wiring new shop

[Jaromir Svoboda]

Hi,new member here.
I like to build new shop this spring.I was wondering how much it will cost me to do all wiring inside shop.I dont know anything about wiring so I will have to pay someone to do it.I did talk with two electricins and they want around $8000.
Shop will be 30x34 with 10' ceiling.
I like to have 200AMP panel,8 or 10 220v outlets,15 110v outlets,12 lights,2 ceiling fans,el.heater,1 exterior light.
Can I get ballpark price for material and labor.
Thanks in advance.
Jaromir

[Neil Davie]

I don't want to discourage electricians earning a good living, but 8K is too much. I am an electrical engineer, and have wired numerous shops, houses and commercial buildings over the years. The cost of materials, depending on the run of the service wiring to the panel, should be $500 or so, or less in all my cases. Electricians , at least if my son-in-law (a journeyman electrician, is concerned earn about $25 an hour or so
perhaps 2-3 times as much if a business adds their overhead.) The job is not really that difficult, and many of the posters on this site have given good advice. You should consider doing it yourself, or looking further for good bids on the job.

[Neil Davie]

Not to belabor my response, but I question the need for 200 amp service, which adds to the cost. You didn't say where you are at, but there are many alternatives to just simple electrical heat, perhaps the reason for the 200 amp service. I have used heat pumps and other sources of heat that don't require as much current. Depending on the number of tools you plan on using at once, you don't need to account for all of them operating at once.

[Skip Camejo]

I just wired mine myself - 20'X32', 125amp panel. I added on to an existing barn but wanted a separate meter for my shop. It cost me $2500 for an electrician to mount supply and mount the 125amp panel, and purchase/install the dual meter appliance. The dual meter appliance was $850. He then ran the cable from the meter to the panel.

I wired everything else - 5-20 amp 110v circuits, 2-20 amp 240v circuits, 1-30 amp 240v circuit and 2-15 amp 110v circuits. All the wire, outlets, switches, breakers and work boxes cost me about $300.00. So, I got all my electric done for $2,800 with some sweat equity.
If you know how to wire (it's not hard....if I can do it anyone can) you can save yourself some money. The Building Inspector has to approve everything so if you do something against the Code, he'll let you know.

[Tom Godley]

When I had my electric done in my addition last year - the going rate was $225 per box and the panel was 1k plus T & M for the cable to the main.

So using that you have 40 x 225 = 9k plus the 1k for the panel and add in the panel connection and the heater -- this was in New Jersey -- its crazy.

This would be a rather easy job for that many boxes so with a discount off the norm -- 8k sounds about correct.

[John Grabowski]

I just got done wiring my shop and it was a real chore. I had my electrician friend put the panel in. I spent about 500$ just getting the panel in the garage. I rented a trencher, ran 130 ft of wire to the garage and put 100 amp panel in. I ran about 500 foot of 12-2 wire for toold and another 300 for lights.I put in about 20 110 outlets and 4 220 outlets. I would say that with outlets, boxes, covers, GFI's, breakers and wire that I put about 1000 into it in just materials and renting the trencher. I have a full 100 amp panel.My friend told me that he would charged someone 1500 for all the labor plus materials and he owns a commercial elctrical company with overhead included in the price.I would bet you could find someone to do it on the side for much less.Goodluck,John G

[Chuck Isaacson]

I think that is way too much. I had my shop/garage done last year. It was 24x60. I got a 100A subpanel with a feed from the main house 200A panel. Probably 20 120V boxes, 6 220V runs. Floor outlets. 12 total lights, 9 florescent and 4 keyless. 3 garage doors. I think that I got the whole thing done for like $4,000. I think you need to get another bid..

[Bryan Wellman]

What part of the country are you in? Around here in the midwest, going rate on 'bid' time is @ $65/hr. Copper is pretty expensive so that adds a lot to the price. Throw in a 200A panel with main, and the wire size to feed that panel....it adds up quick. How are you feeding it and how far...ie. underground or overhead. Overhead will always be cheaper because there is no ground work and you use aluminum vs. copper conductors. You can get direct burial aluminum wire, but I wouldn't do that at all. ALWAYS run conduit from point A to B. You can always re-pull if problems arise.

[Van Huskey]

Hi,new member here.
I like to build new shop this spring.I was wondering how much it will cost me to do all wiring inside shop.I dont know anything about wiring so I will have to pay someone to do it.I did talk with two electricins and they want around $8000.
Shop will be 30x34 with 10' ceiling.
I like to have 200AMP panel,8 or 10 220v outlets,15 110v outlets,12 lights,2 ceiling fans,el.heater,1 exterior light.
Can I get ballpark price for material and labor.
Thanks in advance.
Jaromir


Just wired my house a year ago and looked at materials recently to do my new shop.

Using a Square D 200 amp homeline box and I figured 2 30 amp 240 and 2 20 amp 240 circuits for the 10 240v outlets and 4 20 amp 120v circuits for the 10 120V outlets, 3 20amp circuits for the fans and lights and one 30 amp 240v for the heater I came up with a rough $800 for materials which is inline with what it cost me to do the house per circuit type. This does not include fixtures (lights, fans and heater) since you will know better what you want and how much they are. This does not include connection from supply to the box, no idea how far you are but you can call the utility company for that, they usually send someone out to estimate it. They run the wire and here you supply the meter box and PVC from the ground up. If you are close to the supply figure $500 to get power into the main box.

Just for a rough comparison these are based on an area I can buy 1000ft of 12/2 at the BORG for $250.


Electricians are expensive, plumbers are higher. New construction is a BREEZE to wire and if you are electrically inclined you may want to do t yourself. Two good books, a copy of the NEC and the interweb and had no problems and really enjoyed the work and what I learned, I had help for one day when I had to pull 6/3 wire in sub freezing weather as it was just too stiff for one guy to do easily otherwise it was just me. The inspector commented on how it was the cleanest, neatest rough in he had ever seen. I did over do it in places and wasted wire etc because I didn't know all the electrician shortcuts but I still came out way ahead.

[Jaromir Svoboda]

Not to belabor my response, but I question the need for 200 amp service, which adds to the cost. You didn't say where you are at, but there are many alternatives to just simple electrical heat, perhaps the reason for the 200 amp service. I have used heat pumps and other sources of heat that don't require as much current. Depending on the number of tools you plan on using at once, you don't need to account for all of them operating at once.
I'm not sure if I need 200amp,
I'm at Naperville IL,like to put radian heat is slab with el.heathr so I dont have to dig tranch for gas pipe.

[Jaromir Svoboda]

What part of the country are you in? Around here in the midwest, going rate on 'bid' time is @ $65/hr. Copper is pretty expensive so that adds a lot to the price. Throw in a 200A panel with main, and the wire size to feed that panel....it adds up quick. How are you feeding it and how far...ie. underground or overhead. Overhead will always be cheaper because there is no ground work and you use aluminum vs. copper conductors. You can get direct burial aluminum wire, but I wouldn't do that at all. ALWAYS run conduit from point A to B. You can always re-pull if problems arise.
It will be new service underground about 25' to transformer,but it wasnt included in estimate.

[eugene thomas]

I wired my grage three years ago. 34 x 50 stand alone with 200 amp service. i installed everythink from meter on. just made sure i talked to the building inspector before to get all the grounding requirements and all for the county was in. Not spent more than $3500 for matterials and all. most exspensive part of install was the 18- 8' lights put in.

[Bill Wilcox]

I am having an electrician putting in a 100 amp sub-panel in my garage on Wednesday. He needs to run a line from my main box on the North side of the house to the South side where the garage is. He is drilling a hole up from the 200 amp panel that is in the finished basement up through a walk-in closet then into the attic. The wire going up to the attic will be sheathed in 1 1/4" PVC. Then it will go over the attic, into the garage for a total of 85 feet. The panel will then be fixed to the garage wall.
His bid was under $600.00. I will be running all my outlets external on the wall in conduit with boxes every 6-8 feet. This way I can place and move my boxes so I don't have to remove the panels and insulation.
I will have my shop area in the third stall of my garage. Plus I found a real nice Reznor 60,000 BTU heater on Craigslist for $100.00 that I will put in there for heat in the winter. It gets real cold up in Northern Wisconsin.
With this set up I will be able to run: 2 lathes, 14"bandsaw, miter saw, drill press, table saw, router, 6"jointer. I do have electricity in there already I just wanted extra juice for the heavily amp'd machines.

[Pat Meeuwissen]

When I had my electric done in my addition last year - the going rate was $225 per box and the panel was 1k plus T & M for the cable to the main.

So using that you have 40 x 225 = 9k plus the 1k for the panel and add in the panel connection and the heater -- this was in New Jersey -- its crazy.

This would be a rather easy job for that many boxes so with a discount off the norm -- 8k sounds about correct.
Tom, I'm an electrician in New Jersey and at no time in my career have I gotten anything close to $225 a box. Perhaps a union contractor might have charged that but not an independent. I live in Bergen County and this is one of the highest priced area in the state, so I'm comparing apples to apples here. Pat

[Pat Meeuwissen]

Hi,new member here.
I like to build new shop this spring.I was wondering how much it will cost me to do all wiring inside shop.I dont know anything about wiring so I will have to pay someone to do it.I did talk with two electricins and they want around $8000.
Shop will be 30x34 with 10' ceiling.
I like to have 200AMP panel,8 or 10 220v outlets,15 110v outlets,12 lights,2 ceiling fans,el.heater,1 exterior light.
Can I get ballpark price for material and labor.
Thanks in advance.
Jaromir
If this is for a new building I would definately say you are not getting a fair price, especially if it does not include the trench and feeders to the panel. Without knowing what you will be running at once I can't make a calculation for you of what size service to run, but that being said an average 3 BR home uses a 200 amp service with a 50 amp oven and usually several AC condensers, if this is a shop in Florida I would also include in your calculation for some sort of AC and perhaps a dehumidifier. Find yourself a local guy who will spend the time and walk you thru what you need but you will need to give him a COMPLETE list of your requirements and any wish list items for the future so the panel can be sized correctly. If this is a shop you will work in by yourself plan carefully which machines will run at one time and consider using fewer circuits, and split one into several locations. If there is any doubt they will be run at once DO NOT SPLIT THESE CIRCUITS! If you have any more specific questions drop me an email or PM. Pat

[Charlie Knauer]

Napreville, Il. has there own code as to wiring methods and romex or se cable is not pemitted. You are looking at a raceway system, meaning thinwall conduit as a minimun. The only way to find out what size service you need do a load calculation with the heating and cooling equipment, lighting, motor loads etc. If you need 200 amps figure 200.00 for a Sqd QO panel.then add up the breakers at about 8.00 per pole. Figure the cost of fixtures, conduit and fittings, boxes, wire, wiring devices, permit and labor and you will amazed how close it will be to 8000.00. I do this for a living 5 days a week. In my area if you find someone for 25.00 an hour you will be lucky.

Charlie

[Pat Meeuwissen]

Charlie even if the walls are covered with drywall, you can't use rx or bx? Is this a hurricane code? Without the underground feeders I was calculating around $5k but if your info is true it would be considerably higher because of the time to install the conduit. Pat

[Charlie Knauer]

Pat, MC may be an option. I Googled his county and went to the building codes. From there I went to electrical and found that Romex and SE were taboo. Being this is a burb of Chicago I figured emt. When I ballparked this I figured 3" pvc and 4/0 aluminum for the feeder assuming 200 amps. I came up with less than 400 in material and 100 bucks for trench and backfill. The panel price I used was from Lowes. I used prices from my area and it could change a little either way.

[Pat Meeuwissen]

Charlie, I misread his location I thought it said "Naperville FL" not IL. Now it makes alot more sense, Pat.

[Jaromir Svoboda]

Thanks all of you for reply.
I did find a licensed electrician he will do the job for $40/hour and I can help him so I save some money.

[Charlie Knauer]

That sounds good. If you lived a little closer to Baltimore I would be glad to give you a hand.

Charlie

[GLENN THOMAS]

I just wired my detached garage which is 25 x 30 and heres what I did. I installed A 60 amp subfeed from the house. I have 3 15 amp circuits for lights. There is a total of 15 light fixture. 1 15 amp circuit for a future garage door opener. 5 20 amp circuits for plugs with a total of 18 plugs. 1 run of 10-3 wire for a future AC or welder, no plug or breaker installed yet. All the material and fixture cost me about $800 to $900 and everything was purchased at HD or Lowes. I didnt have to buy any conduit as the walls were unfinished and I insulated and finished everthing after the wiring was completed. I didnt have to pay for labor since I did all the work myself, but maybe this will help you get an idea of what materials could cost.

GT

[Rob Russell]

Thanks all of you for reply.
I did find a licensed electrician he will do the job for $40/hour and I can help him so I save some money.

You can do most of the rough-in work - installing boxes, drilling holes for wire, pulling wire, putting in protective nail plates, etc. If you're gonig to do work, you may need to pull the electrical permit and schedule the inspection. Check with your inspector.