How difficult/expensive to upgrade to 200amp service?

[LYU370]

Like the title says. Anyone have an idea? I have no clue. Just bought a house that has 100amp service and was thinking of getting it upgraded and running a few additional dedicated 20amp circuits in the garage/workshop. Either that or I might just upgrade the garage circuit to 20amp.

[Rob3100]

We did it last year on our house. We had 60 amp service and went to 200 amp put in a new main panel, feeds to both the house and garage sub-panels for around ~$1500, IIRC including city fees and the sub-panels themselves...not 100% sure on the this, but will check and get back to you.

We used a word-of-mouth electrician, not a phone book one. Phone book electricians were around $3500-5000.

[Rob3100]

Oh, forgot. I went down to the city inspector to pull the permit myself and he refused to let me have it since I wasn't an electrician or even an apprentice.

[JR]

We ..went to 200 amp put in a new main panel, feeds to both the house and garage sub-panels for around ~$1500...

Just curious, do you have overhead service, or underground? All our utilities are underground in my neighborhood.

JR

[TheRic]

I would suggest to find a way to pay for the upgrade from 100 amp to 200 amp service!!! When I bought my house 5 years ago before I moved in I upgraded from 100 amp to 200 amp service. But I like to isolate my circuits. I HATE to have to worry what gets plugged in where. Also give you room to add on.

To throw out a number I would say $500 - $1,000. But I have no ideal on how much you are going to do yourself, how far is the panel box from the meter, how much of the old panel circuits will work in the new panel, what is the going rate for stuff in your area, etc.

Once you upgrade, move the 100 amp panel to the garage , could even have it all done at the same time. A table saw / jointer / Thickness Planer, some lights, radio / TV in the background, DC / Shop Vac, air filter running, maybe a little electric space heater in the winter. It adds up real quick!!!

[Rob3100]

Just curious, do you have overhead service, or underground? All our utilities are underground in my neighborhood.

JR

Ours is overhead still, wish we had buried...except for the expense.

I just checked and it was $1500 including the main panel and both the sub-panels (both 220), one 22' away and the other 65' away plus a disconnect at the AC. Overkilled the sub-panels, think I ran 4/3 (or was it 4/4?) to them and that was a significant part of the expense, ~$300-400(??) or so, I seem to remember.

[dwk]

How timely - just yesterday I had an electrician out to bid on exactly this. Old (1911) house with 100 amp service, and I want to upgrade to 200 amp, re-use the existing panel as a sub in the garage (ie shop) and run a single dedicated 20amp circut into the basement for a boiler. (currently on a shared circuit)

From the replies here, either I need to get another bid or things here are just more expensive than other places. I don't have the bid in front of me, but it basically broke down to ~2200 for the service upgrade (including a new mast) and ~1300 for the sub out to the garage (re-using the existing mast) and the dedicated circuit into the basement. A quick check with a buddy indicates that this doesn't sound out of line. I'm planning on running all the circuits in the garage myself, since my plans/layout are still in significant flux.

[Rob3100]

I wouldn't use my numbers as a rule. We shopped it and didn't use a "phone book" electrician. We did get bids from them and they were VERY expensive. Keep in mind, we don't have a written warranty and we had to buy the supplies ourselves (included in price). Having said that, our guy is a well known 30+ year electrician out on his own. Also, our prices in this area may be on the cheap side compared to other places.

[TheRic]

My guesstimate could be low. I did all the work myself. The cost for material was about $200, just making the change from 100 amp to 200 amp. My panel box was almost right below the outside meter, used about 10' of wire.

[430752]

$1,500 5 yrs ago in Jersey

When I bought my house 5 years or so ago, the old lady needed to have her service upgraded from 60amp-2wire to 100 amp- 3 wire, to meet code (not sure what code, or why, but this is what I was told). I immediately told seller to upgrade to 200 amp and I'd pay the difference. The total bill was $1,500 (from $800 for 100 amp, but sure again, how doubles just for bigger box and wire, but whatever). I had overhead wires, they had to string all new line from street, but UtilCo did that, and install new meter. I assume the electrician did all else, which was new panel, switch over all existing circuits, break part of two existing circuits off into new ones for code, 2 grounding rods, etc.

Now, this was $1,500 5 years ago in North Jersey. They way costs have increased around here in terms of contractors, I would guess it is probably now $2,500 - $3,000. I say this because quotes for other stuff I've gotten now vs. then, or quotes neighbors have gotten, seem about double than 5 years ago.


just my .02

Curt J.

[ivwshane]

Dumb question here, but how do you tell what you have?

[Black wallnut]

Dumb question here, but how do you tell what you have?

Look at both your main breaker and the manufacturers data plate.

[scorrpio]

To answer 'dumb question' - generally it's the number on your main breaker.

If the feed/meter are rated for 200, I believe electric company won't need to do anything. But if they aren't, the company will have to come and change them - not sure what you'll have to pay for that.

Far as permits go, states differ. New Jersey, they'll give you a permit for about anything you want to do in your house. I think only structural work requires an architect's approval.

I believe the procedure is that if you are changing the main panel, electric company needs to come in and shut off at the meter. Then, once new panel is in and inspected, they can turn it back on.

The larger the amp rating, the bigger has to be the panel - to provide enough space for the circuits and avoid heat issues. Never swap in a larger main breaker - inspector will never approve it.

If you plan to run several circuits to garage, I suggest running a single high-amp circuit and installing a subpanel there.

[cwsmith]

I just had this done last summer. In Binghamton, NY the charge was a little over a $1000, as I recall. I had also received another estimate of $1300, from another electrician. My son had upgraded his system a couple of years ago (same area) for quite a bit less, but a couple of things were different.

My service was 100 amp, and like you I upgraded to 200 amp. So I had to have a new load center AND the incoming service line from the pole replaced. It was the old 3-wire system from the pole to the weatherhead, and the line down from the weatherhead to the meter box was about 1-inch in width. So, all that had to be replaced and of course the Electrician had to change over all the circuits to the new panel.

My son's service was 150 amp and he upgraded it to 200. However his incoming line had apparently been upgraded when the previous owner had the house resided. The line in from the pole to the weatherhead was current and the line down to his meterbox was the fatter (approx 2-inch width), higher current line. So, all the electrician did was buy a new panel (load center) and change over the wires. He told my son, that if the older panel had any spare room, he probably would have just swapped out the main breaker. But because the panel was fully occupied, he needed to buy a new panel and change over the wires.

In both cases, the job was done by licensed electricians that have businesses in the area and both projects were properly inspected and certified.

I hope this helps,

CWS

[mleichtle]

I did mine from 60 amps to 200 a couple years ago. Pulling those fat wires was a bummer. It took 4 of us, 1 was a retired electrician. They had to go through 2 2" Lets within 24" of each other. Cost me around $400, I went with Square D homeline. My Dad just got a quote over the phone to get his up to code yesterday, $1700.