ESB Farm Connection

Toplink wrote: »

Sorry if I am rehashing old topics here...

I want to get a connection for an electric fence. The closest ESB pole/line is about 100m form the boundary of the farm.

What are my options here? What sort of cost would be involved?

My back up plan is a solar fence but this is my preferred option if financially viable.

Cost me €1300 for a full ESB installation to a farm shed. I think its cheaper for electric fence only connection.

Yep there called unmetered loads. Only problem you will have is that the pole must be on your land.

raindodger wrote: »

whats the cost for the unmetered loads connection could you run a water pump with one

Would any pole do, or does it have to have a transformer?

Luckysasha wrote: »

An unmetered load for a fence is usually free but it won't be any where near big enough to run any kind of load. It's fused too low

was looking into this last year and esb told my i would need a wall as they wouldnt fix it to the pole, 300 euro connection, and 8 euro every 2 months for electric fence only

raindodger wrote: »

whats the cost for the unmetered loads connection could you run a water pump with one

No I do not think you could run a water pump off it. Usually these are fused very low I say about 6 amps at most and maybe only 3amps. Not sure what power rating a pump is (wattage rating) while in theory you may be able to run one off 6 amps(1.3KW) what would catch you is the surge as the pump starts which is twice the running load.

Pumps are power hungry so it would depend on the power rating of the pump.

arctictree wrote: »

Sorry to resurrect an old thread.

I have a metered ESB connection on an out farm for a water pump. The connection is rated at 8kVA. There is a plug socket in the pump house that the pump is plugged into. Do ye think I could use that for some lighting and maybe a kettle the odd time? Thanks

8kva at 230v is approx 35amps..
And electric kettle is generally rated at 3kw so at 230v is 15amps current draw so you are grand out at that! Assuming the pump isn't running at the time..

Is that 160m head height or 160ft?

Well if it's 160ft, I think solar is still a good option.

What's a decent rate? If for cattle drinkers it doesn't need to be too high a flow, bigger drinkers may help or an IBC as a buffer.

Is the 700M all uphill? or could the water be pumped to a nearer high point and let gravity help for the distance?

I've a 12V pump with a claimed head height of 230ft (haven't tested to anywhere near that though)

A second midway pumping station could be an option? Each pumping station could be built for around €400 including panel/battery.

larger DC or Inverter pumps are available too, obviously need more solar panels and/or batteries to run them, they will be more expensive but still comparable to an ESB install. System voltage will be higher but will be a multiple of 12V, 24/36/48/V etc. very hard to find prices/info for these online but they do exist so a call to a supplier might be in order maybe https://www.clarkerewinds.ie/ or other pump supplier.

To push water 700meters up 160ft you would need over 5 bar pressure. There is no 12v pump that can generate anything remotely near that much head pressure. The only way I see it been done is to use some form of compressed air system that would intermittently pump the water to a storage tank at the top of the hill. If its a 12V solar panel system I don't know of any 12v air compressor that can generate 5 bar either! well at least not ones that can run continuously. You'd probably have to use 2 pumping stations to get it that far.

Are you sure the measurements are correct, 160ft is a fair climb.

12VDC pumps would typically would be connected to 1/2" hose where as most Mains well pumps would be connected to inch hose. But I agree 160ft height and 700m across is too ambitious for a single 12V pump. Add in the little detail that KG previously omitted, he also needs it to lift over 1000 gallons per day!

But solar is not limited to 12V options as there are pumps available in multiples of 12V up to about 72V and larger solar pumps actually use AC Motors with integrated inverters. The question really comes down to whether or not a suitable system can be put together for less than the cost of the ESB installation.

You could use this calculator. https://www.batterystuff.com/kb/tools/solar-calculator.html

But you already have an ESB connection?

Is the existing connection just for the pump?

Not sure I'd be in a hurry to replace it with solar, it would take a fair bit to run the existing pump, you'd need panels batteries and a suitable inverter.

In reality the size of the pump motor and how long it cycles for would be useful to know, so you could work out the min required battery and panel size. Night time running would also increase the battery requirements significantly. You'd need to factor in storage for short dark days too, especially if needed in winter months.

If just looking to reduce costs while maintaining the ESB connection for backup anyway, forget the batteries, spec the panels to run the pump most days and use a grid tie inverter.