How much to replace circuit box with one with higher amount of amps?

[LostinVA]

Just a ballpark figure.

[LeftyFingerPop]

1. $300 to $400. Another alternative is to add a smaller...

supplemental panel underneath the one you already have.

[LostinVA]

2. That cost is bearable-- and I didn't know about the supplementalpanel idea

We just closed on an older house yesterday. It should be adequate for this winter, but I think it needs to be upgraded within the next few months. Thanks!

[LeftyFingerPop]

3. Also....

What you want to do is ask around and find a licensed electrician that will do this for you on his own on a weekend. I could be off on the price, but here is what I am basing it on: I had an electrician do this as a moonlight job for me back in the early 90's for $250 I think. He also added some outlets for me, which was included in the price.

Good luck!

[LostinVA]

24. Haruka's aunt has a friend who's an electrician

I expect we could get him to do this as a "weekend job" for us.

[MrSlayer]

6. If you add a sub-panel, you'll still have to run a new service.

You're better off just upping the main service.

[Midlodemocrat]

44. That's about what we paid, too.

[MrSlayer]

4. If you do it yourself? Probably about $500.

If you hire me, about $1700. If you hire anyone else, about $2500.

[LeftyFingerPop]

5. No freakin way LOL.

[LeftyFingerPop]

7. If she does it herself, she is buying an empty box and some cable clamps...

She will re-use her breakers. You saying that costs $500????

[MrSlayer]

8. What sort of upgrade is it? 60 to 100? 100 to 200?

How many amps does she have now and how many is the upgrade to?

[LeftyFingerPop]

9. No idea, but I'm curious how you come up with $2700. n/t

[MrSlayer]

10. Some guys will hit you over the head.

But my price is right for the skilled labor involved. You can't just use the same service cable you have if you want to upgrade to a higher amperage. You must get a larger service cable for the higher ampacity. If you want to go over 100 amps you need a new meter socket that will accept the higher current. There is a lot of work involved and raw materials are expensive right now. It's not as simple as sticking the same wires on a larger breaker.

[LeftyFingerPop]

12. I understand that a new service cable is needed...

but don't you think she can find a moonlighter to do this for $400? I had a guy that whipped this out in about 4 hours including about 10 new outlets.

If she went with an electrical company, God knows what they would charge.

[MrSlayer]

47. Sure, you could hire some unqualified fly by nighter.

Who may possibly burn the house down. If you want quality work you pay a premium price, if you want a shabby job, you pay a shabby price. When it comes to skilled labor, you really do get what you pay for. A moonlighter who is really strapped and can't find anything might do it for $400. But I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that person.

You might be able to find a friend or something to do it, the gods know I've done thousands of dollars of freebies for friends and relatives.

[hobbit709]

11. Have you ever crawled up into the attic

to run new wires from the breaker panel to wherever you need them. I can guarantee you that it's about 40 degrees hotter up there than what it is outside. You can't just install breakers without connecting them to something.

[LeftyFingerPop]

13. My service cable...

Runs down the side of my house from from my weatherhead, to the meter, into the basement, to the box. no need to go into the attic.

The individual 14 and 12 ga cables are already established at the top of the box.

If she is talking about running new outlets in her home, that is additional.

[hobbit709]

14. Yeah, if you have a basement.

Try doing that in a house built on a slab foundation.

[LeftyFingerPop]

16. Well help me out here then...

Once the new service cable is run, she will still have access to the existing cables at some point near the old box. Why would she have to go into the attic if she had a slab? You run the new service and reconnect all of the existing cables that were disconnected from the old box. What am I missing here?

[hobbit709]

18. But will it be up to code?

You can put a bigger breaker on a given set of wires, but whether or not that is truly safe is another story. There's a reason for the Electrical Code-so that you don't pull 30 amps through wiring designed for 20. Just putting in a larger breaker could end up the same as stringing too many Xmas lights on one outlet. I play with electricity and I have a VERY healthy respect for it.

[LeftyFingerPop]

19. I'm saying that she needs to have a licensed electrician do it...

The difference is...will he work for an electrical company, or do it on his own to earn a few bucks on the weekend.

The guy that I found was a friend of a friend who had retired from the electric company. I bought him a cup of coffee, and he agreed to do the job for around $250 about 17 years ago. Took him less than a day.

In my case, it was not a huge deal. He had the electric company shut off the service at the street and ran a new service cable from the peak of my house down to the meter, then into my basement to the box. After he laid in a new box, the most time consuming part for him was reconnecting all of the breakers.

[LostinVA]

25. We don't need any new outlets -- and we aren't on a slab

[Blue Diadem]

15. 4-5 yrs ago it cost us between $1300-$1400

to go from 100amp service to 200amp. That was with a small town electrician.

[LeftyFingerPop]

17. Did he work for a company, or do this on his own? n/t

[Blue Diadem]

21. He ran his own business.

He did the work and his son helped. IIRC it took them 6-7 hours. They had to relocate our panel due to code requirements and they also re-wired a couple outlets in the basement due to the panel move.

[LeftyFingerPop]

20. Well LostinVA, you asked for a ballpark figure...

so this will cost you somewhere between $300 and $2700. :rofl:

[LostinVA]

26. hehehehehhehe -- I know!

[mikeytherat]

22. We once bought a house, built in 1895, that had THREE circuits and 15 amps for the whole house!

New breaker box and wiring was the first thing we did, since we couldn't even operate power tools to fix up the place!

mikey_the_rat

[LostinVA]

27. OMG -- you probably even couldn't run a real stove

[mikeytherat]

28. The stove was gas, as was the water heater, but I have no idea how a 'fridge

would even run without tripping the circuit. And Mrs. Rat has hair down to the middle of her back - no hair dryers for you!

mikey_the_rat

[LostinVA]

33. OMG -- toasters and hair dryers are amp suckers -- poor things

[TommyO]

41. How "Green Acres" was that?

[One_Life_To_Give]

23. Guess you can see it depends, what do you have now?

Is this an old 30 or 60Amp fuse box?
What size are you looking to upgrade to or what will you be adding?
What kind of access is there between the street service, and your meter and box?
Assume you will need to add Arc-Fault Breakers to all bedroom circuits. Possibly GFCI breakers to bathroom/kitchen circuits.

[KG]

29. you may need to have the service increased from the street.

you may only be able to get 100A or so into your house now, so upgrading the panel won't help. sometimes the power co. will cover that, sometimes you gotta pay. then you'll probably want a new 200A panel. this will give you plenty of current to operate what you run now, put some the ckts on GFI or AF, with room add ckts if you need to later.

[Blue Diadem]

31. I wondered if some places charged to do that.

Our town electric did ours for free. We also got a new digital meter.

[LostinVA]

34. Really???

I'll definitely have to check into that!

[Blue Diadem]

37. Yes, I'd really suggest checking with your electric company to see if they charge

to run the heavier wire to the weatherhead/meter. I was surprised that ours upgraded the wiring from the pole for free, I'd really expected some type of charge for it. We're a tiny town though, with one electric guy who handles all the lines in town.

The digital meter is cool too.

[LostinVA]

38. It certainly doesn't hurt to ask, right?

[KG]

40. also, you may not be able to reinstall the new panel in its present location.

or you may not want to. you O.P. doesnt go into detail, but the NEC has restrictions on where panels can be located.

[bertha katzenengel]

30. I'm reminded of a movie quote: "220, 221, whatever it takes."

From "Mr. Mom."

I wish I could answer your electrical/money question, though?

[Ellipsis]

32. A friend just upgraded to 200 amp service and rewired half the house for 1200

a price for 100 amp upgrade was 800. If you can swing a good deal with you aunt's friend I would think 650 to 800 would be a good bet given the pics of your homestead you've posted. Much of the labor depends on "accessibility" for the guy pulling the wire.

[LostinVA]

35. That's actually a good price

Haruka's aunt's friend is a total pisano -- I expect he'll do it cheapish.

[Ellipsis]

36. Small town.

"Pisano's" the only way to go... just make sure who ever hooks up the panel is certified... an the utility company paid for "their side" of the install.

[LostinVA]

39. He's a licensed electrician

[Rambis]

42. 60 amp to 200 amp upgrade was 1700$

ballpark

[Gormy Cuss]

43. You're in Northern NJ. I'd guess that it's similar to around here --$1500 to $2000

for an electrician not doing you any favors. A friend doing a side job on the weekend should be less.

[EnviroBat]

45. Was recently quoted $1100.00 for a 100 amp to 200 amp upgrade.

Wanted to get the work done so I could install a tank-less water heater. Cost prohibitive... bummer.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

46. I paid about $1,100 last year for a panel upgrade and an extra circuit run to the kitchen.

Chicago area. Small ranch with crawlspace.

[GOPisEvil]

48. As an insurance company employee, I would not sub this out to a friend.

Even if that friend is a licensed electrician. If, being a human, he or she makes a mistake, then their license could be at risk, and their insurance may not cover them, putting them at exposure personally. Pay a little more, hire a licensed, insured electrician.

/soap box

Oh yeah, I would just ask about rewiring the whole house. Especially if there is some old knob and tube mixed with romex. Go ahead and have the whole place rewired and you're safe.

/really off soap box