Electric to a Shed, What Do You Think Of My Plan??

If your only running one wire then you will only have one circuit. You might branch that off to two or more devices but only one circuit. Your lights alone if on togeather will eat 10 amps.

If your going to the time and effort to run the wire I think I would go larger. You can get 100amp 220 wire drops, Around here called trailer drops at a reasonable price. Very similar in cost to burry rated 10/3. This way you have 220, larger wire for less voltage loss, room to grow if needed. Your only real additonal cost is a ground rod and a small breaker panel.

I would run a 20 amp double pole 220 breaker and a panel in the shed to split your 120 volt circuits from. It'll cost a little more but it'll give you a little more flexibility. You don't want to have to run back to the house if you want to cut the power off at a breaker. If you run three wires, two hots and a neutral, on your branch circuit, you will have to use a ground rod at the shed. If you run four conductors, two hots, a neutral and a ground, you will be grounding the branch circuit at your main panel and won't have to use a ground rod. You don't want to be using your neutral as your ground because if you lose your neutral there is no way to trip your breakers and you can light yourself up. You don't want to get too cheap on your electrical stuff, it can kill you.

Technically, and if you are doing it to code, all your wiring in the shed needs to be in conduit if it isn't enclosed inside the walls.

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If you run four conductors, two hots, a neutral and a ground, you will be grounding the branch circuit at your main panel and won't have to use a ground rod.

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...unless (and please check me on this Inspector 507) he runs some other metalic conductor (e.g. the RMT or the phone line) from the house to the shed. In that case you need another ground rod out at the shed and you do NOT bond the grounding conductor to the neutral conductor at the panel in the shed. This was my understanding when I ran electric and phone line out to my barn.

The phone line has no bearing as to whether a ground rod is installed, but if he runs RMC out there, that is a continious metallic path back to the main building and he'll have to install one.
The whole idea of a ground rod is to dissipate stray voltages(lightning), so out in the shed/barn why not put it in and be done with it? They're cheap [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

I found a good site for electrical questions, check it out, forum looks great. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]


http://www.homewiringandmore.com/

I would just buy the underground phone line and skip the conduit.The phone line has a silicone like goo inside the cover to help seal it if it gets nicked.

mikell

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so out in the shed/barn why not put it in and be done with it? They're cheap [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

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I think the last one I bought was under $10.00.
Cheap insurance. [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Steve