Question about Electricity

[7L Farm]

I live on a farm & sell veggies . Well anyway I've been busy putting in my fall crop & a contractor came by & I asked him what he would charge to put a couple of plugs in the coop. Normally I try & do everything I can myself so I really do not no what some one would charge. I have electricity 60 feet from the coop. He wants 500 dollars to run electricity 6" under ground to the coop.I almost had a heart attack. Is this what people pay?

 

[midget_farms]

That sounds reasonable.

Remember he has to buy a cable that is rated to go under ground - he has to dig a 60ft ditch & he has to wire it so it will be safe & not kill himself or you.

Personally - I run a drop cord - a very very long drop cord. However I only use the juice to power my battery float charger for the auto door & a couple of flood lights for the winter.

I may put in a water heater too. But in the end - not very much electricity.

 

[owler]

Don't know about the codes in your area but by me it has to be 18" inches down for direct burial cable and 12" for conduit.

 

[Orchid]

That is not at all out of line pricewise.

 

[Schroeder]

That is close to what I was quoted. I saved about half by renting a trencher for 3 hours and running the cable myself (as directed by the contractor).

 

[7L Farm]

Quote:
There's no restrictions out here.Guess I'm old school. I also don't no if its safe just running conduit under ground my itself .

 

[Shaun]

We bought really heavy duty (10) ga wire rated for in ground (buried) use. In the spring - we live in clay - we'd NEVER get it in the ground in the summer, we buried the cable inside heavy duty black irrigation pipe. We hooked it up ourselves, but then, I've done a lot of wiring. It was fine for about 15-18 years and then we had problems. We were able to use the old wire to run a small rope thru, and then used the small rope to run the new wire thru the pipe. I should tell you - we used the tractor to pull the wire from where it emerged from the ground by the hen house - it was not possible by hand, but we figured it was worth a shot so we didn't have to dig again!!! And it worked!! Our run is closer to 80 feet, maybe a bit more. The wire is pricey, but we bought the best we could find as we didn't want to burn down the coop or replace it soon. The heavier the wire, the less loss along the wire, so in the long run, it's cheaper to use the heavier wire. (It is a PAIN to work with, however)

Depends on what you are willing to do yourself. If you rent the trencher, or use the shovel yourself, there's some savings. I'm pretty sure the electrician would rather just run the wire and not have to fuss with burying it.

Good luck

 

[swimmer]

Sounds about right to me too. We had power run out to a shed and it wasn't far at all. And the price was pretty high.

 

[joebryant]

Get it in writing everything that he's going to do and use. Then double check it with somebody who knows as much as he does. Then decide if it's worth $500.

ETA You said a "contractor" came by. Is he an actual licensed electrician?
If he's not, I wouldn't give him 10 cents.

 

[SandyK]

We did ours also. Rented the trench digger and then ran electricity, water, wire for camera if we want one down the road and the rope to pull if need be in the future. Ours was a 200 ft run, can't imagine digging that one ourselves. It sure pays to have a DH that knows how to wire everything and build too!! I'm very grateful.