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Thread: Subpanel + 220v outlet + 110v outlet = $3600

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
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    Seattle WA
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    Subpanel + 220v outlet + 110v outlet = $3600

    Getting quotes to do a subpanel in my garage since my 200amp panel is full. It can be installed right next to the existing panel and drop the outlets right below the subpanel. Just got a quote for $3600. This seems insanely high to me. That was even taking into account that I take care of cutting and replacing the drywall around it. This seriously cannot be more than 5 hours of work with $500 in material. Does this seem high to anyone else?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
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    That seems excessive and more like a quote form somebody who does not want the job or misunderstood the job at hand. I put a sub panel in myself and had an electrician doing only the connections of the wiring I pulled. Cost $150 + materials. And $500 for materials should by plenty of breakers and wiring in addition to the panel. I don't think I spend that much but did not keep track.

  3. #3
    Not sure what things are like where you are, but up here in Canada, we had our entire electrical panel replaced for <$3K CAD, including labour and materials (and brought it up to code with AFCI breakers, which aren't cheap). Are they planning on installing a new service entrance?

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tyler Bancroft View Post
    Not sure what things are like where you are, but up here in Canada, we had our entire electrical panel replaced for <$3K CAD, including labour and materials (and brought it up to code with AFCI breakers, which aren't cheap). Are they planning on installing a new service entrance?
    No new service, this was to just put a 100a breaker in the old panel to power the new sub-panel.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Mayer View Post
    Getting quotes to do a subpanel in my garage since my 200amp panel is full. It can be installed right next to the existing panel and drop the outlets right below the subpanel. Just got a quote for $3600. This seems insanely high to me. That was even taking into account that I take care of cutting and replacing the drywall around it. This seriously cannot be more than 5 hours of work with $500 in material. Does this seem high to anyone else?
    It didn't cost me much more than to have my entire new guest house wired, starting with installing the main panel and doing all the wiring. So yeah, either your electrician doesn't want the job, or doesn't understand what you asked for.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Mayer View Post
    No new service, this was to just put a 100a breaker in the old panel to power the new sub-panel.

    I'd probably find someone else, then.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tyler Bancroft View Post
    I'd probably find someone else, then.
    Yep, i have another person coming today to check it out.

  8. #8
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    What do permits and inspections cost locally?
    ~mike

    happy in my mud hut

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by mike stenson View Post
    What do permits and inspections cost locally?
    Not positive i am reading the fee schedule correctly, but it looks around $200

  10. #10
    Just for fun, I popped over to the HD website to see what the materials would cost. In CAD:
    $69 for a 100A 8/16 Siemens subpanel
    $88 for a 100A master breaker
    $10.48 for a 15A/120V breaker
    $26.25 for a 120/240V 30A breaker
    Add 15% tax, convert to USD, and I get ~$169 USD for materials. It took an electrician less than a day to replace my house's entire 200A panel. I'm guessing $300/hour isn't the going rate for electricians in Tulsa?

  11. #11
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    Even here in the fabulously expensive northeast that would be extremely expensive. A kilobuck perhaps. We recently installed a new service panel and upgraded to 200A service in my son's house for about $1800. That included all the AFCI breakers. I think you were talking to someone with plenty of work to keep them busy.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by roger wiegand View Post
    Even here in the fabulously expensive northeast that would be extremely expensive. A kilobuck perhaps. We recently installed a new service panel and upgraded to 200A service in my son's house for about $1800. That included all the AFCI breakers. I think you were talking to someone with plenty of work to keep them busy.
    At $1200-1400 or so I would have hired him on the spot.

  13. #13
    To reduce the cost, tell the electrician that you will install the box and all s/he has to do is the wiring. You already said you're going to patch it afterwards. Some electricians I know don't like doing the carpentry - they just want to do the wiring.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  14. #14
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    I put a 100 amp subpanel in my garage a few years ago. The panel is located about 40 feet from the main panel, so a pretty long stretch of very thick wire. There was no wiring of any circuits and I paid $1200 all in. The guy quoted me around $500 each for a couple of outlets, which I obviously said no to.

    $1200 seemed excessive but he was the only electrician I could even get to come out to give me a quote.

    A couple of things I didn't think of in advance:

    1) He used aluminum wire to connect the main box to the subpanel. I would have preferred copper.

    2) He didn't put in a switch to shut off the whole panel, which I had assumed was SOP. I wasn't home when the work was done, so it was too late when I figured out this wasn't there. Now I have to go to the basement to turn off power to the panel when I want to add a circuit.

    Next time I will be much more specific.


  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian W Evans View Post
    I put a 100 amp subpanel in my garage a few years ago. The panel is located about 40 feet from the main panel, so a pretty long stretch of very thick wire. There was no wiring of any circuits and I paid $1200 all in. The guy quoted me around $500 each for a couple of outlets, which I obviously said no to.

    $1200 seemed excessive but he was the only electrician I could even get to come out to give me a quote.

    A couple of things I didn't think of in advance:

    1) He used aluminum wire to connect the main box to the subpanel. I would have preferred copper.

    2) He didn't put in a switch to shut off the whole panel, which I had assumed was SOP. I wasn't home when the work was done, so it was too late when I figured out this wasn't there. Now I have to go to the basement to turn off power to the panel when I want to add a circuit.

    Next time I will be much more specific.
    I didn't think aluminum wiring was permitted under electrical code anymore.

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