im by far a electrician but saw on the man cave post people were talking about their service to the garage . my question is this , when i bought my house it had a 30x60 horse barn in back and a 20x 20 garage in front i made the front garage into a storage and the barn into my buggy barn , when i went to home depot the guy their told me to run number 8 aluminum to it my buddy had two spools of number ten stranded copper so i ran it because he said stranded will work better then solid . so i rented a mini and dropped in 2 inch conduit and rolled with it . i put it on a 40 amp breaker on the panel in the house and in the barn it has its own panel , my electric bill continues to go up and im doing nothing different ! it was around 90 dollars and now im up to the 2 hundred dollar range ? my question is somebody told me to unplug everything in the house and go look at the meter if it is still rotating this means i have a short in the house or elsewhere ? anybody feel that im heading the correct direction on this issue ? thanks jason

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Theirs no replacement for displacement !

How far is the distance from box to box?

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"YOU CAN MAKE THINGS HAPPEN, WATCH THINGS HAPPEN OR WONDER WHAT THE F$$K HAPPEND...WE'RE MAKING THINGS HAPPEN" The strong words of Captain Phil! Rest in peice!

40 to 50 ft

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Theirs no replacement for displacement !

If you have a amp meter you could start checking amp draw at your barn. Turn things off, then disconnect them one at a time and watch the amp meter and see if you get a drop in amps. If you don't locate the problem doing that turn off the breaker in the garage, check the amps at the top of the breaker in the barn, Then check the amps where the wires leave the house at. If you have a difference there then you have a short in the ground.
If you go through it systematically you should be able to locate the problem. If not, pm me you phone number and I could swing down there and see if I could help you out. You obviously have a current draw problem somewhere. You also may need to drive a ground rod in at the barn and ground your panel.

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Why do I hate everyone?...................because they deserve it

Do you have an electric water heater? My old place had one & over a period of 9 months my electric bill tripled. I changed the water heater & my bill came down 75 percent.

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I dont believe #10 wire is big enough. 10 gauge wire is only rated at 30 amps but that distance your gonna need bigger wire, for 50 amp load you should have #4 aluminum or #6 copper but use solid underground rated wire in conduit. For 30 amp load you shold have #8 aluminum or #10 copper. Remember that the further away your sub box is the bigger you should wire run.

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"YOU CAN MAKE THINGS HAPPEN, WATCH THINGS HAPPEN OR WONDER WHAT THE F$$K HAPPEND...WE'RE MAKING THINGS HAPPEN" The strong words of Captain Phil! Rest in peice!

yep we are all electric here and burn wood 100 percent for heat ! snd for the water heater hmm its 2year old but now that you mantioned the heater i noticed that are hot water supply is not as good as it used to be ! im going to ck the heating elements today and see if one is possibly burt out . thanks jason

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Theirs no replacement for displacement !

Im not sure lf mine was an element but it was leaking & I changed it. My normal bill there was 90.00 & the last bill prior to changing the tank was around 315.00. With the new tank it dropped into the 70's. Steve is right about needing heavier wire but you said your bill keeps climbing so I thought of that.

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Jason, we always recomend 60 to 100amps for your basic garage service. im an estimator for an electrical shop with a small retail store. #10 wire is only rated at 30 amps & if you put a 40 amp breaker on it you risk burning not only the wire up but anything that may be pulling too much or not enough. if u already have a 2" pvc conduit installed u can go with a #2/4 aluminum wire & that will handle 100 amps. we sell it for i think $1.50 a foot. that wire is a 4 conductor that is used for mobile homes that are direct burial & services for houses that are installed in a ridgid conduit. of course if u do this u'll need to have a breaker in your home panel to feed it & a breaker panel that is rated for 100 amps in the garage.
as far as your bill going up....it could be a few things...but a good start is to shut the breaker off going to your garage...if thats not slowing down u have probs elsewhere....then u could turn each individual breaker off in the house one at a time to see what u find...but then again it could be a combo of thing also. as far as there being a short....9 times outa 10 a short will trip a breaker...u may just have something that is pulling more juice than it is supposed to....or your neutral could be bad or going bad.....call an electrician & he can put an amprobe on all your household appliances & you garage equipment & check for the bad neutral wire...
oh & yes just like the other guys said ....a hot water heater can draw way too much when its ready to die...also ive seen furnace blowers do the same along with fridges & freezers pulling way too much & yes they took the bill upwards of 300 to 500 dollars...crazy stuff i know....but a good electrician will find all this out for u...& get your materials from an eletrical contrator or supplier...they will sell u the right materials.
just a side note: do u have a ground rod installed at your service? your system will run more efficiant if u do... hope it helps, James

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fuel injected mayham thanks for fyi im going to ck all you have said and also the garage does not have a ground pole i bought it and never put in in ( oops) guess ill be putting that in huh !

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Theirs no replacement for displacement !

I dont know if your just running lights to the barn or using it for for a shop, but either way 10 gauge for that distance is not enough. I also dont think that wire would run your power bill up. I put a 125amp box in my shop because I run a welder and compressor. I know its easy to say ,but you do need bigger wire...

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Redneck famous last words...hey yall watch this
Buggy drivers famous last words....hold my beer, it dont look that steep

I would think it would be cheaper altogether(long run) to give your buggy barn its own service. I've never been a fan of piggy backing buildings. As soon as weather breaks mine will have its own meter and my outdoor funace will be connected to it.

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Its better to be silent and thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

national electric code says you should go up one gauge size per 100 feet.

I never thought of the electric water heater part, thats a good point!

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Why do I hate everyone?...................because they deserve it