How much electricity can you use on a domestic line?

Our bill is around $140 per month, so we are not heavy users.
You know the campsite plans, which would require, more lighting and one washing machine (no electric water heating).

We are on a single domestic house supply - ie a on a spur, no one before or after us on the line.
The other connection at the moment from this line only powers an electric fence and the owner was told she would not get a connection for a house as the line would not support it.

So how much electricity would we be able to take and feed the campsite from the house instead of a second connection?

You need to get in contact with the electricity company to find out what kind of transformer has been used for your line. When ours was put in there were choices to be made. We paid extra just in case there might be more houses wanting to use it.

I dunno if this is relevant or not, but we are running 3 extension leads (one behind the other of major capacity) out to the cow shed for 1 milking plant and then it gets plugged back into 2 x 40 w light bulbs for the maturing chick runs (2).

We have experienced some loss of power issues by using the temp ext. leads for this purpose and suggest a more permanent solution direct from the box which when our electrician bothers to turn back up to do, shall be done here, single phase.

Depends on distance and how much is needed in total at any one time, best bet is to get an electricion to come tall and tell

We know we have a standard 1 domestic house line, the electrician read the numbers on the power pole, we just want to know what a standard one domestic house line it capable of.
Calling powerguy......

You need to contact power authority...bear in mind you will be a commercial operation so will pay commercial rates and may very well require 3 phase.
You should obtain proffesional advice.

heck when it comes to connecting stuff up it will all be legit. We have various solutions hand, it maybe solar in the main, just trying to suss out rough figures here. ie a domestic line should be capable of providing total of x amount of power per day at y rate.
Orion keeps saying applying for a second line and we miight give you some info, thing is we know we cant have a second line, so applying for one is sort of an academic exercise, besides we don't want to apply for one if we don't need one (and we won't need one for a while yet, we just need the info) - the old catch 22 situation I guess.

Commericial rates should not dictate the amount of power a line can supply that is not the question.

So it's possible the transformer closest to you is at the limit of its capacity? If that's the case you would need to pay for a new transformer

As Tigger points out in the "Small Lifestyle Block" thread in Your Place, you pay the full cost of the new transformer, and the network owner then charges a fee to every new person who signs up to it.... but you don't get any kind of refund!

When my parent's neighbours put in new commercial glasshouses, they found the transformer was at capacity. The new transformer cost $20,000, which they had to pay, and that was around 8-10 years ago. They had a terrible time fighting the network over this, but lost in the end and had to pay up.

'At Capacity' has nothing to do with how much you use during one month - it is the peak requirement you have that counts and that means you cooking dinner, your guests having hot showers, your pump going, TV running, all lights switched on, spa warming up, heaters on, washing machine going - however many appliances you have switched on all at the same time. That's your peak requirement and your transformer has to be able to provide for this.

PG - different power companies handle the process of hooking up late comers differently. 10 years ago - when the local power company was still council owned - our local one charged for hooking up to transformers 10 years old or younger and gave the person who paid for it to start with a partial refund. No refund if the connection had been sold in the meantime. If the transformer has been in place for 10 years or more newcomers were hooked up for free. It may well have changed here as we've been subjected to at least 3 power company changes and they always look at ways of making more and more money.

The figures I've heard about for new transformers are in the 20K region as well, plus new wiring from the main line which quickly amounts to 50K all up.

Moggy - do you have to provide hot showers for your guests? Just be prepared that you won't be able to service this with solar power. 'Guests' are notorious for using the hot shower until it runs cold. Unless, of course, you attach a power meter with a slot where they have to put in money to have a hot shower. That's how they do it in Europe.

Solar power only works in households where the inhabitants have to bear the consequences of using too much power in too short a period of time.

Moggy, the answer you seek is that a "standard" supply is 60A. This can be altered by a number of factors which have been mentioned here.

Line capacity. If yours is a long or undersized cable, the maximum may be reduced. I have two customers that are on long 3 phase supplies limited to 30A/phase. The other option is to increase cable size but the cost for that is considerable.

Supply capacity. This is the transformer and the line companies cables feeding it.

So, if the two limiting factors don't apply and you have a 16mm cable running a short distance from the pole, it would be reasonably safe to assume you have a 60A supply.

powerguy;274412 wrote: Moggy, the answer you seek is that a "standard" supply is 60A. This can be altered by a number of factors which have been mentioned here.

thank you ,that is the answer I am looking for, now we can work out our own peak use and work out how much there is spare.

Simkin, hot showers are a must, but they will be gas powered, cooking also gas, the only essential electrical item other than lighting is a washing machine.

Ah well, if you use gas for the really big ticket items you should be right with 60Amps.

Pay to use showers are great. I do the horse shows & Gisborne showgrounds & the camping ground are run together. Best showers I've ever had in my life. Some people who have showers in their trucks are happy to go & pay for a shower because they're so good. Last season went from 50c up to $1 for 5 mins. I always go for $2 worth. I've got really, really long hair & also feel the cold and am also filthy after a day at the show. They are magnificent! Wairoa have also put in pay showers in a portacom type building. A few teething problems but very good.

Gisborne would be worth a visit. They're very good at their maintenance and cleaning there too.

Good luck!