Upgrading a panel

[JoeOef]

I am attempting to go from a 100a panel to a 200a panel in my house. A little background, my wife and I just bought an older home in the small town southwest suburbs of Minneapolis. Home as buiilt in '48 and most of the electrical is original. Some time in the late '80s the panel was upgraded from fuses to breakers. There is a detached garage about 20 ft from the house that is fed from a 20a breaker it shares with all the flood lights on the house and garage.

The wires coming off the meter and into the panel (Maybe a 2 ft run through 2 inch conduit) appear to be 2/0 or 3/0. Definetly not 4/0. It looks to be 8-12 strands of 10g wire, but I am not a pro and there is no writing or stamp on the wire.

I am planning on upgrading to a 200a panel so I am able to feed 100a to the garage. I am supplying the materials and will be doing the trenching between the house and the detached garage. I have had several electricians over to quote the job and look at the property.

The quotes ranged from $1000 to $5000. Some electricians said the wire would need to be changed from the meter or weatherhead, others said it did not. One electrician said it would be better to run the garage power off the meter instead of a sub off the main panel. I'm pretty doggone confused at this point. Obviously I would love to pay $1000 and have it done, but I only want to go through this once. I am tired of not having any power in the garage and of reading conflicting advice all over the net. Your thoughts?

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Need some more info:

What are your current electric loads- Do u have an elec heater, H2o heater, range, dryer, etc.?
What do u plan on using in the garage, ie tools?
Will this be a one man shop or a business?

If everything is gas powered u probably wouldnt need to upgrade to 200a service just to get 100a service in the garage since not everything will be used at once!

And if your existing service is 100a, the wire from the weatherhead down should be #4 if CU and #2 if AL and NOT 2/0 or 3/0.

If u did want 200a service, the service entrance wire would also HAVE to be upgraded, changed.....

 

[Aceman]

When you upgrade from a 100A service to 200A everything gets upsized/replaced. That means the mast, meterbase, panel and wire. If a contractor is trying to reuse anything throw their quote away.

For the record, most contractors would walk away from a job where the customer wanted to supply the material for a service change. I know our shop would. I know what I like to use and what I don't like to use.

For example, just because the electrical "pro" at Home Depot said it's okay to use a pvc mast and that's what you bought doesn't mean an electrician will want to install it, etc. That kind of thing.

 

[JoeOef]

My wife wants to eventually upgrade to gas stove and dryer but presently they are both electric, and our biggest loads obviously, although again, rarely run at the same time. In the garage I have a miller 211, drill press, compressor, band saw, soldering equipment and lights. Just a one man hobby shop. It's minnesota so I'm strongly considering a 240v electric heater as well.

Like I said, while I would love to get this done cheaply, I'd rather pay a little more to have it done right and once. On the other side of the coin, if its going to be $5000 to get it done, I'll run my garage off a generator for the next couple years.

 

[JoeOef]

I'm trying to be helpful in supplying parts, but I get what you are saying. Really at this point, I would want them to use the square D panels I've already purchased, and if that would be an issue, then the electrician is free to walk away but I have no problem paying for supplies outside of that. I don't think that's unfair.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

When you upgrade from a 100A service to 200A everything gets upsized/replaced. That means the mast, meterbase, panel and wire. If a contractor is trying to reuse anything throw their quote away.

For the record, most contractors would walk away from a job where the customer wanted to supply the material for a service change. I know our shop would. I know what I like to use and what I don't like to use.

For example, just because the electrical "pro" at Home Depot said it's okay to use a pvc mast and that's what you bought doesn't mean an electrician will want to install it, etc. That kind of thing.

Yup! It was getting late and I was falling asleep so I didnt feel like typing anymore or going into further detail!

 

[JoeOef]

So paying an electrician to do the swap and provide supplies/permitting, what would a fair ballpark quote range be in the Midwest? A four thousand dollar variance seems crazy, but I'm understanding a little more. The $1000 quote was not going to upsize the feeder cable.

 

[CNGsaves]

I've got same problem with older house. My quotes for just the main panel replacement (including mast, service cable, new 200A panel in unfinished basement) were in the $1300 to $1500 range - - - - this is just for the house with licensed electrician providing all materials.

Detached garage buried 100A w/ subpanel would be another $700 to $1000 if I were to do all the trenching.

Thus, I'm thinking for you to get quality work done, your situation is $2K or more, even with you doing the trench.

 

[VHF]

For an older house with detached garage where the overhead power comes in from the rear of the property, sometimes it makes sense to move the main service entrance to the garage and then feed the house from the garage. You have the option of 200A in the garage while keeping 100A in the house or upgrade both to 200A. Don't know if that option makes sense in this case.

 

[Al Bundy]

Sorry for the hijack, but what would be a reasonable quote for just a panel replacement? Just going from a 50 year old 200a to a new 200a. I will unhook and rewire everything except the mains.

 

[GYPSY400]

I'm in the same boat. I'm going to run a 100a service to the garage and upgrade the house to 200a in order to feed that 100a... an electrician told me to wire the garage for 100, but wire in a 50amp breaker to feed the garage from the house and try it. It may not be necessary to run a full 100 to the garage. So I'm going to try it, and if I have the 50a breaker pop, I will then upgrade the house to 200A.

 

[TiredDude]

Sorry for the hijack, but what would be a reasonable quote for just a panel replacement? Just going from a 50 year old 200a to a new 200a. I will unhook and rewire everything except the mains.

I would bet $200 to $350 in parts/materials (depending on panel) and $200 in labor if you are doing everything but the main. Figure something for permit and inspection. So - anywhere from $400 to $700 and more if you want GFCI or AFCIs.

More if there are complications....