I am building a playhouse for my kids in my back yard. I want to run electricity out to the playhouse from my house. I want the house to have a window-unit type A/C and maybe one or two electrical outlets. I would like to do this myself if possible. Can anyone tell me how to do it? I need as much detail as possible. The playhouse is approximately 70 yards from my house. Thanks in advance.



This is the Air Conditioner I'll be using. It's a cheap little 5,000 BTU Frigidaire

Does that unit run on 110VAC or 220VAC?

110

First thing is you need to know what your local code requirement is for running power to an out building. Not for the out-building's sake but what could result to the main structure if there were a problem with the circuit going out to the playhouse. If you want details on how to hookup a plug you'd be wise to pay an electrician to come out. Ask around - somebody would do it on the side for cheap if you bought the materials and beer...

Be sure to put it on a breaker or a protected outlet.

bud...trust me when I tell you this, get an eletrician. if you don't know anything about electricity, you'll wind up in bad shape.

its 120/240...and you would need to calculate the total number of AMPS needed to run that playhouse.

on another note, and I highly recommend this...use GFCI recepticles in that playhouse...it will save yours/kids life!

http://home.howstuffworks.com/question117.htm

100' drop cord, for about 80 bucks you can get a heavy duty one that has three plugs on the end.

you could bury it if you need too, just make sure it's insulated for it.

and then, since it's children, buy a copper grounding rod and ground the AC, you just hammer it into the ground and run a wire from it to a metal place on the AC.

quote:

Originally posted by #1:
bud...trust me when I tell you this, get an eletrician. if you don't know anything about electricity, you'll wind up in bad shape.

its 120/240...and you would need to calculate the total number of AMPS needed to run that playhouse.

on another note, and I highly recommend this...use GFCI recepticles in that playhouse...it will save yours/kids life!

http://home.howstuffworks.com/question117.htm

I would buy ground faults seperate from the hard wiring, those things can go bad easily and also some items throw them off because of the way they pull amps. They are very important though, just easier if they are plugin.

100' of pvc conduit
100' spool of 10/3
1 GFI
1 20 amp breaker, make sure you dont already have a spare in your box.
1 good shovel
1 12Pk beer
1 bottle of hydrocodone pills for your back.

An AC that size will pull at least 15 amps by itself. At that distance you will need a #6 wire just to run the AC. I would recommend using #4 to be safe. It can handle up to 25 amps.

The reason you have to use such a large wire is because at that distance you will have quite a bit of voltage drop.

Do you know the basic's of how to wire it? I mean, white is grounded (neutral to oldtimers), Black is ungrounded (hot), Bare or green is grounding..

If your sure you want to do it yourself i'll help you as best i can.

quote:

Originally posted by Dr. Know:
100' of pvc conduit
100' spool of 10/3
1 GFI
1 20 amp breaker, make sure you dont already have a spare in your box.
1 good shovel
1 12Pk beer
1 bottle of hydrocodone pills for your back.

ding ding ding

I think that I would reconsider the idea of putting an AC in the playhouse. Kids are a lot more tolerant to the outdoor climate than us adults, is it really necessary? How old are the kids that will be using the playhouse?

Electricity brings some potential dangers along with it, the electricity itself and whatever will be using the electricity.

100 feet of wire will get him less than half way there.

70 yards = 210 feet

quote:

Originally posted by Dr. Know:
100' of pvc conduit
100' spool of 10/3
1 GFI
1 20 amp breaker, make sure you dont already have a spare in your box.
1 good shovel
1 12Pk beer
1 bottle of hydrocodone pills for your back.

Get the trenching labor at home depot or rent a ditch witch.