Home Forums Miscellaneous Topics Rural Living Options for electric to pole barn, what would you do?

Okay, so I've got my pole barn up and enclosed. It is a 40x40 foot barn and about 250 feet behind my house. Through some poor planning, I didn't stub out electric when the house was built 2 years ago. I have a gravel driveway so for trenching, not a big deal to cross it. I have 3 options that I can use:

1. Run electric from street to barn. Total of 500 feet to trench and would run alongside drive and very close to my existing buried electric line.

2. Drill 3" hole through stone on front of house, and run power from existing box in garage out through hole and back under ground 250 feet to barn. I could paint the 2.5" pipe to match stone and put a rock or something in front of it. Downside is also has to horizontal 24" deep under front sidewalk for trench. Plus hole in house.

3. Grab the line to the house as it passed under gravel driveway, splice into it and run the 250 feet to the barn.

If option #3 is viable, I think it is the best option for leaving the house unscathed and not having to tunnel under sidewalk. Just hearing splice and makes me nervous I guess. So any electric guys out there with advice?

How many amp service to the barn?

At that distance you might be better served with having service at the barn. Amp load and type of use will determine.

Looking at 100 amp service in barn.

100 amps would get you by, I'd think more. What are you thinking of using in the barn?

Extra freezer for game, small fridge for beer, and then LED lights everywhere. Not a welder or anything like that. Mostly tractor/atv storage and dog kennel on one end.

Run a 100A circuit off your residential panel to a subpanel in the barn. Is your residential panel in a basement? Core through house foundation for LB, drop to long sweep at trench depth, continue in conduit to barn, long sweep out of trench, riser to LB at panel height, through wall into back of panel.

Panel is on front side of garage and will need to core through concrete foundation on way out I guess. Then tunnel under sidewalk and trench to barn. Probably the best way versus splicing the main electric to my house. Have to check out coring process on foundation wall. Thanks!

With a good core bit, and a hammer drill, a big hammer drill, the hole should not be a big problem.

What's above your garage? Could crossing over to the backside of the house through an attic space and back down be an option?

Good thought on the trans attic space but I put in an 800 square feet patio and retaining walls on the backside of house. No way you would have known that.

Thinking just drilling a big hole out front and under the stone front will be the best option. I can run out the existing box with that plan.

If I ever build another home, hoping I never do, I will for sure stub out electric and water out the back for a barn.

how big of service to the house? Wire size and type? You may have to bring a new line all the way from your pedestal...

If you run from street, ( Option1)would you have a 2nd meter. That means two bills and two separate charges for base service (around here,that is $34 /meter)plus actual usage.

I'd go Option two.
I just finished doing this, I used direct bury from my barn to another smaller building.so I just added another circut.

When I did my garage/barn, my house service panel is in back of the house ,outside. I did put that in conduit I ran #4 copper, three wires. I took 240 right off the inlet of my house panel (250 amp service)( I can turn off my power at my pole/meter). It's best to run the 240 w/ground to your barn and split it up to 120 in a 100 amp service panel in your barn. Never say you won't have a welder, Handiest think in a rural setting.Some compressors run on 220 now too.I have automatic cut out switch at my meter and I can feed my 9KW generator back to the house thru the welde outlet.

In my barn/shop/garage, I run a 220 welder, a 120 wire feed welder, compressor, two lathes, lights, receptacles, chop saw, table saw, band saw, planner, drill press,two grinders, 1 sander, stock tank heater, door opener, and two block heaters in the winter, but they are never all run at the same time since it is only me working in there. Been at it for 41 years now and have never flipped a breaker.