I know I have been dwelling on this and probably making people tired of it. I want to do a detailed post one last time and make sure I have it right. I am planning to talk to the electric company about it but want to at least make sure I have it straight.




This is 100 amp service.
Now the trailers are temporary housing while houses are built. 2 trailers per family (so it is actually 3 families with two trailers each).
This shows the pole with the electric company's breaker on it.

I will install the breaker pannel (as seen in light blue) with about 7 breakers (what is the rating each should have? Simply 100amp / 7 = 14.29 (12amp or 15amp)?)

The wiring then runs from these breakers to each trailer which has it's own breaker boxes for internal wiring. I figured use 00 wire from the pole's breaker to my breaker and then 0 to the trailer's boxes.


Is this sounding right.

 

Obviously a laps in my mind.....


I assume I would not put low amp breakers in the (light blue) breaker box. I would use the full rating for the service since that box is just to divide the lines up for the trailers, the trailers will take care of the lower amp breakers?..

It is early and I have had only one cup of coffee......

 

Joel,

I think most would say we are unable to calculate if this is correct without the size of the trailers ( 3va x L x W) dividied by 120 x 15(or20) to come up with the required lightning circuit and so on....heating /cooling and so on involved...

Are these dwellings or non-dwellings?

 

They will be dwellings for probably about 5 years (maybe).

The trailers each have their own breaker box, so I don't think I need to calculate a circuit for the trailer. I need to figure out how to connect from my breaker box (light blue) to the trailers' breaker boxes. Like what type of breakers should I use in the (light blue) breaker box? What type of wire (I guess though that answering the breaker would answer the wire )

Mike

 

Mike,

Well, I was not sure what size panel was in the trailers and so on which will impact all the things you are asking.

I guess from the picture it is hard to determine but are you planning on all of them being on one single meter base or are you planning on a meter setup at the main pole for each unit...

Are you planning on paying the electrical bill to all of them....the reason I ask this is because the way you have it drawn would be hard in VA to do this...not sure about where you are but here each unit would have to have a seperate meter setup and disconnect and so on.

Anyway...if by this drawing you are going to do a panel at the light blue area you would need to run a 4 conductor service to each panel at the trailers and it must maintain it's own (2) non-grounded conductors (1) grounded ( neutral ) and (1) service ground.

Also make sure you mount this disconnect panel( light blue ) not more than 30 feet from the mobile homes it supplies...

Assuming they are all 100Amps since they have to atleast be that.....

Calculations at 16,000va per trailer ( 7 of them ) 16,000va x 7 = 112,000VA

112,000va with a factor of 28% reduction ( 7 trailers ) = 31,360VA

Now I am sure you can do the math from their based on the nominal voltage...but I would say to make a LONG story short...lol

I would say a 1/0 to each trailer should be fine....remember I am sure they are going to classify this as a mobile home part...

Hope this helps

 

This is in Maine.
From what people (electric co./land gov.) I don't have to classify as a trailer park, because for one all trailers are for members of family or extended family, all trailers are for temporary housing. There is no rental or anything happening here. We are simply using the trailers while we get our farm going.

My plan was to place 6 meters (one on each trailer - one trailer will be figured by subtracting the otehr meters from the electric co. main meter).

I have been going over the amps,watts used per trailer. I am figuring on average 500Kwh a month per 2 trailers. We are greatly reducing our electrical uses. So about 1,800Kwh a month total.

Basically am I right that I just need to hook a breaker box with one breaker per trailer (100amp breaker per line to trailer?)? We understand that we must not use 100amps combined.

Because if any combination of trailers use more than 100amp the main breaker at the pole will trip.

Basically I don't want a fire. If we use over the 100amp and trip a breaker I don't care as long as there is no fire.

Mike

 

I had another idea AAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

If instead of one 100amp line (from my breaker box -light blue-) to each trailer, why not one 100amp line (from my breaker box -light blue-) to one trailer per family. Since 3 families have 2 trailers (one trailer mainly serving as bedrooms). Remove the breaker box from the second trailer and wire that trailer into the breaker box of the first.

This would in essence make the second trailer for each family just another set of rooms off the main trailer.

That would mean a maximum of 4 100amp breakers in my (light blue) breaker box.

Mike

 

After that enlightening post a diagram!!



So now the idea would be to just turn the second trailer for each family into nothing more than just added rooms to the first trailer (essentially).
Since the first trailer would have the kitchen, laundry, etc. the second would mainly just hold bedrooms.

Mike