How far can you take electricity from the transformer

[Pasty]

I have a friend up in Gloucester and she currently has a single phase transformer on her land supplying her house, buildings and a neighbour. She wants to supply a new barn build some 350m from this. Not as the crow flies as that would mean crossing a road twice (250m). Is this possible? Her other option is to put in a new 3 phase transformer nearer to her own yard which would maybe have some advantages and would be slightly closer to the new barn (maybe 20m).

So the question is which is the better option and if it's at all possible would 3 phase be better / worth the investment? She's asked me but I know little on the subject.

Thanks.

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

I forget the power loss calcs now. @bitwrx or @Exfarmer may be your man.

I wouldn't think 350m was too bad though.

 

[Paddington]

We have had a 300m ish cable installed to power a repeater mast, think the voltage drop was a few tens of volts.

 

[Exfarmer]

This or similar is discussed in another thread
Electric help please on the building thread.
For a new build I would strongly advise getting some serious advice, any house with power showers, cookers and possible ASHPs is going to require a 100 amp supply and this will mean a very hefty cable. I think in the order 95mm, which is not cheap!

 

[Exfarmer]

We have had a 300m ish cable installed to power a repeater mast, think the voltage drop was a few tens of volts.

If your power starts at 240 volts a few tens of volts will give you serious issues if you are not lucky! You must always go larger than you think, apart from the above I talked about the issue of car charging is going to beccome very relevant

 

[TheTallGuy]

Every situation is different & how far away you can run cables will depend on factors such as expected loading, how much spare capacity there is on the transformer & if it is possible to utilise a higher voltage tap to out of the transformer. The only way to find out is to speak to the network operator, which I believe for Gloucester area is Western Power. A new transformer & feed will generally be the most flexible route, but may come at a prohibitive price.

 

[Paddington]

If your power starts at 240 volts a few tens of volts will give you serious issues if you are not lucky! You must always go larger than you think, apart from the above I talked about the issue of car charging is going to beccome very relevant

The power supply was only for 100W or so and the installers seemed happy with it.

 

[Pasty]

Thanks all. I think she needs to get the operator out for a chat. Sounds like its possible though.

 

[Davey]

Thanks all. I think she needs to get the operator out for a chat. Sounds like its possible though.

Yes I wanted an over head powerline putting underground, by far the cheapest option was to build a meter box in the corner of the field the last pylon was in and then I put the new cable in from the meter box across my land to where I wanted it. As mentioned above you need to know the distance and max loads for the voltage drop calculations which will then dictate the size of cable you need.

 

[thesilentone]

Don't know if it's regulation yet, however all new planning applications require a supply that will also service electrical charging for cars.

 

[Courier]

The power supply was only for 100W or so and the installers seemed happy with it.

Could that not be achieved more economically with solar panels, batteries and an inverter ?

 

[Paddington]

Could that not be achieved more economically with solar panels, batteries and an inverter ?

I would have thought so, but apparently not. I'm not paying for it, so don't care.

 

[Pasty]

She's just sent me a map and from sat images there appears to be a pole on her land which she says is 11Kva about 75m across the valley so that might be a better idea of possible. Means crossing a country lane but that could be a pole each side I would have thought and buried the rest of the way. I have a similar setup on my place where it needed to cross a river so they buried it, sent it up a pole in my garden and then across to another pole which services a box to do with the gas main which apparently they electrify to stop it rusting.

 

[organicguy]

Don't know if it's regulation yet, however all new planning applications require a supply that will also service electrical charging for cars.

All new planning, conversions round here have to have external car charge point.

 

[Bob the beef]

Speak to your sparkie and get his honest opinion, about what you will need, then speak to your power supplier who will dream up some ridiculous scheme requiring all sorts of line upgrades and pole renewals and charge you ££££££. Then you will find a compromise somewhere in between.
our last connection for holiday lodges, was relatively simple . Scotpwer came up with a quote north of 16k to connect and renew 2 poles and replace a transformer that was only 3 years old. Got our sparkie to write a letter giving them the exact power requirements, and lo and behold the bill for the whole job came to £560

 

[D14]

I have a friend up in Gloucester and she currently has a single phase transformer on her land supplying her house, buildings and a neighbour. She wants to supply a new barn build some 350m from this. Not as the crow flies as that would mean crossing a road twice (250m). Is this possible? Her other option is to put in a new 3 phase transformer nearer to her own yard which would maybe have some advantages and would be slightly closer to the new barn (maybe 20m).

So the question is which is the better option and if it's at all possible would 3 phase be better / worth the investment? She's asked me but I know little on the subject.

Thanks.

We have a single phase supply (35mm cable) running 350 metres from a fuse board to an outlying storage area where the elec is powering a portacabin with full kitchen, heaters and 4 pc's and associated items. The fuse board is then 100m from the transformer in its own right. Without checking I think its also a 35mm cable from the transformer to the fuse board which is 3 phase enabled if needed but I know that we can't get 3 phase to the storage area with 35mm cable. The cable would have to be double the size.

 

[Highland Mule]

I have a friend up in Gloucester and she currently has a single phase transformer on her land supplying her house, buildings and a neighbour. She wants to supply a new barn build some 350m from this. Not as the crow flies as that would mean crossing a road twice (250m). Is this possible? Her other option is to put in a new 3 phase transformer nearer to her own yard which would maybe have some advantages and would be slightly closer to the new barn (maybe 20m).

So the question is which is the better option and if it's at all possible would 3 phase be better / worth the investment? She's asked me but I know little on the subject.

Thanks.

I wouldn't, not unless the barn only needed a very small supply (LED lights and no small power), and even then I'd probably go for offgrid on solar and batteries.

A quarter mile of cable is going to add up, and the voltage drop will be silly too, unless very thick cables - might even be cheaper to plan the barn to be closer to the supply.

 

[Pasty]

I wouldn't, not unless the barn only needed a very small supply (LED lights and no small power), and even then I'd probably go for offgrid on solar and batteries.

A quarter mile of cable is going to add up, and the voltage drop will be silly too, unless very thick cables - might even be cheaper to plan the barn to be closer to the supply.

New barn is to replace old. There will be solar and maybe batteries too. Not a huge requirement for power. Mainly lighting I think. So it's more of a trickle charge idea.

 

[Highland Mule]

New barn is to replace old. There will be solar and maybe batteries too. Not a huge requirement for power. Mainly lighting I think. So it's more of a trickle charge idea.

https://www.doncastercables.com/technical-help/ will let you see what thickness is needed for a specified load. If only lighting, then not worth running the cables at all, IMO.

 

[Pasty]

I haven't been to her new place but I think the concern is doing a half arsed job and regretting it later when the welder doesn't work etc. . As said above, getting a good sparky on board would probably be the first step.