Here's what I want to do.

I've got steam/boiler heater, runs on gas, the only electricty
needed is to run the (solenoid?) thermostat, basically.

It's powered via a cable (covered in flexible metal tubing)
that connects into the wall 110-AC line.

What I want to do is get that changed from that direct connection
to the wall, to instead end in a grounded male plug.

That's it!

Probably requiring another separate female socket box to plug
it into.

WHY? So that when the power goes out and I get my small
generator cranked up, I can unplug the heating apparatus
(boiler, etc) from the wall and plug it into an extension
cord from the generator. So I don't freeze my ass.

---

Now, I figure that this has to be done "to code", thus has
to be done by a licensed electrician.

So these guys recommended by my (*very* smart plumber)
came over to look at the "job".

At first the older of the two gave me all this gobbledygook
about the code requiring him to add some mechanism to the
circuit-breaker panel to avoid having the generator back-feeding
into the house wiring when the city power came back on, and
my generator was still connected.

Complete BS, of course, because the two power sources,]
the house power and the generator, are TOTALLY isolated --
the boiler has only this single plug, and it's plugged
into one of three places:
. the house.
. the generator
. nowhere -- it's "unplugged".

-----

Now, if you were an electrician, how much would YOU
charge to do this?


Oh, gotta add this. There's TWO (gas) heat generators:
. the big boiler, which heats the floors ABOVE it.
. a small one, that supplies (via hot water) heat to
the basement (ie the same floor the boilers are
on), the reason being that 15 yearsago my wife's
aging parents came to live with us (couldn't manage
on their own, what with macular degeneration, etc), so
we converted the (finished) basement into a wee
kitchenless apartment for them.

And one third thing. There's a continually running fan
in the boiler exhaust pipe to force the "exhaust"
up the chimney, not allowing it to (on windy day)
stay in the boiler room and flow under the door
to the rest of the basement -- which it often did until
the fan was added.

That too is wired directly into the wall, and also must
be converted into a plug. What's that, 200 watts?


-----

This job seems so darned simple that it might not even
be worth the trip over to do the work, unless they charged
up the gazoo (per minute). (I say this because it's been
an entire week since those two guys came over, and no
estimate yet. Looks like they don't want to do it at all,
maybe.)

So that I can judge whether an offer makes sense or not,
what might YOU charge to do this? (Location: Westchester
County, N.Y.)


Hey, thanks so much!


David