FarmerPete
Well-known member
My house is currently fed by a 100 amp pushmatic box. The house is roughly 2000sqf house. I've got an electric stove, dryer, and AC. I'm looking to upgrade to a 200 amp box. I had 2 electricians give me quotes of $2250 and $2290 (Still waiting for the third electrician's quote). I was planning on going ahead with one of them, but I just found that I need to replace my roof. Needless to say, the $7000 roof job will take precedence over upgrading my panel. This had me thinking about if I could upgrade the panel myself. I've quickly shut that idea down, since I know that I couldn't do it nearly fast enough to make my wife happy.
My current panel is not on an exterior wall. My house had an addition done years ago that added a room on to the back of the house. They moved the service entry to the new back of the house, and fed the panel which is now in the middle of the basement. One of the estimates included moving the panel to the current rear of the house (adjacent to where the service enters the house) and moving all of the current circuits to the new panel location. This would require putting in a pretty massive junction box(s) in the ceiling, which is a drop ceiling. I really liked this idea, because it would move the box from the finished section of the basement into the unfinished storage room section of the basement.
This got me thinking though. How much of this work could I do myself, before the electricians come in, and before the service is actually upgraded. My idea was that I could install a 200 amp panel in the new location, and set it up as a sub panel. I've seen tons of instructions and help for installing sub panels on this site, so I'm not too worried about doing this correctly. Once the subpanel is installed, I could then start moving over circuits a few at a time to the new location. Once I have the old box empty, I could call an electrician in to upgrade the service. It seems to me that I would be able to cut down on the costs significantly by going this route.
This brings me to the question part of this thread. First, I know I'll need to have two grounding rods installed with a continuous piece of copper connecting them to the new panel once it's made the main panel. I also know I need to ground the box to my water main. Is it safe to do this to a sub panel in the same building as my main panel? In other words, could I do these prior to calling in the electrician? And second, is this idea a crazy idea, and as an electrician, would you take the job to upgrade the service? Of course, I'd get the appropriate permits and inspections for any work I do myself before calling in an electrician.
I don't kid myself to think that doing this myself would be anything other than a ton of work. I'm not even exactly sure how much it would save me. I imagine it would save a lot, but it's not exactly something I'd ask an electrician to give me an estimate on until after I do the work. I am just at a point in my life where I have more free time than free money. I'd prefer to learn and do things myself over hiring a pro. Even if they can potentially do the job better and faster.
My current panel is not on an exterior wall. My house had an addition done years ago that added a room on to the back of the house. They moved the service entry to the new back of the house, and fed the panel which is now in the middle of the basement. One of the estimates included moving the panel to the current rear of the house (adjacent to where the service enters the house) and moving all of the current circuits to the new panel location. This would require putting in a pretty massive junction box(s) in the ceiling, which is a drop ceiling. I really liked this idea, because it would move the box from the finished section of the basement into the unfinished storage room section of the basement.
This got me thinking though. How much of this work could I do myself, before the electricians come in, and before the service is actually upgraded. My idea was that I could install a 200 amp panel in the new location, and set it up as a sub panel. I've seen tons of instructions and help for installing sub panels on this site, so I'm not too worried about doing this correctly. Once the subpanel is installed, I could then start moving over circuits a few at a time to the new location. Once I have the old box empty, I could call an electrician in to upgrade the service. It seems to me that I would be able to cut down on the costs significantly by going this route.
This brings me to the question part of this thread. First, I know I'll need to have two grounding rods installed with a continuous piece of copper connecting them to the new panel once it's made the main panel. I also know I need to ground the box to my water main. Is it safe to do this to a sub panel in the same building as my main panel? In other words, could I do these prior to calling in the electrician? And second, is this idea a crazy idea, and as an electrician, would you take the job to upgrade the service? Of course, I'd get the appropriate permits and inspections for any work I do myself before calling in an electrician.
I don't kid myself to think that doing this myself would be anything other than a ton of work. I'm not even exactly sure how much it would save me. I imagine it would save a lot, but it's not exactly something I'd ask an electrician to give me an estimate on until after I do the work. I am just at a point in my life where I have more free time than free money. I'd prefer to learn and do things myself over hiring a pro. Even if they can potentially do the job better and faster.