[Electrical] Separate power line & meter to garage?

[DaveTN]

Has anymore had the power company run a separate line to their detached garage?

If so what did they charge for the hook-up? And is there an extra monthly fee besides usage?

[Guest clsutton21]

as far as i know, they treat it like another residence. why do you need to have a separate one run?

[Rightwinger]

shhhh (particle accelerator, he doesn't want the CERN site to get all the credit)

[nightrunner]

i believe that you will either have 2 bills or get put on commercial rates with having 2 meters but not 100% sure, never run into that question before.

easiest would be to run it off of your house

[Guest Traumaslave]

When I bought my house and had the electric changed to my name, they told me that I had to pay commercial rate on my detached garage with separate meter. I was so mad I should have spit. This they told me after stating that it had been on residential for the previous owners and it shouldn't have been. Yes it costs more and yes you have a minimum charge regardless of use. But, the cost to run romex from the house would take many many years to offset the added expenses.

[Guest clsutton21]

The best thing for you to do is run a 4 strand wire (red, black, white, ground) off your own breaker box into your garage and into a new breaker box. Just make sure the breaker you put in your house box is bigger than what you need in your garage.

[nightrunner]

what clsutton said.

i can tell you exactly what you would need to do this if you choose to do so.

[TripleDigitRide]

Yep, they will charge commercial rates. A friend of mine in Manchester just ran power from the house to his non-commercial shop.

I'm not an electrician, so I don't know what that initials, but I do know that he had everything done in one weekend. Most of the work was done by himself.

[dralarms]

I have a customer that was in the same setup, he had them run the meter to a power setup between the 2 buildings and run both off 1 meter.

[Mike.357]

figure out how far your garage is to your neighbors house. When he is not looking run high quality extension cords from point a to point b. If the neighbor finds it, just say it was there when you moved in.

[CBC2009]

You will need an electrician to install a new service and meter base, the building will need to be inspected before the power is turned on.

You will receive a separate charge for that service. I don’t know why it would be a commercial charge unless its a business. It could be that way in your area. You would save a lot if you could run a line from your house.

The fees vary but for a drop service it shouldnt be more than $150.00 for the elec. company

[DaveTN]

To go underground would require going through a lot of asphalt and through the roots of a big tree. I’m told that code here won’t allow aerial between the house and garage anymore. That is what I have now; I just need higher amp service. If I replace it I have to go underground unless it comes from the power company pole.

Also if I run it from the main in the house I’m told I open the entire electrical system in the house to inspection and it would have to comply with the latest code.

Even though I have the knowhow to do it myself (house to garage), and I know people that are electricians the city of Murfreesboro won’t allow it. I have to have an electrician that is licensed by the city of Murfreesboro.

Incoming to the house is aerial now and the pole is positioned between the house and garage. Running to the garage from the pole would be the easiest way to go. I just didn’t know what the extra fees would be.

[nightrunner]

since you already have electrical service, if you just add the power to the garage to the main in the house, it doesnt have to be inspected. also there is a small clause in the NEC (national electrical code) that exempts everything not changed in house as it was "pre-existing" only what is required by the fire code has to be changed, usually just smoke alarms.

how many amps of power are you looking for in your garage?

[Guest PapaB]

When I put up my garage/workshop the electric company here didn't charge to run a new service. I had to have an electrician install a breaker box and had him add a couple of overhead lights while he was at it. The electric company came back out (for free again), inspected the work and installed the meter. Residential rate, separate page in my monthly bill, adds about $20 a month depending on how much I use it.

Sounds like the Nashville area electric companies aren't as friendly.

Edited July 14, 2009 by PapaB