cost of electrical service upgrade
 

Our 50's era house is currently equipped with 100 amp electrical service.
We're considering upgrading the service to either 150amp or 200amp. There
aren't really any electrical problems right now, but we know that if we
wanted to replace some of our gas appliances with electric or do any
significant lighting enhancements (installing exterior lighting) we would
need the extra juice.

So, my questions are this

1) What exactly is involved in such a job? I have assumed that there would
simply be a run of new service from the pole to the house, replacing the
existing fuse box with a new circuit breaker panel, rewiring from the aerial
to the meter and from the meter to the breaker panel, and reconnecting all
the existing interior circuits to the new panel. Is there anything else? I'm
concerned that if we get an estimate it might include a few things that we
really don't need and I don't know enough about electrical work to really
understand what's necessary.

2) Does an electrical service upgrade have any impact on home value? A while
back we got a pitch to do this work from an electrician and he made the
claim that the work would more than pay for itself in terms of increased
value. I was very skeptical of this given the $6000 price tag.

3) What is a reasonable price to expect? When we bought the house our agent
recently had similar work done in his home and paid about $3000 (including
the fees the power company charged), we got a $6000 estimate but only got
one estimate because other priorities presented themselves. We're located in
a major metro area (Atlanta) if that matters.

cost of electrical service upgrade
 

On Thu, 14 Sep 2006 19:34:31 -0400, "S C Holt"
wrote:

Our 50's era house is currently equipped with 100 amp electrical service.
We're considering upgrading the service to either 150amp or 200amp. There
aren't really any electrical problems right now, but we know that if we
wanted to replace some of our gas appliances with electric or do any
significant lighting enhancements (installing exterior lighting) we would
need the extra juice.

I'll let others more qualified than I answer your first question
[cut].

2) Does an electrical service upgrade have any impact on home value?

I do think that it's one of those things that just enhances a house's
saleability without necessarily increasing the house price. In other
words, it could move the house faster toward a sale contract.

3) What is a reasonable price to expect? When we bought the house our agent
recently had similar work done in his home and paid about $3000 (including
the fees the power company charged), we got a $6000 estimate but only got
one estimate because other priorities presented themselves. We're located in
a major metro area (Atlanta) if that matters.

Whoa. $3,000??? $6,000???? I paid $1,000 to upgrade my 60 amp
breaker box to 200 amp service in my 1930 house three years ago, and I
am in western New York. Keep looking around for electricians who
might have full time jobs with big companies, but who like doing jobs
like this on the side for extra money. They're out there; talk to all
your friends and associates.

cost of electrical service upgrade
 

KLS wrote:
On Thu, 14 Sep 2006 19:34:31 -0400, "S C Holt"
wrote:

Our 50's era house is currently equipped with 100 amp electrical service.
We're considering upgrading the service to either 150amp or 200amp. There
aren't really any electrical problems right now, but we know that if we
wanted to replace some of our gas appliances with electric or do any
significant lighting enhancements (installing exterior lighting) we would
need the extra juice.

I'll let others more qualified than I answer your first question
[cut].

2) Does an electrical service upgrade have any impact on home value?

I do think that it's one of those things that just enhances a house's
saleability without necessarily increasing the house price. In other
words, it could move the house faster toward a sale contract.

3) What is a reasonable price to expect? When we bought the house our agent
recently had similar work done in his home and paid about $3000 (including
the fees the power company charged), we got a $6000 estimate but only got
one estimate because other priorities presented themselves. We're located in
a major metro area (Atlanta) if that matters.

Whoa. $3,000??? $6,000???? I paid $1,000 to upgrade my 60 amp
breaker box to 200 amp service in my 1930 house three years ago, and I
am in western New York. Keep looking around for electricians who
might have full time jobs with big companies, but who like doing jobs
like this on the side for extra money. They're out there; talk to all
your friends and associates.


$6000 sounds way high and $1000 sounds way low. I'd say $2500 or so is
more typical for the work described.

As for resale value, the guy who claims it will add more than $6000 is
just BS. It will likely add some and make the house easier to sell,
but I wouldn't do it, unless I needed to. Which raises the question of
why do it, as long as the current service is adequate? If you add
more load in the future and need it, you can do it then. Meanwhile,
you can invest the money and get a return.

cost of electrical service upgrade
 

On Thu, 14 Sep 2006 19:34:31 -0400, "S C Holt"
wrote:

Our 50's era house is currently equipped with 100 amp electrical service.
We're considering upgrading the service to either 150amp or 200amp. There
aren't really any electrical problems right now, but we know that if we
wanted to replace some of our gas appliances with electric or do any
significant lighting enhancements (installing exterior lighting) we would
need the extra juice.

So, my questions are this

1) What exactly is involved in such a job? I have assumed that there would
simply be a run of new service from the pole to the house, replacing the
existing fuse box with a new circuit breaker panel, rewiring from the aerial
to the meter and from the meter to the breaker panel, and reconnecting all
the existing interior circuits to the new panel. Is there anything else? I'm
concerned that if we get an estimate it might include a few things that we
really don't need and I don't know enough about electrical work to really
understand what's necessary.

We're also thinking of rewiring. Same situation -- mid-1950s house
that's in good shape otherwise. We have two fuse boxes, one original
and one newer, and in different parts of the house. We're assuming the
various additions over the years eventually required more wiring

The wiring in the original part of the house is old cloth-wrapped
stuff. We'd assumed that having the service upgraded would also
require replacing all the interior wiring so it could carry the
additional load, and make it possible for outlets to be grounded.

We also have no idea what this could cost, though we've gotten some
recommendations for reputable electricians in the area.

--Nan

cost of electrical service upgrade
 

..

2) Does an electrical service upgrade have any impact on home value? A while
back we got a pitch to do this work from an electrician and he made the
claim that the work would more than pay for itself in terms of increased
value. I was very skeptical of this given the $6000 price tag.

3) What is a reasonable price to expect? When we bought the house our agent
recently had similar work done in his home and paid about $3000 (including
the fees the power company charged), we got a $6000 estimate but only got
one estimate because other priorities presented themselves. We're located in
a major metro area (Atlanta) if that matters.

Most of my working life has been involved in the sale of residential
real estate. Upgrading will definitely enhance the value of your home.
Depending on the property values in your marketplace, the payoff may
well exceed the cost. But $6,000 is way out of range. So is the $2,500
mentioed above, unless you are maybe in Manhatten, San Francisco, or
Honolulu. In most of the real world of the US it will cost between
$1,000 and 1,500. A year and a half ago I paid $1,000, and with some
considerable extra wiring for things like a microhood, outdoor lighting
and more, this increased to $1,300. Adding extra unused breaker
switches for future use will also bump up the price. (But this is a
good time to add them) Put in 200 amps. Everyone says "Is it 200 amps?"
This is 2006, and we keep adding "stuff" that sucks power. I am in a
town of 23,000 in Pennsylvania. Adjust costs for your market.

It is amazing how many people walk away from a $300,000 house when they
see a 60 amp box with fuses. They say something like "I can't get into
all those repairs". I think that subconsciously they think if the
electrical system is not upgraded, then there must be a lot more that
will need to be upgraded as well. Bob .
Don't use the "xx" part of the email address. This prevents spammers
from automatically grabbing my email address.

cost of electrical service upgrade
 

I'm in fullagreement with hose who say $6,000 is way too high.

Every situation is different so its hard to say with any precision what
your upgrade should cost without a site visit.

I just had my 100 AMP service upgraded to 150 AMP by an electrician
friend who charged me for materials only. He would charge me for labor.
The materials, consisting of probably fifty feet of very heavy cable
(which was used to connect between where my power from the street
connects to the house and from the meter box to the circuitbreaker
panel in the cellar), a new circuitbreaker panel, a new meterbox, and a
couple of other interface devices, clamps, etc., came to $618. There
was also a small cost for filing, permits, inspection.

My friend said that ordinarily the job he did at my house would cost me
around $1500 ($2000 to $2500 if I wanted to go to 200 AMP service). I
live in northern Westchester County, N.Y.

My feeling was that if a 100 AMP service lasted me 40 years without
problems, a 50 per cent increase was enough. I upgraded because I am
planning on selling my house next year and I felt it would help in that
regard.

I doubt hat you should have to spend more than $3,000 tops to upgrade
your service, probably less than that.

I think a lot of vendors give a high price initially and wait for a
reaction. They feel they can always drop their price if need be. It's a
lot harder to try and get more after giving a lower price, even if
hey've run into problems and earned he extra money.

Get more bids!

Hope this helps

S C Holt wrote:
Our 50's era house is currently equipped with 100 amp electrical service.
We're considering upgrading the service to either 150amp or 200amp. There
aren't really any electrical problems right now, but we know that if we
wanted to replace some of our gas appliances with electric or do any
significant lighting enhancements (installing exterior lighting) we would
need the extra juice.

So, my questions are this

1) What exactly is involved in such a job? I have assumed that there would
simply be a run of new service from the pole to the house, replacing the
existing fuse box with a new circuit breaker panel, rewiring from the aerial
to the meter and from the meter to the breaker panel, and reconnecting all
the existing interior circuits to the new panel. Is there anything else? I'm
concerned that if we get an estimate it might include a few things that we
really don't need and I don't know enough about electrical work to really
understand what's necessary.

2) Does an electrical service upgrade have any impact on home value? A while
back we got a pitch to do this work from an electrician and he made the
claim that the work would more than pay for itself in terms of increased
value. I was very skeptical of this given the $6000 price tag.

3) What is a reasonable price to expect? When we bought the house our agent
recently had similar work done in his home and paid about $3000 (including
the fees the power company charged), we got a $6000 estimate but only got
one estimate because other priorities presented themselves. We're located in
a major metro area (Atlanta) if that matters.

cost of electrical service upgrade
 

Same situation for us too.....2000 square feet 1956

We have a quote from a guy and his son that says that none of the
electric in the house is up to code.

1. Power poll on top of roof is not in the correct place.
2. Two seperate fuse boxes that are too small...
3. Cloth wrapped wiring, no grounded outlets.... spliced wired not
contained in box in attic..... really a spaghetti junction....

What he says he will do...
1. move incoming poll junction
2.
3. drill foundation to bring wiring into a kitchen island.
4. 3-4 wire systems through house
5. lighting for entry ways.
6. outdoor electric outlets.
7. all new indoor outlets
8. telephone in two rooms
9. smoke alarms
10.rewiring for all major house appliances
11. 5 fans
11. cable tv in four rooms....
total cost
$9165
too much?
http:\\reno2100.blogspot.com

cost of electrical service upgrade
 

In article .com,
Pixelbow wrote:

Same situation for us too.....2000 square feet 1956

We have a quote from a guy and his son that says that none of the
electric in the house is up to code.

[...]

total cost
$9165
too much?

Get at least 1 more quote. better 2 or 3 more.

He is probably correct that it doesn't meet CURRENT code, but probably
didn't tell you that it met code in 1956 and so is grandfathered in
today.

--
Rich Greenberg N Ft Myers, FL, USA richgr atsign panix.com + 1 239 543 1353
Eastern time. N6LRT I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67
Canines:Val, Red & Shasta (RIP),Red, Zero & Casey, Siberians Owner:Chinook-L
Retired at the beach Asst Owner:Sibernet-L

cost of electrical service upgrade
 

On Thu, 14 Sep 2006 19:34:31 -0400, "S C Holt" wrote:

Our 50's era house is currently equipped with 100 amp electrical service.
We're considering upgrading the service to either 150amp or 200amp. There
aren't really any electrical problems right now, but we know that if we
wanted to replace some of our gas appliances with electric or do any
significant lighting enhancements (installing exterior lighting) we would
need the extra juice.


You may not need any more juice. I just bought a house that has 150A. The house has central air and
all of the usual appliances ( elec oven, dishwasher, washer, dryer, microwave, etc). I asked the
engineer that I hired to do the inspection if 150A was enough for a hosue with CAC. He said it was
far more than enough to handle it all. He said it would only be a problem if I were to turn on each
appliance at the same time, creating a surge that would blow the circuits. If it ain't broke, dont
fix it. 100A is not so bad. I looked at a house here on Long Island and it had 60A fuses. I walked
away from that one. They legally had to pay to upgrade the service to 100A to the house in order to
sell due to modern code but I would have been responsible for re-wiring the entire house (cant use
the existing wire). That would mean ripping out the walls and then re- rocking the walls after the
new wiring was installed.

If you have fuses, and houses can no longer have them in your area, then, maybe you should upgrade
if you are thinking of selling in the near future. Otherwise, you are grandfathered and are allowed
to keep what you have.

Tony




So, my questions are this

1) What exactly is involved in such a job? I have assumed that there would
simply be a run of new service from the pole to the house, replacing the
existing fuse box with a new circuit breaker panel, rewiring from the aerial
to the meter and from the meter to the breaker panel, and reconnecting all
the existing interior circuits to the new panel. Is there anything else? I'm
concerned that if we get an estimate it might include a few things that we
really don't need and I don't know enough about electrical work to really
understand what's necessary.

2) Does an electrical service upgrade have any impact on home value? A while
back we got a pitch to do this work from an electrician and he made the
claim that the work would more than pay for itself in terms of increased
value. I was very skeptical of this given the $6000 price tag.

3) What is a reasonable price to expect? When we bought the house our agent
recently had similar work done in his home and paid about $3000 (including
the fees the power company charged), we got a $6000 estimate but only got
one estimate because other priorities presented themselves. We're located in
a major metro area (Atlanta) if that matters.