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fireman1102 · Jul 10, 2012, 10:54 AM

Hi there,
I have a cabin on my property. It is about 900 meters from the house. We would like to have some very basic lights and the ability to run a stereo in the cabin without having to haul up a generator every time someone uses the cabin. We looked at installing power from the local utility, but the cost of installing posts and a meter was too much for what the place is actually worth. Someone suggested that we should be able to run a line from the house to the cabin that would be sufficient to run some basic lights - essentially a big extension cord - does anyone know if standard household wire would carry enough power over that distance to be of any use? Would another type of wire work? We are really looking at a couple of lights, no fridge or anything like that.
Thanks

tkrussell · Jul 11, 2012, 02:47 AM

900 meters, or 2952 feet, is too long a distance to deliver 120 or even 240 volts without using abnormally large wire. Best to hire an electrician to install a step up and step down transformers to get power that distance.

Assuming a conservative 30 amp load at 120 volts would require #600 MCM aluminum wire and result in 2.7 % voltage drop to go 3000 feet.