Electrical Question

fishwhistle

Active Member
Im slowly building a new room and had an electrician come by to give me a bid on running 210' of conduit,pulling wire and installing a 100 amp subpanel,i know the wire has to be huge to avoid alot of voltage drop but the estimate came in at 3K!damn thats harsh.Any licensed electricians around who can tell me if this sounds correct?
 

Nitro1990

Active Member
thats a terrible price my mate is an electrician and he dose a whole house rewire for just over 3/5k (UK) and that a whole house hahaha
 

fishwhistle

Active Member
I may end up running the conduit and pulling the wire myself,while i have the trencher i could do a couple water lines too i guess.

If i was in the uk id have your mate over!

Copper is expensive as hell nowadays,i know why people steal it,FUCKIN A!

Pisses me off because i had him run conduit already a couple years ago but my power need have went up and with the 3/4'' conduit i have in the ground i can only get 30 amps back there as its such a long run,30 amps aint gonna cut it.
 

JL1209

Member
You could have the power company to run a 200 amp service they do this for free where I live. They do make it up on the monthly bill. Then you got a $250 job for the electrician.
 

Buddy Ganga

Active Member
I do it all myself.

Electrical work isn't brain science of rocket surgery.
It's pretty cut and dry when you break it down.
If you have any concerns about getting shocked, flip the main breaker in the box while you are working on it.
 

Hydrotech364

Well-Known Member
I may end up running the conduit and pulling the wire myself,while i have the trencher i could do a couple water lines too i guess.

If i was in the uk id have your mate over!

Copper is expensive as hell nowadays,i know why people steal it,FUCKIN A!

Pisses me off because i had him run conduit already a couple years ago but my power need have went up and with the 3/4'' conduit i have in the ground i can only get 30 amps back there as its such a long run,30 amps aint gonna cut it.

You can run 200 amps back there with # 8.The black 3/8 cable its usually bigger than the Electric co's service cables.Once ya get that big #8,#10 resistance really isnt a factor.Dig that trench and bury that shit yourself and wiring it in isnt shit.Hit me up and I'll walk ya through it.Its cake Bro.
 

USMC

Member
Im slowly building a new room and had an electrician come by to give me a bid on running 210' of conduit,pulling wire and installing a 100 amp subpanel,i know the wire has to be huge to avoid alot of voltage drop but the estimate came in at 3K!damn thats harsh.Any licensed electricians around who can tell me if this sounds correct?
I had the exact thing done 3 months ago. It cost 3K and all they did was install a 100amp panel and a cut off switch. I ended up running the wiring, installed outlets, and new breakers myself. I didnt know how I should have explained to the electrician why I wanted 3 new breakers/outlets added and mounted onto a small section of wall.

You will have a hrd time in the future explaining how a new 100 amp box got installed. An inspector has to come in and put a sticker on your breaker box. The electric has to be cut straight from your electrical provider. And ince your getting 210-220 like I did it will require the running of another line from the power pole outside your house. I know it sucks man but I dont see anyway around it.


Get 3 extimates, One that I had gotten was for less money and more work but it had taken 2 weeks for the quote to come back and by that time I had already signed the 3K quote.
 

mrmadcow

Well-Known Member
materials alone will cost over a grand so the price doesn't seem too extreme.talk to your electrician about you digging the trench & backfilling it. as mentioned above,an inspection is needed & you will need to follow codes so pick your electricians brain before you start.trench depth, materials around the conduit and distance between conduit and any water pipes are spelled out in local codes and important to follow.
because he buys in volume, his price for materials will be cheaper than you can get so even if he marks up the materials,you probably wont save much money their.
 

Brian11543

Active Member
does it have to be 100 amps? you could possibly run a 60 amp sub panel right off your current main panel, just takes a 60 amp 2 pole breaker and run the new wire to where it is going to terminate, the sub panel, you wire everything for your grow room, from there on either 15 or 20 amp breakers. And the wire probably won't be copper, most likely, aluminum, save you a few bucks. It isn't uber complicated to do but electricity seems to scare the shit outta most people. And unless you're planning on doing a huge grow, 60 amps should be more than enough to power 2 1000Watt hps, your fans, etc up to 60 amps total. You can power an entire house with a 100 amp panel. Total up the entire load you anticipate using on that circuit, you need a breaker just larger than that to power it safely. The 14/2 or the 12/2 wire you use for your circuits, will be copper, just to clarify, the feeder cable, aluminum. 14/2 = 15 amp circuits, 12/2 = 20 amp circuits. A 60 amp sub panel I think would take #4CU wire, basically just go to Lowe's or HD, and they will tell you what each size is rated for. Surf the net a little, and you can find detailed instructions about installing it all. Cost you well under a grand to do it yourself. And by using a sub panel, you won't have to have the power company come out either and no inspections. Personally, I think a 60 amp service would be plenty, add up ALL the amps that everything you plan on using, will use, max load, that tells you what your minimum size breaker/wire should be, go from there. Wire should be buried no less than 1 foot and I recommend running it in conduit, 2", maybe 1 1/2".
 

USMC

Member
one roll of 12/2 wire 250ft was 80$ Home depot
Breakers (20amp), outlets, box covers and wiring tack stuff ~80 bucks

BRIAN11543 what you suggest would only give him 40 amp for house usage power. I dont think thats adequate for houses these days. From my understanding he is upgrading his current box to a 100 amp box. What did you have before assuming I am thinking of this correctly?
 

Brian11543

Active Member
no, that isn't how it is figured. A 100 amp panel provides 100 amps, my 100 watt panel has almost 300 amps worth of breakers in it (NOT including the main breaker), how is this possible shouldn't it be undersized and I really need a 400 amp panel? No. I ran a similar set up at the county road commissions garage, inside the town hall they had a 100 amp panel, next to this was the truck garage which they wanted a 60 amp sub panel installed, lights, plugs, and a circuit for a welder, it was roughly the same distance away, 210 feet. I can't quote the exact formula but I know this will work. Check your main panel rating, if your breakers do not add up to more than what the panel is rated for, I'd be surprised.

Another way is to go to a replaceable lug meter socket (if the house doesn't already have one) and run a 100 amp service to the "garage" from the meter socket. You'd need to check with the utility provider and make certain their existing service drop or lateral is large enough to handle both the house and the "garage". A separate service will require its own grounding. If the meter is closer to where you want the sub panel to be, this may be a better/cheaper option.

Where are you at that you can get a 250' roll of 12/2 for $80? I bought 50' at HD 2 weeks ago for about $35
 

mrmadcow

Well-Known Member
just ran the numbers. your 3/4 conduit can handle 3 strands of 4 gauge wire. power it w/ a 220v 30 amp breaker at your house & a subpanel at the garage will give you a total of 7000 watts.if it is enough for your needs, you could save a shitload of money.
 

fishwhistle

Active Member
All your info is much appreciated first off,thank you all.The run between the existing house panel to where i want the 100 amp subpanel installed in the new room is a long one,210 ft. or there abouts so voltage drop is a consideration.my current plan is to be able to run up to 4 1000's in a 10x10 room,a couple t5 badboys for veg in another room and of course all the timers,fans,controllers etc,also a/c/heat will undoubtedly come into play as it gets over 100 high/under 30 low regularly here,I also have a mig welder,compressor and plasma cutter that i occasionaly will use out there..So far ive got the foundation of the bldg in(20x24),framing is next and it will all be 2x6 construction so i can insulate it as well as possible.100 amp may be overkill but i can also tee off of it if i ever build a garage in the future out there,i have 5 acres.I definitely would rather err on the safety/overkill side and want to run large gauge copper,i dont even know anything about aluminum wire but it doesnt sound heavy duty enough to me.This is a joint venture between my son and I and will be a learning experience as ive only done outdoor before.I know this may sound a little overkill for 2 guys to grow some personal tomatoes but i am never happy doing stuff half assed and we want to be able to have a little self contained grow lab to play in,grow a little and have room for other projects should we so choose.
 

mrmadcow

Well-Known Member
....100 amp may be overkill but i can also tee off of it if i ever build a garage in the future out there,i have 5 acres.I definitely would rather err on the safety/overkill side and want to run large gauge copper,i dont even know anything about aluminum wire .....
100 amps for a garage/shop is not really overkill.
as for copper,it will double your cost or better for the size/distance you need. aluminum wire is probably what already feeds your house to the meter & is made for service drops so dont discount it for no reason.
when you do the trench,consider low voltage wire for a phone,intercom or buzzer to the house. maybey a camera,internet or cable tv? an add on to the alarm system? a spare 1 inch pvc conduit would only add 40-50 bucks.or leave the existing 3/4 pipe for low voltage.
 

fishwhistle

Active Member
100 amps for a garage/shop is not really overkill.
as for copper,it will double your cost or better for the size/distance you need. aluminum wire is probably what already feeds your house to the meter & is made for service drops so dont discount it for no reason.
when you do the trench,consider low voltage wire for a phone,intercom or buzzer to the house. maybey a camera,internet or cable tv? an add on to the alarm system? a spare 1 inch pvc conduit would only add 40-50 bucks.or leave the existing 3/4 pipe for low voltage.
Thanks for the heads up on aluminum,i was not aware of that!Also excellent idea on using the already run 3/4 to hook up a camera/alarm setup as i already have video/security system at the house,hell i was just gonna tear out the existing and replace it!
 

fishwhistle

Active Member
materials alone will cost over a grand so the price doesn't seem too extreme.talk to your electrician about you digging the trench & backfilling it. as mentioned above,an inspection is needed & you will need to follow codes so pick your electricians brain before you start.trench depth, materials around the conduit and distance between conduit and any water pipes are spelled out in local codes and important to follow.
because he buys in volume, his price for materials will be cheaper than you can get so even if he marks up the materials,you probably wont save much money their.
You are so right on the cost of materials,yesterday i looked at a 500' roll of 1/0 at home depot $1477 bucks WTF!
 
Top