Most cost effective source for residential wire and conduit?

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Johnny Mac

Johnny Mac

www.blueprintengines.com
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Anyone know of a source with a good price on 3/4 conduit, and 10/2 wire? I have to run about 500 feet underground to provide power to an internet antenna. (Yes I'm very remote)

Is .80 cents a foot for conduit, and $1.20 a foot for 10/2 wire, really the covid pricing going rate? only thing cheaper I can find is outdoor electrical lighting wire, and that only has 2 conductors so I don't want to use it. I don't consider myself too much of a tight wad, but I have better things I would rather spend $1000 on.....stings even more knowing what I could have done it for 2 years ago!

Thanks guys!
 
Why on earth (pun not intended LOL) would you need no10 wire for that kind of device? Is there a de-icing device?
 
67Dart273 said:
Why on earth (pun not intended LOL) would you need no10 wire for that kind of device? Is there a de-icing device?
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I was going to throw a 120 plug on the end for Xmas lights, and a flood light. On just a 20 amp breaker. Am I overdoing it with 10/2?
 
You will need every bit of 10/2 500 ft away .
I would put a solar panel and Battery on the internet antenna and be done. I think it would be cost effective 500 feet away
 
memike said:
You will need every bit of 10/2 500 ft away .
I would put a solar panel and Battery on the internet antenna and be done. I think it would be cost effective 500 feet away
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I always wondered at what temp an outdoor battery would freeze... I have never shopped for a purpose built unit however?
 
120V 20 amp circuit 500' yes run #10. Why just 2 conductors? No ground? Really need 3 #10 wires. Don't pull 10/2 romex into 500' of conduit. Use #10 THHN. Stranded would be easier.
On this kind of stuff Lowes and Home Depot are usually just as cheap as the electrical supply houses.
 
moparmarks said:
120V 20 amp circuit 500' yes run #10. Why just 2 conductors? No ground? Really need 3 #10 wires. Don't pull 10/2 romex into 500' of conduit. Use #10 THHN. Stranded would be easier.
On this kind of stuff Lowes and Home Depot are usually just as cheap as the electrical supply houses.
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I agree with you, and that was My point. Only thing I can find more cost effective is what they refer to as "outdoor lighting wire" (only has 2 conductors) where as 10/2 is usually 3 conductors. Neutral, ground, and hot. May not be perfect in my lingo, as I Just a residential grade /diy guy. But that's my understanding. Like how A "8/3" wire is technically 4 total. Has 2 hots, for like a 220 plug. Then neutral, and a ground.

I'm sure you know everything above, I'm more stating it so someone can correct me if I'm completely wrong lol. I wire my own home projects, and 220 plugs and such. But 100% not an electrician.
 
Just some comments. If you are going with direct burial UF is the minimum you should use. Unless you are going to drive another ground rod, 3/C is probably going to be required. 10/3 UF-B Wire w/ Ground

Agreed that single conductor THHN is the way to go if you stick with conduit. 10 AWG THHN/THWN-2 Solid Building Wire - sold by the spool has a 500' spool for $200.

500' is a looong way for 120 VAC. If you use one of the voltage drop calculators, a 10% voltage drop (which is the maximum usually tolerated, 3% is more common), 10AWG is only good for about 8 amperes. Are you sure you want to do this?
 
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Can you use flex conduit?

I ran 125' of 10/2 with ground for about $100...but that was almost 10 years ago.

It was a spool of pre run wire in the flex.

Super easy, no wire pulling.
 
6PakBee said:
Just some comments. If you are going with direct burial UF is the minimum you should use. Unless you are going to drive another ground rod, 3/C is probably going to be required. 10/3 UF-B Wire w/ Ground

Agreed that single conductor THHN is the way to go if you stick with conduit. 10 AWG THHN/THWN-2 Solid Building Wire - sold by the spool has a 500' spool for $200.

500' is a looong way for 120 VAC. If you use one of the voltage drop calculators, a 10% voltage drop (which is the maximum usually tolerated, 3% is more common), 10AWG is only good for about 8 amperes. Are you sure you want to do this?
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Thanks for the links. I don't have much choice...unless I go with some kind of solar deal as mentioned above. Or you suggesting 8 gage?
 
Johnny Mac said:
I agree with you, and that was My point. Only thing I can find more cost effective is what they refer to as "outdoor lighting wire" (only has 2 conductors) where as 10/2 is usually 3 conductors. Neutral, ground, and hot. May not be perfect in my lingo, as I Just a residential grade /diy guy. But that's my understanding. Like how A "8/3" wire is technically 4 total. Has 2 hots, for like a 220 plug. Then neutral, and a ground.

I'm sure you know everything above, I'm more stating it so someone can correct me if I'm completely wrong lol. I wire my own home projects, and 220 plugs and such. But 100% not an electrician.
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You’re gonna need bigger than 10/2. On 120VAC, the voltage drop after about 100-150ft will play into it. I would call your utility, they usually have an electrical engineer that for free, will tell you what you need to ensure you have a full 120 volts at the end of that 500 ft. How many amps you need will play a big part of that.

just so you know, I’m remote as well, from where my transformer is being installed, to where it will enter my house is 586 ft. For under ground cable for a 200 Amp service, I have to go #0000. It’s 56 bucks a foot.
Now I realize that you’re probably just going to need 5-15 amps to that antenna, so you might be okay. But I’m gonna guess 10/2 is gonna be barely capable at that distance. General rule of thumb from what I’ve been told by my contractors and engineers, is 150 feet is about the max for 20 amps on 10/2. But do some checking
 
You need what is called "2 conductor plus ground." You might check it might be cheaper to run "direct burial" rather than conduit. Make sure that whatever you get is rated to run in conduit. "Romex" is normally "not." You can run THH style single conductors in conduit. To meet code you need a grounding conductor, and I don't think you can run bare in conduit, so a black, a white, and a green

Voltage drop depends on AMPERAGE and feet. So you need to find out what the maximum load is you will have and you may want to "scale that back" some. There are charts out there (look for one for AC/ home power rather than 12V etc) for wire gauge and "run" length
 
Not sure exactly what you are trying to do?

If you are trying to grab an internet signal from 500' away, you can grab it with a parabolic dish at your base as long as you have clear line of sight.

If you are trying to light a light bulb on the internet pole, then that is a different story.

Parabolic Dish:


Rough Draft of your possible layout?

20211201_191853.jpg
 
YY1 said:
Can you use flex conduit?

I ran 125' of 10/2 with ground for about $100...but that was almost 10 years ago.

It was a spool of pre run wire in the flex.

Super easy, no wire pulling.
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I haven't priced it much but I recalled it being more than conduit. Probably easier, but $. I will look tho.
 
George Jets said:
Not sure exactly what you are trying to do?

If you are trying to grab an internet signal from 500' away, you can grab it with a parabolic dish at your base as long as you have clear line of sight.

If you are trying to light a light bulb on the internet pole, then that is a different story.

Parabolic Dish:


Rough Draft of your possible layout?

View attachment 1715829310
Click to expand...

So this is to actually get the internet signal to the actual house. It's not for extending wifi range. This is a ground based wireless internet provider. Only thing we have out here other than satellite, which is terrible around here.
So they are installing whatever the signal bouncer/amplifier thing is....but it needs electric.

Maybe I was foolish to think I can just throw a regular outdoor 120v plug in line for Christmas lights. But those, or even a little dusk til dawn light would be LED....and I believe pretty low draw...I don't have aspirations of running a mercury light or air compressor...

Thanks everyone for helping and the ideas.
 
Facebook marketplace and Craigslist honestly. You would be surprised at what someone may have in your area.... I have personally ended up paying pennies on the dollar for materials. 3/4" emt is common so who knows. You may luck up on a deal....

JW
 
Is it WI-Max as your internet service?

We have those around here, they shoot the signal off a water tower out of the local town, then you grab the signal with a small dish on the side of your house.

Need to have line of sight though, no trees blocking it.

If it is an actual WIFI signal, you can grab that too.

Is it 500' to the actual source of the signal?
 
They may be installing a "Repeater" that grabs the signal, sends it around the corner and on to your house. To get around the hilly terrain for a line of sight shot to your house.

We powered up a small town in Arizona, Queen Valley that had all kinds of hills and terrain.

We did that off an 8 Mbps media com cable source, sent it up through a router with wifi antennas, then grabbed the wifi signal with the parabolic dishes at the homes. All on Wifi over the air.
 
Direct burial is the cheapest and when installed "correctly" will outlast all of us.
Might check into any solar/battery LED X-mas lights.
 
I'm sure by now you are realizing that the wire gauge required is dependent on the load amperage you are trying to support. Until you have that nailed down, you are just guessing at what's required. You may want to consider going to 240 VAC, that is one way to get around the current dilemma (no pun intended).
 
6PakBee said:
I'm sure by now you are realizing that the wire gauge required is dependent on the load amperage you are trying to support. Until you have that nailed down, you are just guessing at what's required. You may want to consider going to 240 VAC, that is one way to get around the current dilemma (no pun intended).
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The only way that will solve anything (wire gauge vs load) would be to use a 240--120 transformer at the far end, and the cost of that + weatherproof box just negated the wire savings
 
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