Underground service question

[mark3885]

I'm trying to ball park some numbers to help decide if I want to go underground service, overhead or possibly, solar off grid or solar grid tie.
My log home is located 2500 ft.from the road and electric service. What I'd like to know is , what are the cable requirements for underground and overhead. Is conduit required ? What are the requirements for overhead cable, pole spacing and pole height. I would think that a transformer would be needed , any specs available ? I'm not sure of the voltage at the road , but I would be the last service on this line . I will be contacting the power company soon , but was just curious as to what I'm up against . Thanks

 

[Norcal]

You need to contact your power company (PoCo), in order to get power their requirements in addition to NEC requirements will need to be met. You may be able to get some info on the PoCo website to start.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Where are u located? City/state?

The costs and whats required are up to the PoCO. If youre 2500' from the nearest pole, it would be better to run high voltage to a pad mount or pole mount trany and then low voltage cable to your meter main/ main service. If u did the opposite and ran low voltage cable 2500', the cable would have to be HUGE and probably paralleled conductors depending on your load requirements.

First step- call your PoCo!!

 

[CNGsaves]

Depending on what COUNTRY you are in, you may or may not get electrical service. . . . OP, you're not in Mexico, right ??

In USA, especially rural areas, it's highly unlikely you will get underground service to the house.

PoCo is holding the golden key. Good luck.

 

[2diamondfarm]

We are building a new house and its 1/4 mile back off the road and the power co is putting the line in under ground to a pad transformer by the house then under ground to the meter base for a price that was better than I thought it was going to be.

 

[madosta]

One of my pet peeves is overhead wires. Bury them if you can!

 

[foolishpride]

If you're that far off the road, there's a good chance you will be required to purchase most of the primary cable. Most POCO's will only furnish the first few hundred feet of cable.

They'll need to set a small padmount transformer near your house. Depending on which side of the road the power lines are ran, it's possible they will need to set a pole, which you may or may not be charged for also.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

One of my pet peeves is overhead wires. Bury them if you can!

O come on. Theyre not that bad. U can hang your tennis shoes from them....

If you're that far off the road, there's a good chance you will be required to purchase most of the primary cable. Most POCO's will only furnish the first few hundred feet of cable.

They'll need to set a small padmount transformer near your house. Depending on which side of the road the power lines are ran, it's possible they will need to set a pole, which you may or may not be charged for also.

And Im sure underground primary cable aint cheap!

 

[driz]

I'm sure it varies from place to place but typically the power company will give you 1 pole and the run to it . After that it's on you or you pay them to do it. You might be able to get away with digging and setting up the trench and they do the install.
The thing to remember is this. What they put in is THEIR PROBLEM, after that its YOURS. Thus it is usually a good idea to put as much of it on them as possible so you don't get stuck with a huge bill to fix something down the road. I have around 1000' run overhead through the woods and they did it with their pole and 1 I paid for. In 1995 NYSEG charged me 2 grand for that one pole. From their my buddy and I used his backhoe to dig a trench and run the last 250' underground. We left the tail at the pole making sure to leave enough and when they turned things on NYSEG hooked my wire to their transformer, done.
It's pretty easy to find all your info out. Just call and make an appointment with the power companies siting engineer. Have him come out and tell you what to do as he does it for a living. At the least he can rundown the costs, plus's and minus's of going one way or another. If there is anything you need to buy like I did with the underground section he will tell you what to get. You are going to be buying electricity from them anyways so you might as well take his professional advice. Also he will be setting up the project on their end which makes him the go to guy.
Personally I put mine in cheap PVC sewer pipe. I put all my underground goodies in pipe being in shale country. PVC black water line is the strongest stuff you can readily find but you just cant get wires through it very far and won't easily lay flat due to it's coiled shape while sewer pipe is cheap and easy to work with in 10' sections. They also give you the option of (hopefully) pulling it and reinstalling / replacing without digging up the whole thing if need be. That's the theory anyways but pipe is cheap insurance.