I'm adding a deck and need to bury my elecrical service...here's the
latest quote:

3' deep trench about 90' w/conduit (POCO will push wire)
New 200A can with new panel with old 100A panel run as a subbox. Add a
ground rod.

price: $2900

I'm getting other quotes but this guy wanted to put the new 200A panel
*outside* under the new can. Is this normal? Is it better to transfer
all circuits to the new panel rather than run the old as a subbox?

Outside?

I wouldn't be caught dead with my main panel outside. You really want
to go flip a breaker on a rainy night? For that matter, having them
accesable to any slob in a smelly tshirt wandering the streets?

I don't think so...... I know there are people who have their breaker
boxes outside.... I'm just sayin I wouldn't even begin to consider it.

Other than that the price seems right. Keeping in mind I don't do this
kind of work - but replacing a panel is no small task. Adding in the
cost of the trench, and materials...... to me it actually sounds a bit
of a low bid.

Matt

Rich wrote:
I'm adding a deck and need to bury my elecrical service...here's the
latest quote:

3' deep trench about 90' w/conduit (POCO will push wire)
New 200A can with new panel with old 100A panel run as a subbox. Add a
ground rod.

price: $2900

I'm getting other quotes but this guy wanted to put the new 200A panel
*outside* under the new can. Is this normal? Is it better to transfer
all circuits to the new panel rather than run the old as a subbox?

Outdoor installations are required by some building codes. One possible
reason that that contractor wants to install outside is that there is
not the working space inside for a new panel. The working space
required is thirty inches wide, three feet deep and six and one half
feet high. The thirty inches must cover the entire front of the panels
cabinet. He cannot obtain inspection with any other utilities, such as
plumbing, directly above or below the panel. With two panels the
working space has to be enough for both and would have to cover from
outside edge to outside edge of the two adjacent panels.
--
Tom Horne


Well we aren't no thin blue heroes and yet we aren't no blackguards to.
We're just working men and woman most remarkable like you.

Rich wrote on 18 May 2005:

3' deep trench about 90' w/conduit (POCO will push wire)
New 200A can with new panel with old 100A panel run as a subbox.

As I'm understanding this, you're upgrading from 100A to 200A,
right? Contact your electric company. They'll often absorb a lot
of the cost of an upgrade in service. Here, the electrician only
installs the main panel. Dominion Electric (or their contractor)
does the trenching (actually, they don't trench. They run a
pneumatic bullet underground after digging an entrance and exit
hole) and runs the cable to the main panel. They connect it after
the panel passes inspection. I paid them a few hundred, and they
took care of the rest. That may not work in your area, but worth a
try.

--
Doug Boulter

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