Eigenvector wrote:
I'm calling around for some sort of quotes to replace my failing circuit
breaker box and so far I've only received one estimate.

The price they quoted was about $2500 bucks roughly or $91/hour for their
work - including permit and inspection. No other electricians want to
release their hourly rate nor provide estimates. I'm not bitter about it,
just interested in how much money I'll have to secure to do this.

So if you had to guess, what would it cost to replace a non-grounded circuit
breaker with a grounded circuit breaker IF I SUPPLIED THE BREAKERS AND THE
PANEL.



It is obvious from the tone of your inquiry that you believe you are
entitled to have an electrical contractor do the job at his/her labor
cost alone. That means he/she is supposed to absorb all of the overhead
cost of supplying the labor to do your job. Any business that accedes
to such demands will fail. Are you aware that people invest in a
business in the expectation that they will make a profit?

No qualified person is going to want to work with parts he/she did not
obtain themselves.

If the difference between the price "to the trade" and the retail price
is part of the contractors margin and you get them to forgo it he/she
has to make it up somewhere else. If it is not part of that particular
firms margin you will be raising the cost of your job.

Far more importantly neither I or any other electrician I've ever heard
of will be willing to warranty parts for which I/we do not hold the
purchase receipt. I would not be willing to warranty parts that may
have come from a salvage dealer or a retailer that is going out of
business even if the parts are in sealed boxes. I know the supply
houses I deal with will take back defective parts no questions asked. I
know they will not sell me used parts the installation of which is a
code violation in some jurisdictions.

That having been said the cost of a service equipment upgrade for a
single family residence varies from $1000 in rural West Virginia up to
$3000 for an underground service in Washington, DC. Quit trying to pick
apart the contractors price and get three estimates. Check the
histories and references of the contractors and select the bid in which
you then have the most confidence.
--
Tom Horne

"This alternating current stuff is just a fad. It is much too dangerous
for general use." Thomas Alva Edison