Any electricians in here?

[PartsMutt]

I need a new service panel in my garage. Some electricians came out and installed a breaker for my swimming pool equipment. I asked them about putting in a few 220 lines in the garage. All I really understood from them was that I needed a new panel (they didn't speak much english).

I called around to a couple electricians, and no one will even give me a ballpark idea of cost. They want to charge me for a service call to come look at it first. I have no idea whether a new panel (switching out the old one) and a couple circuits will be $500 or $2000.
I'm willing to rip out the drywall in the garage to make the wiring easier too. I need to insulate in there before winter time anyway. So i could hang the insulation before they wire and get it inpected before new drywall goes up.

Any ideas or advice?

Thanks
Dave

[rbfunk]

I am not an electrican but I've gotten shocked a few times
Around here, PSE&G will come out for free to check out your service and might advise you if you need an upgrade. Do you know the capacity of the garage sub-panel and if you have 220 at the panel?
If you just need a panel upgrade, you can get a rough, make that very rough, idea of the price by going to HD or Lowes.
Keep trying the electricians, I know there is a movement to charge for estimates to weed out the tire-kickers but if all the electricians in your area are charging, you may have to bite the bullet 2 or 3 times. Before you get anybody in, have a list of everything that you might want and where you want it.
Good Luck
Bob

[gonesailing]

Geez, it used to be that the cost of the estimate was just the companies cost of doing business. You might try laying out exactly what you want, like you currently have x 15 amp circuits, y 20 amp circuits, etc and then what you want and how far the new circuits will be from the panel. Write it up and present it to them asking for a bid. Also mention how the wiring will have to go through the wall. This might get you out of the service charge.

Many years ago I had a 220 volt circuit put in for a Ham transmitter station. They simply ran a branch line off the main box (about 5 feet) and installed a small box with fuses (yes, I am that old ). If I remember right, I thought the price was extream. Somebody can probably give you a better estimate than I could.

Mike

[Tom Slick]

if this helps at all, I had a whole new "service" installed in my house for $1000 total. that was for the permit, box, new breakers etc.

[LJR]

PartsMutt, do you need a new service or more breaker space? An electrical service is capable of being loaded to 80% of it's capacity 100% of the time. That means a 100 amp service can pull a constant 80 amps. If you're running your air conditioner, swimming pool pumps, electric dryer, and electric cook stove, you may be at or above that capacity. A 200 amp service will pull a constant 160 amps. That's a lot of stuff on at one time and you may not even have that much stuff.

If you need a larger service you're close to the $2,000 and not the $500.

If you need more breaker space you can set a subpanel to get more breakers. This would involve installing a breaker in the main panel (say 100 amp)and using that to power the subpanel. This option is close to $500 and not $2,000.

As far as getting someone to come look, I'm no help. I'm in the Kansas City area and can be bribed with beer. I don't even know where Texas is and I'm sure they didn't make enough beer to get me there. Good luck with your project.

[LCHIEN]

maybe the biggest cost of the estimate is making the trip out.
Perhaps take a few digital pictures of the existing box (I would think a good electrician should be able to identify what he's looking at froma pic) and a sketch of what you want, and where. Include pic of the general area and measured distances and what you want in terms of electrical service.

Use a good inkjet pic or e-mail to them asking for a rough quote.

[don_hart]

Well your price will depend on a few things. One is if you need a new service run. Depending on when the initial service was installed you may be wired from the pole for a heavier service than you are presently using. Quite a few houses that were wired with a 150amp panel have wiring from the pole rated for 250a. If this is true then you will just need a new entrace cable run in the mast the old panel disconnectede and a new panel put in place. If not then you will need to have a new line run by the utility company and that could add to your cost. This depends on you local codes for utilities. Up here the utility company is required to provide the line from the pole to the house for free.

Now after that the price will be affected with how the old panel is wired. If the panel was done the way it should have been then there will be plenty of slack inside the panel and there will be no issues with short wires and the like. If this is true then it is just a matter of pulling and marking the wires and installin the new panel and putting the wires back. if not then there could be some ned to splice wires or install new runs. This will add to the cost.

So basically there are alot of variables that can effect the price. If all goes well then you can probably get the job done fairly cheeply (500 - 1000) if not then you could be looking at more (up to $2000).

I wopuld suggest that before you move forward with this that you make sure that you really need a new panel. If you have no more spots for breakers that does not nessesarily mean you need a new panel and you may be able to install a couple of ciruits by replacing a couple of the 15amp cicuits with duplex breakers. To determin this you need to figure out what you average and max running load is and compare that to the rating of the panel. If you end up having to pay an electrician to come look at the panel to get your estimate I would insist that load measurements be part of the cost.

If it turns out that you need to get a new panel installed I would sit down and think of the other things you would like to get done that require and electrican and get them done at the same time. The biggest part of the cost of the job will be getting them onsite and the addition of a couple of small projects should not affect the price much.

[Lance]

Dave,

One option you might want to check out is your local fire station. Lots of guys sideline as plumbers, electricians, etc. If you know anyone with connections to the PD or FD near you, they can probably get you a couple names of guys, and they rarely charge for the first visit/quote. Do mention that you want someone certified! (Safety first! Money second :-) ) And its not a bad way to support your local fire men and women.

-Lance

[Pa-Paw]

When I wired my shop, I used the information on this site. They have everything you'll need, in the way of codes and information. Just click on "Home Wiring". Warning, you may spend most of your day taking in the information on the site. It's by far the best source for construction and repairs around the home that I've found.

http://www.selfhelpandmore.com/index.htm

[hobkirk]

I am about to run wires from the house to a panel in my garage myself. The reading I've done makes it sound pretty straight forward. But note that [u]I speak with the supreme authority of a total novice</u>.

Most houses (I think) have two 110V lines (I think each one usually supplies one bank in your house panel). Each 110V circuit taps in via a breaker, a power wire, a neutral wire, and usually a ground wire. But if you were to run the second wire with power (instead of neutral), you now have 220V 1-phase in that circuit. (3-phase is a big deal and expensive).

An auxillary panel complete with a half dozen 15A or 20A breakers sells for under $100 at Lowe's or HD. (Lucky me - I got one at a garage sale with 10 breakers (everything new) for $5.)

So...

I'd suggest you do some reading about basic house wiring. Put each big machine on its own circuit. Put lights on separate circuit(s). And then have a real electrician come to check out your work and then connect your panel to the main house panel.

[RainShadow]

I have not had much luck with HONEST electricians --- they know that most of us do not want to mess with the chance of dying and they inflate the cost by about 300%.
I got a quote once to add a subpanel and run conduit underground for $3000.00 -- that was with me digging the trench and doing the inside shop wiring myself.
I shopped around and found a guy to do it for $900.00

Do not fall for the overinflated price.

Good luck, Randy from CA

[Hellrazor]

It all depends who you call. If you call a company for electrical work, be prepared to pay top dollar. If you know an electrician who works on the side, you will pay what just what he gets/expects. Its no different when calling a plumber/etc.

Only big difference is, with plumbing it will take hours to drown from your screwup...