Wire Runs

[IndianaChristmas]

I recently moved.  My set up will now have to be about 300' from my home.  I was thinking about what kind of wire/cable I would need to get power to the location.  I'm afraid it will be quite expensive based on my calculations.
Assuming max of 30 AMPs running 120v over 300' there is going to be some voltage drop (3-4%) over copper wire.
My calculations suggest that a 3-4 gauge wire would be needed.
Am I about right?
I see 4 gauge single stranded wire for about 1.30$/ft.  This is going to be costly!  Will put a hit on purchasing important blinky stuff I'm afraid.  If copper wasn't so darn expensive at this point. 
I'll need to save some money for the Conductor as well as this seems like the perfect time to use it over lugging and safely storing a computer 300' away from my home!  I never tried the wireless over a 300' distance; I'm guessing 300' is a bit far (trees and other obstructions are in the way).

[urthegman]

Wow!!! You are going to have to put up some telephone poles as well!!!!

[JonB256]

For just power concerns, what would your local utility company charge for a "contractor" power pole?

The Conductor may be your best friend as far as a show goes.

[IndianaChristmas]

Hadn't thought of a contractor power pole.  Would this have its own meter and panel? Would it pull power from a connection in the utilities not associated with my house?
I bet that isn't cheap.  But the idea is intriguing as I really don't want power poles!  Nor do I care for digging a trench!

[urthegman]

You can make some NICE mega trees from power poles!!!  As long as they are evenly spaced!!! Ok! I am getting punchy, I guess all the programming and no sleep is catching up with me!!!

[duane.mosley]

as long as it's just a "temporary" pole, and it is set up correctly, the power company shouldn't have any problems with it. all you would need is a gfci receptacle, a meter base, and some service cable long enough to go to the top and leave about 3' for the drip loop at the top. your pole should be 10-12' so that your service cable has enough ground clearance as it sags to the main connection. i see them already set up on craigslist in my area all the time for about 100 bucks.  certainly cheaper than 300' of #4x3, 300' of 1 1/2'' conduit, and the trencher rental to bury your pipe, not too mention the breaker for that application will run you at least 100  bucks. if not more. you will however have to have your state electrical inspector inspect your pole before the utility company will terminate. in my area that cost is 25 dollars. hope this helps. good luck and blink on! lol

duane

[duane.mosley]

here is a link in the cincinnati area, noticed your in indiana

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hope this helps

[JonB256]

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Pages 3 thru 5

no good idea about the cost, but there would need to be a high voltage power line somewhere nearby for them to feed from. The closer it is, the cheaper it would be.

Buying 300 feet of 3 gauge wire to run this yourself would surely cost as much.

[n1ist]

The other trick would be to use a pair of transformers.  Boost the voltage to 480 at the house and then step it down to 110v at the destination.  This will drop the current to 1/4 of running 110v.
/mike

[tbone321]

The cost of those transformers alone would be prohibitive.  Perhaps I'm missing something but this is Christmas lights, isn't it.  If your current draw is only 30A, I really doubt that you would need 3 or 4 guage wire even at 300 feet.  Sure, you will have some voltage drop but lighs really don't care much about that, even LED's if the drop isn't significant.  It you really want to reduce voltage drop, run some 10/3 at 240V and then split it back down to two 120V circuits at the end where you want to use it.  My nativity scene pulls about 12A alone and I powered it with 2 16 guage 100ft extension cords connected together with no issues.

[caretaker]

If you only need 30 amps you can run 8 awg copper or 6 awg aluminum and you should be good. Check around in your area but you should be able to get 300' of 6-awg aluminum UF service cable which would give you a 220v feed (2-30 amp 120v feeds) for under $400 and a small CAT 3R panel for 6-8 circuits under $60 with breakers.

[IndianaChristmas]

Thanks for all the feedback.
I already have a service panel I created that originally had 50amp service running into it.  Since I am running mostly LED (not smart strings, yet) I thought 30 amp would be adequate for now.  So, I'm set on the panel.
Since the power pole seems a bit excessive, I think I will run the long copper or aluminum wire out to the front.  My only question is - yes, it is xmas lights but what about running a conductor (or PC), FM transmitter and in the future all those power supplies used for smart strings?  These will most likely care about voltage drops; right?

[jnealand]

I also use mostly LEDs.  If I turn on everything on my house roof, gutters, windows, porch columns, doors, etc and my megatree I draw less than 3 amps.  However my incan arches draw 18 amps and my incan mini trees also draw 18 amps.  I would convert to all LED (nothing incan) and figure out what your really need for amp.  You may find that using good 12ga extension cords will be "good enough" and you won't have to worry about all the big expense items.  This year my incan mini trees will be replaced with led mini trees.

[rayster]

If you look at most of your power supplies they are now made to run from 100 to 240 volts AC so a little drop from 120 should not be a problem. If your supplies are not the new wide voltage ones it might be cheaper to up grade them and go with the 10/3 idea also keep your eye's open for used contractors job site cables sometimes the bigger companies replace or throw out the cables with a nick in the outer jack but the inside conductors are fine.

Ray