200 amp service

[itzme]

Just was wanting to know I'm building my own home and I will have 200 amp service the meter will be approximate. 80-90 feet from the panel in the house I will be going underground. Now I know 4/0 alum
tri plex will carry the 200 amp service the question is will I have a voltage drop that will make my electric bills higher than if I would step up to the next wire gage size. Would this make a big difference ? I was talking to a friend and he said that if I went with the lager wire my electric bills would be lower because I would not have the same voltage drop.And this would make you utility bills lower. :roll:

 

[redfish]

Re: 200 amp service

4/0 should be fine.

 

[stud696981]

Re: 200 amp service

Voltage Drop, depending on how much, will cause wasted electricity to go up in heat instead of proper usage which would cause some devices to run less efficiently.

However, before you can wonder about voltage drop, you need to do a load calculation and see how much current you will actually be pulling. If you don't have any big loads, you probably oversized your service panel for future expansion and probably will not have a problem with voltage drop.

For my own home I would probably just size the wiring up one size due to the distance, but that is a probably and not a definite. Also, for my own home, I would only use COPPER wire. I know the newer aluminum wire is better then before, but I prefer the best.

 

[physis]

Re: 200 amp service

Has anyone done a load calculation?

 

[itzme]

Re: 200 amp service

Thanks for the feed backs No I have not set and figured the entire house load but I will not have a lot of big loads I will have 1 dryer 1 stove and 1 well pump the rest is just the regular circuits kitchen/laundry/bath GFCI/
Furnace and water heater will be gas
I will set and do a house load calculation thanks
Steve

 

[benaround]

Re: 200 amp service

itzme,

Do I understand this, 4/0 'Tri Plex for an underground service?

 

[LarryFine]

Re: 200 amp service

Steve, unless you have a very large lighting and/or A/C load, you probably could have gotten away with a 100-amp service. You'll have no voltage-drop problems with the 90' of 4/0 al.

By the way, a higher voltage would actually cause a greater current, and thus higher power bill. Motors are the only load that really increase current with less voltage, to a point.

 

[redfish]

Re: 200 amp service

Going by the original post, if you have a 200A service, then you would have a 200A OCPD that would open if you exceeded 200A. So maximum load of 200A with 4/0 alum. at 120/240 would give you an acceptable V/D of 1.5%.However 4/0 aluminum is only rated for 150-205 amps depending on the type of wire used, and triplex ampacity is not in article 310. I agree with the stud696981, use copper, then you will only need 3/0 and your V/D will only be an acceptable 1.2%. The smaller your load, the less the V/D.

Thanks for the feed backs No I have not set and figured the entire house load but I will not have a lot of big loads I will have 1 dryer 1 stove and 1 well pump the rest is just the regular circuits kitchen/laundry/bath GFCI/
Furnace and water heater will be gas
I will set and do a house load calculation thanks
Steve

If you go 200A all the way, and it's your house,then you will be doing yourself a favor. </font>

• <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Question #1, is the utility supplying the triplex wire?</font>

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif"></font>

• <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Question #2, if you are supplying the wire, why are you using triplex?</font>

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

 

[infinity]

Re: 200 amp service

By the way, a higher voltage would actually cause a greater current, and thus higher power bill. Motors are the only load that really increase current with less voltage, to a point.

I'm assuming that you're referring to purely resistive loads where the current and voltage are directly proportional. Therefore, the higher voltage would cause a larger amount of current flow, but if the load were say an electric stove than the thing that you're cooking would heat up faster so you would have it on for a shorter period of time, so you really wouldn't use more electricity would you?

 

[allenwayne]

Re: 200 amp service

I also was why triplex ? if an underground extended service in pvc.It`s alot easier to pull single conductors,especially if there are LB`S involved.Why not use SER go overhead cheaper,easier and less work

 

[iwire]

Re: 200 amp service

Originally posted by itzme:
the question is will I have a voltage drop that will make my electric bills higher than if I would step up to the next wire gage size. Would this make a big difference ? I was talking to a friend and he said that if I went with the lager wire my electric bills would be lower because I would not have the same voltage drop.And this would make you utility bills lower. :roll:

The electric meter is not an simply a ammeter, it is a power meter.

Your bill is based on power (watts), not current (amps).

This being the case if you had voltage drop causing higher current it would balance out.

99% of the loads in a dwelling unit would draw less current with less voltage.

The only losses would be as stud696981 mentioned, you would lose some of your paid for power by heating up the conductors, for a dwelling unit the losses would be IMO minimal.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

Re: 200 amp service

If, by triplex, you mean the cable that has a bare grounded conductor and two insulated ungrounded conductors, that is not suitable for underground use. There is another product that is sometimes called triplex that has three insulated conductors and is intended for underground use. In most cases this cable has one conductor that is smaller than the other two for use as the grounded conductor.
Don

 

[tx2step]

Re: 200 amp service

I haven't used direct burial aluminum triplex in years. We had too much trouble with losing conductors if we accidentally nicked the insulation. The soils around here would eat the aluminum -- all that was needed was a pin-hole. When you dug it up, the insulation was now an empty hose for several inches.

I know that some POCOs still use it.

Have they improved the aluminum alloys or the insulation such that this is no longer a problem?

 

[allenwayne]

Re: 200 amp service

All the pocos in this area use it for umderground service latterals.IMO unless there is no possible way for damage it`s ok.
A lateral boring machine will go right though it PVC offers some protection

 

[charlie]

Re: 200 amp service

We don't use copper for any underground except for substation exits to the riser poles, for transformer and equipment legs, grounding, and for overhead services over 400 amperes. If treated correctly and the terminations are done properly, the electrical grade aluminum is great stuff.