My house is about 50 ft from the shed with my main circuit panel in the basement. I am planning on drilling a whole through the 2x6 above my foundation and running the wire from the panel directly outside. Once outside I have a two foot drop to the ground.

My questions are, how far do I have to bury the wire and do I have to run the wire through two feet of conduit (or however you spell that) into the ground?

My other idea was to install another electrical outlet on the back of my house and wire an extension cord with two male ends. Wire my shed with a female end on the wire and use an extension cord to power it up when I need to.

I would prefer to just flip a switch, however a couple of electricians I have talked to recommended I use the extension cord method.

I plan to run it on its own breaker so that I can flip it off at night in case the shed got broke into, the crooks atleast would not have light.

Any feed back or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

DO NOT MAKE A KLUDGE MALE-TO-MALE EXTENSION CORD. Extremely unsafe!!! No real electrician would recommend that. You've got to be kidding.

An option would be to put a MALE plug on the shed and plug it into a regular extension cord. Even that is somewhat problematic.

The breaker is important for safety MORE than putting crooks in the dark.

Don't even think about the male-male extension cord.
If you don't mind digging a trench 12"-18" deep (depending on your jurisdiction) I'd recommend 3/4" PVC with individual #12 THWN wires run to your shed. The reason I suggest 3/4" and not 1/2" is that in the future if you need another cc't you can still pull another set of wires through it. From the house you need an LB, then go straight down to the trench. At the shed another LB brings the conduit in. In the shed at the first device box (switch or receptacle, doesn't matter) transition back to 12/2 NM. Use a single 20A breaker in the panel.

The wire is UF 12/2 and is grey in color and is approved for direct burial. So how far underground? 3 feet?

Thanks for clearing up what a breaker is for also, I have learned something today.

You are posting wrong information.....again!

You got my curiosity up and for grins I checked the state code with the NEC, they are different. NEC 24", State 12".

The heat gun works for me but you have to be careful. It takes about 10 minutes to make the bend with the proper radius etc. I bent 1/2, 3/4 and 1" plastic conduit this way. I believe Greenly (green box) makes several heating devices to heat the plastic conduit so it can be bent, that is what the contractors were using next door.

I made the assumption he would rather spend the time making the bend rather then purchasing a tool. You can also buy manufactured bends.

We have three different depths suggested, all meeting a code of some type somewhere.

The NEC is a dynamic document and does change over time, every three years. The current issue is 2008. That probably has not been adopted in many communities, and or they also have there own code.

Since the code is a minimum specification and the conduit was buried 24" it met all the codes referenced here.

I never got in trouble by asking the inspector. It is fairly hard for him/her not to pass what he/she said to do.

Just curious... do you normally get results with people using this approach?

No problem!

500 MCM Copper wire paralleled for the 2 hots with a single 500 MCM Copper wire for the neutral. Also dont forget a 2/0 Copper wire for the Ground.

Hope that helps!!!!

You're not even the OP. Doorguy06 is. Start a new post, be a little more civil, and you might get a civil answer.

Since everyone now knows you're a total dick, if you want a real, valid answer to your question, you might want to create a new account before you post a new thread in a much more civil way.

Funny you should mention that.

Many years ago I started having trouble with the underground conduit to my detatched garage (in a different house from the one I have now). Throwing the inside 3-way switch for the garage light in one direction would blow the fuse. It was winter and the wires in the conduit were type R in a lead jacket (I kid you not; this was probably installed in the 1930s or so) and just wouldn't pull.

I didn't feel like beating my head against the problem just then, so for a while I just left the inside switch in the "right" position. Then one day I found the fuse blown again, so I disconnected all the wiring to the garage.

However, I still needed light and a battery charger out there (remember, this was winter), so I laid a 14-3 SJ extension cord under a shrub, and ran it across maybe 8" of lawn to the garage. When I needed power in the garage, I plugged it in at the house.

I intended to use this awful lashup only until spring, but you know these things go sometimes. :\

Anyway, probably 4 or 5 years later, I plugged in my power cord one day and it went pfffft. When I looked under the shrub, I found that the cord had sunk into the earth. I pulled it up, and the rubber jacket and conductor insulation literally peeled off as I did.

Surprise! There's a really good reason that extension cords are approved only for temporary use.

I trenched the back yard a couple of weeks later.

The story has no moral. :)