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help running electricity to barn

5K views 10 replies 4 participants last post by  HouseHelper 
#1 ·
I recently put in a 10/2 wire underground to a barn about 330 feet away from the main panel. Now I am trying to figure the best way to hook it up. I think I have 2 options:

1) run it 120 from the main box with either a 20 or 30 (??? help??) amp breaker to the barn directly to a gfi recepticle and run a switch for a fan/light setup off that. I think that will protect everything.

2) Can I run it 220 with the 10/2 wire to a small panel in the barn, and use the one wire for neutral then ground the box w/ a ground rod? Then run the individual circuts (plug, fan, light) off individual breakers)?Will this provide me advantages in regards to available power and amount ? I probalbly will not be using 220 at the barn. If I went the 220 route would I use 20 amp breakers from the main panel or 30?

Make any sense?
 
#2 · (Edited)
10/2 wire is a maximum 30 amp breaker. You need 10/3 for 220 volt plus neutral. You can get 220 volts with 10/2 but it will not have a neutral. You cannot use the bare copper wire as a neutral either.
To set a sub panel at the barn you actually need 4 wires. Two hots, One Neutral and one ground. The neutral and ground must be seperated. You will also need one or two ground rods.

Consider this a 120 volt branch circuit as in any other circuit in your house. You can mount a small 30 amp disconnect/switch in the barn to enable you to bring wires out for recepts and other small loads.

330 feet is a long ways from your house. I would be concerned about voltage drop at the barn.
 
#3 ·
....330 feet is a long ways from your house. I would be concerned about voltage drop at the barn.
I totally agree with J.V. on this. Actually, I guarantee that the size of the cable will need to be upgraded to deal with the inevitable voltage drop. I would do this calculation before purchasing any cable.
 
#4 ·
All you can do with the 10/2 already in place is have a single 120V circuit. Protect this with a 15A breaker and be aware that once you pull a load in excess of about 6A, voltage drop will be an issue. In other words, lights and a ceiling fan will be just fine, table saws and other large motors will not be.
 
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