We have a new barn approx. 250 ft. from our house that I want to run electricity to. I buried a 1″ conduit from the house to the barn. Now I’m looking for recommendations on what size wire I should run, and what size fuze box to install in order to have enough electricity for lights and outlets. The building is a 30x56ft pole barn. In it I raise rabbits and other livestock. Eventually, I would like to include a heated room with a refrigerator.
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I would most likely run a separate service to the barn at least 100 or even 200 amp. That way you would have enouh ampacity to handle most future expansion.
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4 #6 wires will fit in a 1″ conduit. That will supply 60-65 amps (depending on wire type, copper only). It will supply 2 legs of power, a neutral and a ground, 220V* and 120V, *depending on what your local provides. You could use 3 #4 wires and provide 70-85 amps, depending on the wire type. But 3 wires doesn’t separate neutral from ground. Providing more amperage than you need is better than providing the minimum and in future finding it’s inadequate. For what you’re planning it would probably give plenty of headroom for anything you might do in the future there, except making it a living quarter. You’d need a bigger conduit to supply more amperage safely. I ran 40A of 220V to my garage for my saws and other tools and it was more than enough. I only run one at a time anyway. My lights and outlets run on a couple of pre-existing 120V circuit though. The closer you get to the maximum amount of wires for a conduit size the harder it will be to get around multiple bends. I think the maximum bends you can get wire to feed through is 5 bends. It’s important that they feed through untangled or not crossed over. It’s also important that the conduit has no sharp edges on the interior so the insulator doesn’t cut. Do a continuity check on all the wires before connecting them to be sure that there aren’t any shorts in the conduit before continuing with any connection to power. It’s not a bad idea to cover the conduit in concrete too. It will make it more difficult to cut the conduit if anyone digs in the area in the future. There is code on this in your area, it’s good idea to research what’s legal or required. Make a run from your main service panel to the barn using a 60 or 65A 2 pole breaker. Run 4 #6 wires to the barn. Put in a sub panel in the barn that will provide enough breakers that fits your needs. More than you need is better. If you’re going to use 120V you need a separate neutral wire for the returning loop on the 1 leg of power (It should be white or marked white with tape or paint.). There’s a risk of shock on this wire so keeping it isolated from ground is important. That’s why you should have 4 wires instead of 3. But if there isn’t a separate neutral and ground buss in the sub panel, the need for 4 feed wires is less important. But it will give a better grounding if you use 2 wires for the ground and neutral. Good grounding is important when you’re dealing with an area that has a concrete or dirt flooring. After the sub panel is where a separate ground and neutral is most important. Don’t cross them up or someone will suffer the consequences. Always use a green wire for the ground. Most important issue is being sure the lugs are snug at all connections. The majority of electrical faults can be traced back to poor connections either by corrosion or loose lugs or connectors. So taping or sealing all connectors is a good idea too. For mechanical connections where 2 or more wires connect, twist them together with pliers then cap them with with a connecting cap. Don’t rely on the connecting cap to make the connection. Ground fault breakers or outlets might be required in an environment you describe. But for the sub-panel it’s not required. But to use ground fault products you need a good isolated ground. Keeping your lights on a separate breaker and a separate leg from the outlets will prevent the lights from flickering or failing when an outlet’s breaker trips or loads. No amount of advise will help if you don’t understand electricity. If you don’t understand it, don’t attempt it yourself. You could kill yourself or people you care for and burn down your property. It’s powerful dangerous stuff.
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I wish you would have checked the guage size you would need before burying conduit. im thinking you will need probably 8 guage romex for 50 amps…hm maybe a 1 inch conduit will be big enough….that much wire will be costly though–25
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I don’t think my first message went though i would consider adding a new service to the barn at least 100 if not 200 amps the other thing to keep in mind is voltage drop. With a 250 foot run if you need 60 amps with 6 wire the the drop would be almost 20 volts. With 4/0 wire the drop would be 2 volts.
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This is what i would do. Go to the power company and get a spec. sheet for an electric meter and permanent service. Then install the meter box and whole house breaker for the permanent service. Then call the power company to hook it up to the power. It only cost less than $20. a month for another meter, Then you will have a separate bill for the barn.