Running Power to a Detached Garage in Lancaster

Three ways to power a detached garage

Option	What it is	Good for	Limits
Single circuit	One 120-volt circuit from the house panel	A few lights, an opener and an outlet or two	No room for tools, heat or EV charging
Multiwire circuit	Two 120-volt circuits sharing one run	Lights plus a couple of tool outlets	Still modest; adding a charger later means starting over
Feeder and subpanel	A heavier feed to a small breaker panel in the garage	Workshops, heaters, EV chargers, future needs	Higher upfront cost; needs grounding and a disconnect at the garage

If there's any chance you'll add a heater, a welder or an electric car, the feeder and subpanel route usually costs less than upgrading twice.

and tell us what you want to run in the garage.

How much power do you need?

• Lights and an outlet: a single 20-amp circuit is often enough.
• Workshop tools or a small heater: a 60-amp subpanel is a common choice.
• EV charger, larger heater or several 240-volt tools: plan on 100 amps.

As a reference, a 60-amp feed commonly uses 6 AWG copper or 4 AWG aluminum wire, and a 100-amp feed 3 AWG copper or 1 AWG aluminum, before any upsizing for long runs. On runs over about 75 feet, the electrician will check voltage drop and may size up the wire.

Underground or overhead?

Underground is the usual choice. The wire runs in conduit or as direct-burial cable in a trench, at a depth set by the code for that wiring method. Indoor cable such as Romex can't be pulled through underground conduit; the run needs wire rated for wet locations. Before anyone digs, utilities are marked through 811.

Overhead can cost less for the same feed, but it needs proper clearances over driveways and walkways and isn't always practical on tree-lined lots.

In Lancaster, frozen ground and wet springs can delay trenching, so many owners schedule underground work for late spring through fall.

Grounding and a disconnect at the garage

A garage fed by a subpanel needs:

• Its own grounding electrode, usually one or two ground rods at the garage. Lancaster's inspectors want ground rods driven fully and left visible until inspection, with a second rod 6 feet away if the first doesn't meet 25 ohms.
• A four-wire feeder, with two hots, a neutral and a separate ground, keeping neutral and ground separate in the garage panel.
• A disconnect at the garage, usually a main breaker in the subpanel, so the building's power can be shut off on site.

Replacing an old or failing feed

Many older Lancaster lots have a detached garage fed by a single line buried decades ago, sometimes without conduit. Signs it's failing include outlets that work intermittently, a breaker that trips in wet weather, or no power at all after digging nearby. Older garages may also have a three-wire feed with no separate ground. When a feed like that is replaced or extended, it's brought up to the four-wire standard.

Permits inside and outside Lancaster city limits

Inside the city, electrical work in a detached garage or any accessory building and all underground wiring need a permit from the Certified Building Department. Outside the city, a different office handles inspections; the electrician will know which one covers your address. If the garage will get its own meter instead of a feed from the house, see the rural townships page.

What running power to a detached garage costs

National 2026 estimates; your electrician prices the actual job:

Job	Typical range
Underground line, per linear foot installed	$10 to $25
Underground line, 50 to 150 feet	$500 to $3,800
100-amp feed and subpanel, about 60 ft underground	$1,800 to $3,200
Ground rod at the garage	$100 to $400

What moves the price: distance, trench conditions (driveways, tree roots, sandstone or rock), amperage, whether the main panel has room, and how much wiring is needed inside the garage.

Get power out to your garage

Tell us roughly how far the garage is from the house and what you want to run out there.