[GaryCabinBuilde]

I'm building a garage this year and a cabin in the following years and I need to run power to the garage before building it. The service is about 60 feet away from the main breaker location and when I build the cabin, I would like to be able to continue the power from the garage to the cabin (120 feet away). I'm thinking of running a 200 Amp service with an outdoor main breaker box. Here are my questions:
1) What are the advantages/disadvantages to copper verse aluminum wire coming from the service?
2) I would like to be able to continue the power to the future cabin without shutting off the main power. Can I setup the wiring/load center to handle this?
3) I will need to connect the outdoor breaker box to a couple of outlets before I build the garage. When the walls are completed, I would like to move the breaker box into the garage. Any advice on how to do this?
Thanks,
Gary

[wildandblue]

Your power company and the local township where you obtain the building permits will have their own ideas on how your service is to be connected. Usually they want the main box at the house and the secondary panels in any outbuildings. Consider using a portable generator to run your power tools to build your garage. You could build an enclose porch or mudroom type thing to bring your outside panel indoors later. I would not use aluminum wire because it expands and contracts a lot more than copper does and has been known to break or fall off the electrical terminals and cause fires.

[KISS]

You can ask the utility for temporary power and purchase a temporary power box.

Use this until he garage is built.

Then get a meter with a main breaker and a space for the garage.

You could then run power from the breakers inside the meter system to the house. One could be 200 A. These can contain 120 V outlets and even a 120/240 V outlet.

You should be able to keep the service entrance at the garage, but instead of moving it, you'll be replacing it.

You didn't mention if the supplied utility would be underground or overhead.

A lot depends on the distances involved and whether power is run overhead or underground.

For instance. You could have a pole sunk near the garage and run power to there. Then put a temporary power box on the pole. Build the garage and then have the utility string power to the garage.

Somehow you need to get temporary power. Temporary power boxes do just that. They provide a meter socket, GFCI receptacles and an outdoor enclosure.

If it's an underground utility from the power company, options might be more difficult.

[GaryCabinBuilde]

Thanks for the answers and here is a little more information. The power is currently run underground 400 feet in between the lots (with a meter for each lot on a pole), so I would continue this underground to the garage. My neighbor's lot has power for a trailer and I talked to him yesterday. He is willing to let me use his power while build the garage. I'll pay is power bill and feed him a couple of beers. This makes it easier to have indoor circuit breakers (and cheaper).
I have also found out that running Copper over Aluminum is about 5 1/2 times the cost for the wire and in my area, I have heard that 95% of the houses are run with aluminum to the main breaker.
From the Square D website, I have found I can get an enclosure (QOM22225NRB) and breaker 200A (QOM2200VH) that would come from the main. From here I would have a terminal box (T1220) that one leg would go to the garage (70A breaker) and a leg to the cabin in the future. This would allow me to turn off the power while I connect the cabin power.
Gary.

[KISS]

Check out the service entrance stuff at Midwest Electric Products, Inc..