I live on a 2+ acre parcel with a house and an outbuilding. I'm planning on putting up a 50 x 90 pole building. In that pole building I'm putting in a wood shop and personal auto repair shop. The shop will have a lift, welder and tire machines. I'll need multiple 220 outlets and such. I'm planning on putting a 100 amp box to service the building.
Currently the electricity feeds my house through the meter on the side of the house. In my breaker box I have a 220 line that goes out to my outbuilding (detached garage). It works for now, but when I build the pole building, I don't want to put a 100 amp breaker to feed the pole building.
I've seen on other "farmette" type properties, they have a wooden panel (a wood board supported by 4x4’s I guess is a good way to describe it) outside near the pole. On that panel is the meter. The meter then feeds two 200a service disconnects. One goes to house, the other to the barn (or whatever). I don't know what this setup is called or even if it has a name. With the situation I explained above (adding the pole building), I was thinking that doing a setup like that would probably be the best bet. I'd have two 200a disconnects from the meter. One feeding the house and the other feeding the barn. The barn would then have a 200a panel in it. I would feed the other detached garage off the barn's 200a panel. Does that seem like a good solution? Overkill? I'd obviously have to have an electrician do the wiring and would have to get the electric company involved. I’m guessing the electric company would do the wiring to the meter and then the electrician would do the rest.
I also figured that if I do install a whole house generator, it would be easier (and maybe cheaper) to have them hook it up right after the service disconnect to my house. The generator would be near that panel.
Maybe I'm over thinking this whole thing, but I'm trying to pre-plan what I have to budget for on this project. Plus I don’t mind spending extra money if it’s something that will help me out in the future. The other thing is that I don’t want to fill my house panel up with breakers incase I decide to remodel and add more circuits. I know I could add a subpanel if I run out of room, but I’d rather not. I have a 40 space panel and there are only 3 spaces left. By doing the above mentioned thing, I would free up 3 to 4 spaces in the panel for future circuit expansion.
Currently the electricity feeds my house through the meter on the side of the house. In my breaker box I have a 220 line that goes out to my outbuilding (detached garage). It works for now, but when I build the pole building, I don't want to put a 100 amp breaker to feed the pole building.
I've seen on other "farmette" type properties, they have a wooden panel (a wood board supported by 4x4’s I guess is a good way to describe it) outside near the pole. On that panel is the meter. The meter then feeds two 200a service disconnects. One goes to house, the other to the barn (or whatever). I don't know what this setup is called or even if it has a name. With the situation I explained above (adding the pole building), I was thinking that doing a setup like that would probably be the best bet. I'd have two 200a disconnects from the meter. One feeding the house and the other feeding the barn. The barn would then have a 200a panel in it. I would feed the other detached garage off the barn's 200a panel. Does that seem like a good solution? Overkill? I'd obviously have to have an electrician do the wiring and would have to get the electric company involved. I’m guessing the electric company would do the wiring to the meter and then the electrician would do the rest.
I also figured that if I do install a whole house generator, it would be easier (and maybe cheaper) to have them hook it up right after the service disconnect to my house. The generator would be near that panel.
Maybe I'm over thinking this whole thing, but I'm trying to pre-plan what I have to budget for on this project. Plus I don’t mind spending extra money if it’s something that will help me out in the future. The other thing is that I don’t want to fill my house panel up with breakers incase I decide to remodel and add more circuits. I know I could add a subpanel if I run out of room, but I’d rather not. I have a 40 space panel and there are only 3 spaces left. By doing the above mentioned thing, I would free up 3 to 4 spaces in the panel for future circuit expansion.