Outdoor & Detached Power FAQ

Because the circuit has to leave the house. That means a trench, underground conduit, a new breaker at the panel, and in most cases a permit and inspection. The receptacle or disconnect at the end is the smallest part of the job.

Four things, roughly in order:

• Mobilization — getting a licensed crew, truck, and equipment to your property
• Permitting and inspection — required for nearly all new outdoor circuits
• Trenching — distance from the panel to the equipment, plus what's in the way (driveway, patio, tree roots, irrigation, existing utilities)
• Conduit, wire, and the breaker itself

Our honest recommendation: no. Upsize while the trench is open. The difference between a 20-amp circuit and a 60-amp circuit is a modest bump in wire and breaker cost. The difference between doing it once and doing it twice is a second permit, a second mobilization, and a second trench through your finished yard. If we're already out there digging, get the ample amount of power.

• Hot tub / spa — usually 50A, 240V with a GFCI disconnect; smaller plug-and-play units may run 20A, 120V
• Pool pump — commonly 20–30A, 240V, plus bonding
• Detached garage — 60–100A subpanel covers lighting, outlets, a compressor, and a future EV charger
• ADU — typically 100A+ feeder, sized by an NEC load calculation
• EV charger — 40–60A, 240V
• RV hookup — 30A or 50A depending on the coach

Depends on the wiring method. Under the NEC, PVC conduit is generally 18 inches, direct-burial cable is 24 inches, and 12 inches applies only to a limited case — a GFCI-protected 120V, 20A residential branch circuit. We size and dig to whatever the code and your inspector require for the method we're using.

Yes, and this is where the real savings are. If you're thinking about a hot tub now and a detached garage or EV charger later, tell us up front. We can pull a larger feeder to a subpanel, or lay a second empty conduit with a pull string in the same trench. Adding conduit while the ditch is open costs a fraction of coming back.

Yes, for new outdoor and detached-structure circuits in nearly every jurisdiction we serve. We pull it, schedule the inspection, and hand you documented, inspected work — which matters for insurance and at resale.

It does. Long runs need upsized conductors to control voltage drop, so a 150-foot run to the back of the lot costs more in wire than a 30-foot run to the side yard, even at the same amperage. It also affects whether a subpanel makes more sense than individual circuits.

Common situation. Options are a tandem breaker, a subpanel, or a service upgrade if your existing service can't carry the added load. We'll tell you which one you actually need after the load calculation — not before.

We'll run the numbers. Many older Triangle-area homes are on 100A or 150A services that are fine for a pool pump but tight for an ADU plus an EV charger. Better to know before the trench is dug.

Both have specific code requirements: GFCI protection, a disconnecting means within sight of the equipment, and equipotential bonding around pools. These aren't optional and they're what inspectors look at first.

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