop items. Compressor, lift, welder, plasma cutter, grinders, stereo, beer fridge, etc. Will run the above ground pool power off the shop. Also hot tub in the future.

I run waaaay more than that on a 70A breaker.