I need to get power to my detached garage. I was thinking minimum of 100 amps. Because my garage is between the utility pole and my house and I don’t have any room in my house panel for the garage I was looking to see if I could mount a 320 meter base on my garage and then I’d be responsible for running the wire to my house. The 320 meter bases have 2 lugs for each leg. Could I use one lug for the wire going to my house and the other lug for the detached garage?

 

No. The wiring needs to be properly protected.
You would install the meter and and a disconnect panel at the barn.
A 100A breaker would feed the barn and a second breaker to feed the house.

You'd need to run this change past the Poco in order to consider a meter re-location.

 

Got it. Thanks. I suppose I could use something like this?

 

What size service do you have in your house now?

You likely would not need a 320 amp meter base unless your house service is VERY large. You could use a 200 amp meter socket ($120) and a 200 amp outdoor panel ($150) with feed-through lugs.

 

House service is 200 amps and no space . I would like to do maybe 6 circuits in detached garage

 

Then my suggestion would work very well. You would install a 200 amp meter socket on the garage. Next to it install a 200 amp outdoor panel with feed-through lugs. (example: https://www.amazon.com/Square-Schnei...18713288&psc=1) Use the feed-through lugs to feed the house with 200 amps. Install a 100 amp breaker in the outdoor panel and feed a 100 amp panel in the garage. Feed your new circuits in the garage off the new 100 amp panel.

Or you can use the meter/panel you posted for twice the money.

 

That sounds good. Thanks for your help.

 

Doing a meter relocation will be a project. Both for you and working through the POCO. Doable of course, but you should at least consider the alternative.

Keep the meter and main panel where it is. Add a 8-12 space subpanel in the house to handle future circuits, and a 60A (or 100A if you think you need it) feed to the garage. Nice easy weekend project (minus maybe the digging).

 

Good point. This project was going to include an overhead to underground conversion with the utility and that cost alone was a couple thousand if I remember from when I had them out a few years back to explore having that done as right now the overhead wire goes right over detached garage.

 

320 is a special class of electrical services which is lower than 400 and more than 200. Personally never understood the attraction. 320 is almost as expensive as 400 and can be some what limited as to the features.
I used to work for an OEM in Phoenix that made 400 amp services with either 100,200 or 400 amp fused pull out disconnects. Made more than 20 a month in different configurations for the customers.

Call the power company and ask what your highest KW usage is for the last year. Better check with the serving utility if they will even serve a 320 service and what equipment they will serve.
That will tell you if you have additional capacity for the garage. You really need to do a load calculation for your home and the garage.
Once that is done you can make a plan for the new loads. 100 amps is a lot of power. I run my whole house with less than that in Tucson Arizona.



As for the panel is full have you seen thin/or sometimes called twin breakers?

 

Why not just use a Milbank 320 socket with two 200 amp breakers. Then change one breaker to 100 amps.