Upgrading Electrical

Comments(15)

• 
  jaborg3rd November, 2004

  it can be very inexpensive or very expensive.
  I am a electrician it depends on how old the house is. if wires r in good shape and r atleast 18 gage wiring. u should not have to many problems. if the house is a singlr story house and has a craw space or basement it is pretty easy work for a electrician. if u looking at a slab. well it depends on ur area and how picky the codes r in ur area. :-o

• 
  wenray013rd November, 2004

  Thanks so much! It is a single story built in 1961. Based on this, do you think it will be pretty easy?

• 
  trlowder3rd November, 2004

  Quote:
  On 2004-11-03 11:11, jaborg wrote:
  it can be very inexpensive or very expensive.
  I am a electrician it depends on how old the house is. if wires r in good shape and r atleast 18 gage wiring. u should not have to many problems. if the house is a singlr story house and has a craw space or basement it is pretty easy work for a electrician. if u looking at a slab. well it depends on ur area and how picky the codes r in ur area. :-o
  
  
  Th post above mentions 18 gauge wire for branch circuiting. First off, the branch circuiting can remain. If you are worried about the branch circuiting and want to replace it you will need to make sure you use at least #14 wire for 15A branch circuit breakers and at least #12 wire for 20 branch circuit breakers. This is per NEC (National Electic Code).
  To change your service from 100A to 200A you will need to repull the conductors from the meter to your panel. The 100A service is probably #1 with #8 ground. You will need to replace with #3/0 and #6 ground. As long as the feed is not under slab this is fairly easy. But if you are not experienced you will need to get an electrician. You will also want to make sure the panel bussing is rated for 225A. Most likely it is rated for only 100A. So you may have to rplace the panel. If the bussing is rated for at least 225A you will only have to replace the main 100A breaker with a new 200A main breaker.
  Hope this helps. DO NOT use #18 wire.

• 
  wenray013rd November, 2004

  Thanks a lot. I definitely will be hiring an electrician for it. What do you estimate the cost to be?
  
  Again, thank you. This is so helpful.

• 
  InActive_Account4th November, 2004

  $1500 on average, you may spend more or less depending on time of year, how smart of a shopper you are, your market place and the details of the exact project.

• 
  wenray014th November, 2004

  Thanks so much!

• 
  Ruman4th November, 2004

  Can I ask why you need to upgrade to 200A? Is it a very large house? 100A is very common and definatly adequate for most homes.

• 
  wenray014th November, 2004

  Oh, that's interesting. No, it's not very big - 1458 square ft, single story home. I had a General Contractor come out and look at the property and he said it needs to be upgraded. I am still learning so please let me know if this is unnecessary.
  
  Thanks a lot!

• 
  bgrossnickle5th November, 2004

  I always call my electrician in and tell him to "make it safe" (I am a bit paranoid because I had an electrical fire). Other than that, the only time I have upgraded was to go from wall units to central heat and air. When you upgrade, just upgrade the panel. With permits and a liscenced electrician should be about $900-$1200. There is no need (from you message anyway) to mess with any of the wiring. Actually, I did get another small panel put out by the condensor once because when the heat came on it tripped the breaker. That was about $350.

• 
  meddac5th November, 2004

  LOL Rehabinator. I generally find myself on your side and once again agree.
  I used to be an electrician. A 1961 home is generally fairly safe. They used the same wire sizes as are in use today with fuses but no ground wire in the branch circuits. A 100 amp service is adequte IF (BIG IF) you have gas to back up some of the bigger pulling appliances such as water heater, furnace, range etc. IF it's an all electric house then I would go 200 amp and bite the bullet. Cost is going to be around 1500 as previously mentioned but can vary.

• 
  monopoly8th November, 2004

  You could read up on it and do it yourself and save a ton while learning. Get a licensed electrician to inspect and certify it before having the power turned back on. I am an electrician, this is an easy job. This task may occur again in the future, would you want to pay over a grand everytime you need to upgrade? Let us know your outcome either way.

• 
  bgrossnickle8th November, 2004

  You are advising a person who is not a liscenced electrician to upgrade their service? I am not big on license, but large electrical work should be done by an electrician.
  
  In my area, the electric company must come to turn off the service for the upgrade, and they will not turn it back on unless they see a permit for the electrical work.
  
  Brenda

• 
  InActive_Account8th November, 2004

  I just want to say in regard to monopolies post, I would regard myself as having about 1000x's the expertese that a normal person has when it comes to rehabbing, and I still don't do service upgrades myself. I really feel there is a huge difference between snaking some new romex through some walls, wiring plugs, switches and lights and what is involved with understanding the issues of upgrading a service. While the actual physical issue of snapping a breaker into place in a new service panel is relatively simple, the understanding of what is coming off the pole, and the load calculations for the new service are not that simple.
  
  I will run every new wire up to the box and leave a nice pig-tail for the electrician to complete the circuit in the new service, call me timid or silly for not taking it to completion, but I have a healthy respect for knowing when it is time to call in a pro.

• 
  ceinvests8th November, 2004

  1.Read about the death of a student in DC rehabbed basement apt because of a suspicious electrical fire last month. Be serious!
  
  2. I upgraded my home a few years ago. We had a friend who was an apprentice. He did the work on the side (not yet Union?), then brought his 'Master' to review, inspect and sign off on it.
  Lastly our electric company inspector inspected and signed off and restored power. I think that is the 'cheapest way you should consider' going.
  
  A few yrs. before we hired a guy to install our whole house fan. It blew fuses. The guy obviously grounded something up in the attic to 'Fix It'. ~~No more problems.
  UNTIL ...
  A crew was installing A/C unit in the attic. Connected it and 'poof' -- 1 guy got terribly shocked! He was standing on the metal rim of the 'fix'. It was scary as hell.
  Yes, the shock was 'minor' per the paramedics that I called in, and the guy was ok. But oh, my..... Take this stuff seriously! :-o

• 
  wenray018th November, 2004

  I will definitely be hiring an experienced electrician!!!
  
  Thanks for the feedback!