Driveway lights for new construction

[Chaz]

I'm putting post lights down the side of my 1000' driveway. 5 lights on one side for now, every 200'. Each light is a standard post light, 60watts.
Should I run 10/2 wire for the first 500-600' and then 8/2 to the end of the driveway? Do I need 10/3 or 8/3 instead, or is that overkill :?:

I may add an outet at the end of the drivway, that's it.

Thanks!

[giddonah]

I think it all depends on what you plan on doing at the outlet at the end. If you plan on plugging in a hedge trimmer or a snow blower or something, you'll need a pretty big cable to overcome the voltage drop from such a long run. How much, I'm not sure though.

[Chaz]

Thanks!

I think I'm going to go with 10 wire for first 600, then 8 wire for the rest just in case. Do I need 10/3 or is 10/2 OK just for lights?
Thanks

[giddonah]

why go from 10 to 8? why not go from 8 to 10?

[Chaz]

Ah yes...if I start at the top of the driveway instead of the bottom :)

[Cole]

why go from 10 to 8? why not go from 8 to 10?

Smartie. :lol:

[giddonah]

ah, relativity :wink:

[Tom R]

I don't know, - - a thousand foot is a long way to go, - - I think I'd investigate a little more to make sure that even 8 wire isn't undersized, - - especially with that outlet at the end. I lent out my electrical book, - - or I'd look it up for you.

[VALENT]

Using 10/3 or 8/3 would only be necessary if you were needing 220 volts or if you wanted the outlet to be on a separate circuit(so the lights didnt have to be on to use the outlet) I have no idea about what size wire would be needed for this job.

[TnAndy]

Here's some poop on a couple of long runs I made on my place. The first was 950' from the house to the front gate. I ran 3 #6 wires ( I use doubled up the hots, used one for the neutral) because I have a couple of 150 watt quartz floods at the gate plus two gate openers ( master and slave ) that each have a 1/2 hp motor in them......and I wanted some extra for expansion. No problem with that.

Then, I helped build an internet wireless tower on the top of my mountain, and we ran 2250' of 2-#8's in conduit up there. They only needed 50-75 watts for the radios, but I was really figuring it wouldn't hardly do that on that distance. We stuck a receptacle on it and plugged a 10amp 4.5" grinder in it to do some welding cleanup ( welder was a portable unit of mine ) just to see how much drop we'd actually get. When the grinder first started, the voltage ( stuck a meter in the other half of the receptacle ) would drop in the 105v range, and then right back up to 117v with no load. Under a load, it would drop back in the 108-109 range........and according to every voltage caculator I've seen, a 10 amp load on that size wire that distance SHOULD be down in the 90v range.......so obviously there is a fair sized fudge factor built into them, huh ?

[kadoka]

If the outlet isn't too important, try solar powered lights unless you live in the area of America where the sun doesn't shine.

[giddonah]

the area of America where the sun doesn't shine.

:shock: :lol:

[Rich]

With 4 gauge wire at 1000' - 120v 15amp outlet you'll roughly get a voltage drop of 9%. NEC has max voltage drop at under 5%. Output of 111volts at the end of the line. 1 gauge will get you within code and a voltage output of around 115v.

[giddonah]

just found this:

http://www.holophane.com/product/EMERGENCY/pdfs/HL-1375.pdf

Edit: I see it doesn't quite cover this question though. Oh well.

[giddonah]

this thing is pretty cool:

http://www.jhlarson.com/ind_tables/calc_voltdrop.htm

[dhill]

Thanks for posting the link, Gid. I need that :)

[giddonah]

thanks, I was wondering if it wasn't something everyone else already knew (can you tell I'm not a pro?)

[Cole]

(can you tell I'm not a pro?)

Yes, :lol: :lol:

:wink:

[giddonah]

punk. :? :)