More Meter Main Pedestal Questions

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Alien Legs

Member
Location
Vermont
Occupation
Master Electrician
My plan is to install a meter main pedestal within sight and 50 feet from a home here in Vermont.

The questions I have are...

1. Do I need to have another disconnecting means located on the home if the meter main is located within 50 feet and within sight of the home?

2. Do I need to separate the neutral and ground wiring at the meter main pedestal?

3. I know I will need ground rods at the meter main pedestal. The home will have an insulated foundation and slab so does a ufer ground make sense because I know ground rods are only to be used as supplemental? There will be a well so there will be no metal water line ground possible at the home.

I have been asking around to inspectors and other electricians and get different answers.
There are no permits or inspections required here but I would like to install systems properly to code.

Thanks
 
225.41 would apply and would permit the required emergency disconnect to be " installed in a readily accessible outdoor location on or within sight of the dwelling unit. "
With in sight must comply with 110.29.
 
Alien Legs said:
1. Do I need to have another disconnecting means located on the home if the meter main is located within 50 feet and within sight of the home?
Click to expand...
Yes, you need to satisfy both 2023 NEC 225.31 and 225.41. A disconnect on the outside of the home "nearest the point of entrance of the conductors" would satisfy both requirements. An inside disconnect would only satisfy 225.31. But if the meter main satisfies 225.41 as Don covered, that would be fine.

Alien Legs said:
2. Do I need to separate the neutral and ground wiring at the meter main pedestal?
Click to expand...
As long as the meter main is your service disconnect, no.

Alien Legs said:
3. I know I will need ground rods at the meter main pedestal. The home will have an insulated foundation and slab so does a ufer ground make sense because I know ground rods are only to be used as supplemental?
Click to expand...
If the foundation design creates a CEE (Ufer), you must use it, and creating any additional electrodes would be optional. If it doesn't create a CEE (e.g. all the concrete is separated from direct contact with earth), and you have no other electrodes, then you will need to create an electrode, e.g. 2 ground rods.

Cheers, Wayne
 
wwhitney said:
Yes, you need to satisfy both 2023 NEC 225.31 and 225.41. A disconnect on the outside of the home "nearest the point of entrance of the conductors" would satisfy both requirements. An inside disconnect would only satisfy 225.31. But if the meter main satisfies 225.41 as Don covered, that would be fine.
Click to expand...
Yes, they did not get everything correct when they added 225.41 and you do need to comply with both 225.31 and 225.41 in the 2023 code. That would require both a 225.31 and 225.41 disconnect. I missed that in my first comment.
They corrected that in the 2026 code by permitting the disconnect required by 225.31 to be on, in, or within sight in accordance with 110.29
 
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