Does 240v NEMA 14-50 have to cost this much?

[SCDrJ]

What location was that? AZ?

Yes indeed. Building with Toll Brothers in Scottsdale. The houses don't come with much electrical "standard".... Recessed lighting, hanging fixtures etc are all extra. So when we were designing the home electrical plan I said "how much for a 14-50 outlet in the garage for electric car charging?" We put in extra fridge outlets, 120v for current Prius plug-in and the Tesla outlet. Garage is wired up!

Took them a bit of time for the custom quote but it was one of the few things I thought I wasn't being gouged too badly for. Although when you think about it when they are wiring a whole house the incremental cost of adding this even with profit added was probably half what I paid, I figured I couldn't beat it on the outside by much if at all and it is built in and under whole house warranty.

 

[smsprague]

Another data point. I used an electrician I have used on other jobs. 150 ft run from box (I had the breaker room in my existing box) up to and over roof. Total $850.

 

[brec]

The two recommended electricians in the Reno, NV area, for my house which has the CB box on the opposite side from the garage and requires running cable through the crawl space underneath: $900 and $975 including county inspection/permit.

 

[ozweepay]

I had two electricians both estimate $450 for the job. Both said 4 hours of work. I'm no electrician, but how can it take 4 hours to replace the existing 30A breaker with a combo 30A/50A breaker (10 mins), run 15ft of #6 wire along a wall (1 hr?!) and install an outlet (30 mins)? Am I missing something here?

One quoted $125/hr first hour, $75/hr thereafter. Seems reasonable to me.

 

[gavine]

If you're uncomfortable working with electricity, but still want to save money, why not run the wire/conduit yourself and then just pay an electrician to connect the wire to the outlet and breaker?

 

[Cyclone]

I had two electricians both estimate $450 for the job. Both said 4 hours of work. I'm no electrician, but how can it take 4 hours to replace the existing 30A breaker with a combo 30A/50A breaker (10 mins), run 15ft of #6 wire along a wall (1 hr?!) and install an outlet (30 mins)? Am I missing something here?

One quoted $125/hr first hour, $75/hr thereafter. Seems reasonable to me.

Would there also need to be an inspection and permit that covers another hour or two of labor time for the electrician to sit around waiting on or filling out paperwork?

 

[Max*]

Would there also need to be an inspection and permit that covers another hour or two of labor time for the electrician to sit around waiting on or filling out paperwork?

I guess it depends on the jurisdiction. Permit is online where I'm at, and very quick.

- - - Updated - - -

I had two electricians both estimate $450 for the job. Both said 4 hours of work. I'm no electrician, but how can it take 4 hours to replace the existing 30A breaker with a combo 30A/50A breaker (10 mins), run 15ft of #6 wire along a wall (1 hr?!) and install an outlet (30 mins)? Am I missing something here?

One quoted $125/hr first hour, $75/hr thereafter. Seems reasonable to me.

I got quoted 4 hours for a job I thought would take 2. I locked them in the basement and went to work, so I don't know how long it actually took.

But it was a flat rate, sop i guess I don't care.

 

[Khatsalano]

Yea, shop around. The Tesla-recommended ones here were 50% more expensive and not responsive to my RFP as much as highly-rated Yelp electricians I found. I have a similar situation to the OP, except I went the HPWC route. Total cost was $500, including all materials ... and that's in California.

- K

 

[wcfinvader]

If you're uncomfortable working with electricity, but still want to save money, why not run the wire/conduit yourself and then just pay an electrician to connect the wire to the outlet and breaker?

Excellent idea. We wired the one at my brother's house ourselves. It's really pretty simple but if the idea of working with electricity scares you then do as gavine suggested. YouTube is your friend btw.

 

[Cyclone]

Excellent idea. We wired the one at my brother's house ourselves. It's really pretty simple but if the idea of working with electricity scares you then do as gavine suggested. YouTube is your friend btw.

Hmmm. Would one need conduit if the wiring is running behind drywal? In particular, I'm going to need a subpanel to be wired up in the garage from the basement since my main panel already is using half-height breakers for almost all 120v circuits.

 

[fieldalias]

My panel is by the garage, and had the outlet installed about 1ft away. Total cost was ~$120

 

[jerry33]

I ended up paying about $4,500 for the electrical work.

1. Upgrade main panel from 150 to 200 amps.

2. Install 100 amp subpanel

3. Install 14-50 (this was done prior to the main panel upgrade).

4. Install two 20 amp circuits for washer and dryer.

5. Install Clipper Creek HCS-40 (this was done after the subpanel installation and was about $200).

6. Reroute the UPS feed to the 100 amp subpanel.

7. Install an outside LED motion sensor light (also done before the subpanel installation)

So I had five or six trips in total for the electrician and his helper and something like 10 m of conduit.

in the end the the outside light and the 14-50 run off the main panel, while the HCS-40, washer, dryer, and 6 KVA UPS run from the subpanel.

Had my crystal ball been working it would have been at least 30% less.

 

[yobigd20]

I ended up paying about $4,500 for the electrical work.

1. Upgrade main panel from 150 to 200 amps.

2. Install 100 amp subpanel

3. Install 14-50 (this was done prior to the main panel upgrade).

4. Install two 20 amp circuits for washer and dryer.

5. Install Clipper Creek HCS-40 (this was done after the subpanel installation and was about $200).

6. Reroute the UPS feed to the 100 amp subpanel.

7. Install an outside LED motion sensor light (also done before the subpanel installation)

So I had five or six trips in total for the electrician and his helper and something like 10 m of conduit.

in the end the the outside light and the 14-50 run off the main panel, while the HCS-40, washer, dryer, and 6 KVA UPS run from the subpanel.

Had my crystal ball been working it would have been at least 30% less.

While that was more that just a 14-50 install, I still think we have a winner for who got ripped off the most. Wow.


Where are you guys finding these electricians?? And you're ok with their prices? That doesn't seem really high to you? I would think common sense should kick in that you're being taken advantage of.

 

[jerry33]

While that was more that just a 14-50 install, I still think we have a winner for who got ripped off the most. Wow.


Where are you guys finding these electricians?? And you're ok with their prices? That doesn't seem really high to you? I would think common sense should kick in that you're being taken advantage of.

All together it was about twenty hours of labour for two people plus the parts. I received quotes for up to $8K for just #1 plus #3.

 

[eye.surgeon]

if you pay more than $400 you got ripped off.

Ridiculous. You could $400 on wiring and conduit alone for a long run.

 

[FlasherZ]

Hmmm. Would one need conduit if the wiring is running behind drywal? In particular, I'm going to need a subpanel to be wired up in the garage from the basement since my main panel already is using half-height breakers for almost all 120v circuits.

If running the wiring inside the wall, you are permitted to use NM in most jurisdictions. Chicago and some localities in NY do not permit NM cable and require conduit everywhere. If running on the surface of the wall, generally anything under 7' must be sleeved in EMT or PVC to protect from physical damage.

- - - Updated - - -

While that was more that just a 14-50 install, I still think we have a winner for who got ripped off the most. Wow.


Where are you guys finding these electricians?? And you're ok with their prices? That doesn't seem really high to you? I would think common sense should kick in that you're being taken advantage of.

Service panel upgrades generally run $2,500 including equipment. 100A subpanel will require a 4-wire feed @ about $5-6/ft for wire and conduit, fittings, etc. - and 100 ft from service panel to garage with labor (especially if attic) will run you about $800-1000. Rerouting UPS/genset feed (depending on size) is likely going to be $500-1000 depending on distance. I can see how it could reach that easily at typical labor rates and with typical permit/inspection fees that run upwards of $200+ per modification. Unless you're driving to pick up your help at home improvement stores in the morning, it's not a rip-off, especially if you're not intimately familiar with code and you have permit/inspection requirements.

 

[FlatSix911]

It's always helpful to have 2-3 quotes in hand.

How far is the opposite wall and how tall is your garage ceiling? Will the PVC conduit be run on the surface, or in the wall?
Is your panel surface-mount, or do you have to tunnel into the wall to connect the conduit? Do you happen to know permit charges in your area?

At retail, figure approx. $2/ft for wire price, $1/ft for conduit & fittings, $20 for breaker, $25 for box, receptacle, and cover.
Assume ~$100/hr labor. Add permit and inspection fees. If work is done in attic or ceilings, add extra labor.

So an "opposite wall" of the garage with 10 ft ceilings and 25 ft. length, surface mount panel,
I'd figure a 40 ft. run (7.5 up, 7.5 down, 25 ft lateral) @ about $200 parts, 2-3 hr labor ($200-300), + permit costs
(keep in mind your electrician gets paid labor while waiting for inspectors and permits too!). That's very, very rough.

I keep thinking about putting cost estimation into the FAQ, but copper prices change so much that I'd have to update it frequently for the wiring cost estimates. For 50A circuits, what I post above is a good estimate to benchmark others against. Typical permit/inspection fees (including labor for electrician running to the municipal or county facility) tend to run $100-300 as well, as required.

Flasher, thanks for providing the information for a rough electrical estimate ... very helpful!
I used your data to calculate the new 50ft. run in my garage, $200 Materials + $500 Labor = $700 Total.
(Electrician installed both a NEMA 14-50 for a UMC and a wall mounted HPWC with a bypass switch in 5 hours)

A cost estimator in the FAQ would answer a lot of questions and provide a useful price range.

 

[bancroftc]

Another point of reference - I paid a little over $1,400 for a NEMA 14-50 install just yesterday. I used one of the two Tesla recommended installers that focus almost entirely on EV installs. While I didn't shop around, they did get phenomenal reviews on Yelp and Google from other customers. Usually I would quote out a job like this but for whatever reason felt more comfortable going with Tesla's recommendation. Main panel is on back of my garage, so they had to run around the exterior of my house to the back left of my garage in order to go through the wall and into my garage.

The job entailed (summarized from my invoice):

-Extracting 2 very old 60A breakers from sub panel
-Replacing with 2 skinny 50A breakers to fit
-180' #8 THNN copper from main to mount point
-60' #10 THNN copper ground from main to mount
-60' 3/4" EMT conduit from main to mount
-Exterior brick drill out 1" with weather sealing
-Interior cut out and flush mount NEMA 14-50, including all associated parts
-Exterior mounting of EMT conduit + associated parts
-4 hours labor, two guys. It took them about 4 hours of work to complete.

Worth noting that my electric utility, Austin Energy, offers a 50% rebate on EV charger install cost and the guys are handing all that paperwork/submission. There is also another 30% federal tax rebate on top of that. So my net after rebates is (or will be) $295. I was not aware of either of these rebates until my install guys mentioned them.

$1,400 bucks for an outlet install seemed like a lot, but there was quite a bit more work involved than I had anticipated. Did they increase the costs it in light of the rebates? Probably. But if I'm out for $295 at the end of the day I'm not complaining one bit.

 

[Cyclone]

There is also another 30% federal tax rebate on top of that.

The 30% Fed Credit for EVSE installation got extended to 2015? I thought it ended in 2014.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Another point of reference - I paid a little over $1,400 for a NEMA 14-50 install just yesterday. I used one of the two Tesla recommended installers that focus almost entirely on EV installs. While I didn't shop around, they did get phenomenal reviews on Yelp and Google from other customers. Usually I would quote out a job like this but for whatever reason felt more comfortable going with Tesla's recommendation. Main panel is on back of my garage, so they had to run around the exterior of my house to the back left of my garage in order to go through the wall and into my garage.

The job entailed (summarized from my invoice):

-Extracting 2 very old 60A breakers from sub panel
-Replacing with 2 skinny 50A breakers to fit
-180' #8 THNN copper from main to mount point
-60' #10 THNN copper ground from main to mount
-60' 3/4" EMT conduit from main to mount
-Exterior brick drill out 1" with weather sealing
-Interior cut out and flush mount NEMA 14-50, including all associated parts
-Exterior mounting of EMT conduit + associated parts
-4 hours labor, two guys. It took them about 4 hours of work to complete.

Worth noting that my electric utility, Austin Energy, offers a 50% rebate on EV charger install cost and the guys are handing all that paperwork/submission. There is also another 30% federal tax rebate on top of that. So my net after rebates is (or will be) $295. I was not aware of either of these rebates until my install guys mentioned them.

$1,400 bucks for an outlet install seemed like a lot, but there was quite a bit more work involved than I had anticipated. Did they increase the costs it in light of the rebates? Probably. But if I'm out for $295 at the end of the day I'm not complaining one bit.

I don't know if the 30% federal rebate still exists. I remember it was added at the very end of the year last year (for 2014 installs) but I haven't seen any confirmation that there is one available for 2015 installs. I'll definitely be researching that more when I do my taxes next year as it would save me over $500 if they extended it through 2015.