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Houska
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# Posted: 19 Dec 2022 06:59am
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We've been exploring different buildsites for a 4 season home in our forest in Eastern Ontario. Our default site was >1 km from utility power over rocky wetlands, making grid power an obvious non-starter.
We're now exploring an alternate house site, where utility power would be "just" at the end of the new 350m (1100') driveway we'd be constructing anyway. Wondering if that makes on/off grid a real choice.
Anyone with experience with grid power supply runs of this distance? What are the physical requirements (conduit? how deep?) and costs, roughly speaking?
For various reasons, overhead supply (poles all the way) are a non-starter, would have to be underground. I know costs of this are pretty darn high if you're trenching and burying as a separate job, but I'm wondering if it becomes more manageable if line would get buried along the side of our new driveway as we're building it.
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bushbunkie
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# Posted: 19 Dec 2022 09:01am
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Hi Houska, we’re on the Bruce Peninsula and I just had hydro run in this year. Best thing to do is get a local electrician who has experience working with Hydro one, but this is what I can tell you about our experience...we were fortunate that having a new hydro pole installed fell within the designated “free†distance or that would have been $5000 to start. Our neighbour two lots up will have to spend 10,000 just to get a pole in. Like you, we had to run underground but only for @ 300 ft. This distance, of course, meant they had to go to the more expensive cable. I cut a trench through my forest to get to my driveway as soon as I could and had the cable follow the driveway and through the middle of my lot to the side of my house to the box. Since they can’t get down 3 ft on the Bruce since all rock, they cover the entire cable run with a layer of concrete before they backfill. When they installed the pole, I also had to walk the length from my pole to my neighbours pole and cut any tree that fell within the 30-40’ clearance allowance between poles to ensure no tree growth or tree branches could ever fall or interfere with the cable running from pole to pole. Basic hook up cost us $12000 and the standard electricity delivery charge
...I believe we get billed every 3 months...is $200. before they actually factor in and add your cost for usage. The actual process working with a Hydro One to get your plan re. Where pole is installed on property approved was pretty easy and cost us almost nothing since our pole was free. Hope our recent experience gives you some ideas. A local electrician who knows the requirements of Hydro one could get you a quote fairly quickly.
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Steve_S
Member
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# Posted: 19 Dec 2022 10:06am
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My first quote from Hydro One was 45K, then the "Wynn" Gov approved a big increase which took that quote to just over 70K. I'd hate to find out what it would cost "today".
Hydro is 1.1km away on the highway. It would have required a new Transformer, several poles _AND_ they wanted to cut through the forest and do Poles to the house. I am on a Granite Ridge at the top and so not much "top soil" and they were not into trenching into granite. Can't blame them on that.
The quote they provided, including "them" bringing in a logger co to clear the right of way, building piles for the poles and even included bolts & nuts plus every other thing imaginable.
Before I built my house, I had a crew come in to excavate & prep my building pad (no basement) and to do my driveway (400') so I know exactly what's underneath the soil. It would have been possible to trench along the driveway to the road at the time but the cost of that alone would have cost me the same as what my Solar System cost...
Depending on the ground you have and what's underneath @ 4-6' depth you might be able to get a "power trench" dug in beside the driveway and up to the home demarcation point. You will require a Hydro One approved electrician to figure out the wiring for your desired service and to lay the wires accordingly. You CAN save cash by using a qualified electrician of your choosing to do that work when doing the driveway. HydroOne subcontracts and adds a premium for that. Then you'd only have to get them to bring power to the end of your driveway and again using your own electrician to hookup a meter.
BTW: You can get a temp meter & post to use while doing construction and then reconnect it to the house once built. Many folks do that around here, as well, many decide to setup a powerhouse building and install the Hydro Meter there and run to house/garage/barns from that point, most of those also have Solar setup and operating in that same powerhouse. That may be another option to consider as well.
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Irrigation Guy
Member
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# Posted: 19 Dec 2022 10:13am
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At 1100’ they would likely be running primary and setting a transformer near your house.
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ambit
Member
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# Posted: 20 Dec 2022 12:14am
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Probably not helpful but in PA I dug my own 600' trench three feet deep. Added a foot of sand, utility company ran their line and dropped a 'turtle' near my cabin for power. I added another 1' of sand and back filled the rest. cost $2500 USD.
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Houska
Member
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# Posted: 20 Dec 2022 08:12am
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Thanks for the replies; seems we'll have to ask a local electrician. And then do a real tradeoff calculation vs (larger) solar.
In our terrain, a 3' trench ain't happenin'. 18" maybe.
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DaveBell
Moderator
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# Posted: 20 Dec 2022 09:16am
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Houska, rock hammer in trench for electric.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcr5dyr9N1E
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DmAK12
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# Posted: 11 Jan 2023 08:51am - Edited by: DmAK12
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Quoting: Irrigation Guy At 1100’ they would likely be running primary and setting a transformer near your house.
Yup. Voltage drop for 2AWG is 0.04V per foot at 100A.
That's for copper ($$$) there would be more voltage drop for Aluminum
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