its 40ft, its not that far. if you pay over $400 I'm sorry but you totally got ripped off. and to the person that paid $1800 and thought it was a deal .... WOW ... sorry to burst your bubble but you paid 3x more than you should have. electricians will try to price gouge because it is a very small job and they dont want to do it. its a waste of their time that they could be taking on larger jobs with larger profits so to offset that they just name some ridiculously high quote and see if you're sucker enough to fall for it.
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its 40ft, its not that far. if you pay over $400 I'm sorry but you totally got ripped off. and to the person that paid $1800 and thought it was a deal .... WOW ... sorry to burst your bubble but you paid 3x more than you should have. electricians will try to price gouge because it is a very small job and they dont want to do it. its a waste of their time that they could be taking on larger jobs with larger profits so to offset that they just name some ridiculously high quote and see if you're sucker enough to fall for it.
It was a much better deal that the $7000 the first guy wanted...and I never said it was a deal...just that's the quote that I went with.
I don't have the expertise to do it myself...and based on FlasherZ's estimates, the price was about right. (15+ hours of labor x $85 to $100 + $2x200 feet for wire+ $1x100 feet for conduit + ~10 x $20 breakers = $1975 to $2200 vs. the $1800 I paid)
They spent nearly 16 hours doing the install because of the way my house and garage were built, how the conduit had to be run and because many of the old breakers in my panels needed to be replaced with half-height breakers.
I guarantee you couldn't have done this job yourself in a few hours for $400.
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My experience here has been:
1) current home, licensed non-Tesla electrician, no permit, 14-50 and breaker on opposite side of same wall (just breaking through back of panel basically) - $340 parts and labor
2) new build, wired from panel across to other side of 2 car garage, custom quoted as part of whole-house electrical plan, so permitted as part of that - $630 - wasn't sure I could do all that much better after closing and having it built into the wall from day 1 was worth it to me.
3) same company quoted me to run #2 wire and 100A breaker to a blank junction box for future HPWC and that would have been $2850. I said no thanks as the wire is like $5/foot and circuit breakers are like $30-50... Maybe there's something I'm missing with running thick wire etc. but I don't think so.
1) current home, licensed non-Tesla electrician, no permit, 14-50 and breaker on opposite side of same wall (just breaking through back of panel basically) - $340 parts and labor
2) new build, wired from panel across to other side of 2 car garage, custom quoted as part of whole-house electrical plan, so permitted as part of that - $630 - wasn't sure I could do all that much better after closing and having it built into the wall from day 1 was worth it to me.
3) same company quoted me to run #2 wire and 100A breaker to a blank junction box for future HPWC and that would have been $2850. I said no thanks as the wire is like $5/foot and circuit breakers are like $30-50... Maybe there's something I'm missing with running thick wire etc. but I don't think so.
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actually my run was 125ft and involved a bunch of music circuit breakers and changes to half height breakers to make room and yes it was only a few hours.
Cyclone
Cyclonic Member ((.oO))
Thank you all for the help. The permit is required in my area. Cary is expensive but $100/hour sounds too much for electrical work. It might be the norm here who knows. On a side note, I moved here from Chicago land 2 years ago. Everybody and every website that compares expenses in different areas indicated that Cary would be cheaper but they were all wrong. Chicago land is cheaper in almost every aspect except for property taxes and gas. Gas won't be an issue soon.
I will get more quotes and report back.
If it matters, previous electrical work I've had done in my house (not Tesla-related) was close to $100/hour as well.
2007 - Had an electrician in Cary with a labor rate of $125. Charged me time spent eating McDs in the van. I do believe that included an assistant.
2011 - Had an electrician with 2 assistants do about 6 hours worth of work for $350 (Basement wiring)
Prices are all over the place. That 2011 electrician was licensed but not with a company. I really wish I had his card still. He did a great job.
I'm thinking a 12 pack of beer and some pizza if you don't worry about permits and you live on my side of town....
Chicago is still Midwest. But come on - parking? The price to park downtown Chicago 20 years ago was 5 times what it costs in Raleigh today. But if you lived in suburbs ... then in some ways you are comparing the Midwest to the East coast.
Cary is surrounded by low labor rate areas. Call an electrician from Fuquay, Sanford etc. You can get $50 an hour and it sounds like 1 hour to me. Permit in Cary is $50.
2011 - Had an electrician with 2 assistants do about 6 hours worth of work for $350 (Basement wiring)
Prices are all over the place. That 2011 electrician was licensed but not with a company. I really wish I had his card still. He did a great job.
I'm thinking a 12 pack of beer and some pizza if you don't worry about permits and you live on my side of town....
Chicago is still Midwest. But come on - parking? The price to park downtown Chicago 20 years ago was 5 times what it costs in Raleigh today. But if you lived in suburbs ... then in some ways you are comparing the Midwest to the East coast.
Cary is surrounded by low labor rate areas. Call an electrician from Fuquay, Sanford etc. You can get $50 an hour and it sounds like 1 hour to me. Permit in Cary is $50.
Jo-
Member
I'm getting bid this week, too, from a "non Tesla" electrician. Just right off the box in my garage (unless something weird comes up). Will post my estimate as well.
CHG-ON
Still in love after all these miles
Considering the run is across the garage, I don't see that as being too extreme. I have seen much higher prices on these forums. But I live in CA, which is very expensive. I paid 350 for a very short run. It's a very simple install, but you do want to make sure they do it right because it is a fairly heavy load.
Panoz
Member
I have a $1,200 estimate from the Tesla electrician, and have a local guy coming for an estimate next week. I'll report back.
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.
roblab
Active Member
It is sad, but people who specialize get to charge a bunch.
With very little research, I found out what code required. I have installed outlets. I know about wiring a circuit breaker. It is just a notch above putting in a new outlet in your house. Of course, all the "electricians" on this forum will get excited, but it's only an outlet. You already know about the conduit, and I suspect you know it takes #6 wire. The outlet and the box, the conduit and the wire cost me less than $100 at Home Depot for my garage outlet. I put it in. I am allowed to do this without a permit where I live, as it is my house. (An electrician might have to have a permit) I might have spent 4 hours, but I doubt it.
That's my side. I think "electricians" who charge $500 to $1000 deserve to go hungry, and I encourage intelligent people to check it out, learn, and do it yourself. Unless you think it is worth your money to pay an electrician what may seem exorbitant and price gouging fees.
dhrivnak
Active Member
I too did it myself. $90 of parts and a morning in the garage. Very simple actually. Once I discovered that ground and neutral are separate and distinct.
Tell them you just got a used Leaf, very excited - got it for 11k, you're excited because you can now afford things you couldn't before because no more gas. It will need a 240v 14-50 plug. Then get an estimate.
Nick did the work in my house long before he was Tesla recommended. In fact, the Tesla recommended Mr. electric came in much higher than Nick's quote. I had quite a bit more work done as I needed a new 100 amp sub panel installed which was over 100 ft away through my basement soffits to the outside panel by the meter.
That said, $850 seems a little high considering how much more he did for me and I think I paid $1200 if I remember correctly for the 100A run, new recessed sub panel, and similar conduit run to the 14-50 (which I ended up replacing myself with new conduit and wire to make it a HPWC). He does great work and has done similar work for two of my friends. I'd ask him for a breakdown of where the costs are. Maybe he will negotiate on the price a bit. His fees will include all the Town of Cary permits.
or
Your cousins (The Griswolds) come to visit you annually in their huge camper and they need some kinda 50 volt 4-prong outlet thingy to attach to in order to run both of their A/C units.
I agree with you that it is one of the easier installations, but there are a few elements that come into play - with this level of continuous current, torque of connections (and occasional re-torque) is absolutely key for safety, at both the circuit breaker and receptacle. In addition, for conduits you need to make sure you have the proper insulating bushings, which is different from typical 12/2 NM installation with a clamp. If you pay attention to those, it's pretty easy and you can save money by doing it yourself.
With regard to permits: typically, a homeowner is allowed to do the work without being a licensed electrician, but still requires a permit and inspection (sec 7044(a), CA Business and Professions Code).
Napa County appears to require a permit, even if you're a homeowner. It adopts the 2013 California Electrical Code in Napa County Code 15.28.010:
...and the California Electric Code requirements for permits:
Section 15.28 of the Napa County Code addresses some changes for vineyards and keeping work space clear for PV system equipment, but does not modify any of the requirements for permits in 89.108. The chief electrical inspector is defined as the county building officer.
They list fees for electrical permits @ $79.33 for rough + final. They note "same day" permits for minor electrical & plumbing, and specifically list types 1 & 2 EVSE installation. Their permit application requires you to make a declaration that either a) you're the property owner and it is not a commercial building/offered for sale, or b) you're a licensed electrician, so the application doesn't seem to exempt property owners. I will say, though, that their site is pretty confusing and tends to cover mainly erection of new structures - but the code reads to require permits for installation of new receptacles and branch circuits and I see nothing that tends to exempt homeowners from permit/inspection requirements.
That said, the county building officer gets to make the call. A phone call to the county building office will determine it - I would call them before doing any work in the future to confirm whether or not a permit is required. All the places I've done work required permits and inspections for homeowners, but did not require a homeowner to be a licensed contractor unless the building was a commercial building (or, sometimes, was leased to tenants).
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