As I mentioned earlier, the house that I bought does not feature a complete infrastructure. Lots of the water pipe is gone, for example. However, I did have hopes that the previous owner had not stooped to stealing wiring, and most of the electrical systems did look intact. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, before the Thanksgiving holidays started, I had called the local utility company, RG&E, to see if they would turn the juice back on. (I do plan to upgrade the house's wiring, breaker panels, outlets, etc., but I thought it might be nice to be able to plug in some tools and work lights before that.)
RG&E's representative declined to flip the switch, since the power has been off for so long, and told me that I'd have to have a safety inspection first. That happened a few days ago, and it turns out that I'm going to need to do a pretty big chunk of my planned electrical upgrades before I do anything else.
Aside from the obvious plumbing problems that the missing water lines present, their absence also means that the electrical system can't be grounded. Outside, the "riser cable," the main line from the pole to the house, has cracked insulation, so it will need to be replaced. Once you get involved in doing that, RG&E will require that the electrical meters be relocated outside. Oh, and by the way, those old fuse boxes won't fly, even temporarily. Might as well put the new circuit breaker panels in right away.
I had an electrician come by yesterday to look at the situation and give me an estimate. He was great -- a good explainer and willing to give me a bid on the spot. I'd have been inclined to hire him on the spot, but I had already arranged for another electrician to come by Wednesday.
Could be my first bidding war!
2 comments:
When I had a temporary power pole run to my little boat store in Santa Barbara many years ago, what the electric company did was drive a two foot length of 5/8 inch rebar into the ground next to the pole and put a clamp on it where they could ground the system. That would probably be acceptable even without water pipes in the ground, but you have to put the rebar right next to the pole so nobody can kick it accidentally and break the wire connection to the rod to pass code. Check your local code, but I think you could also probably just drive a length of pipe into the ground whether it carried water or not. RG & E might just be making it difficult for you on general principles.
Thanks, TC.
The electrician who came by yesterday confirmed this, although he said two rods would be required, until we can connect to the plumbing.
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