Getting two NEMA 14-50 estimates on Tuesday

[brkaus]

I would not let an electrician in the house if I thought he needed an inspection on such a simple job. Do you pull a permit when you have a plumber in the house?

For my own house, and because I have a pretty good idea how things are supposed to work (EE background), I might be fine without a permit as I will look over everything they do carefully.

But I’ve seen some pretty bad things that some electricians have done, either to be cheap or quick or stupid or all three.

I’m not going to recommend skipping out on a permit for anything over 30a, unless they are well informed.

 

[pkalhan]

Here is what my main panel looks like...I am not an electrician by any means nor could I do this on my own, but it does look like I have the room to add a 50amp circuit here, right? It is a 200amp panel.

 

[T34ME]

Here is what my main panel looks like...I am not an electrician by any means nor could I do this on my own, but it does look like I have the room to add a 50amp circuit here, right? It is a 200amp panel.

You're good to go.

 

[leftyguitarman]

I agree on not getting a permit. I installed mine by myself in about two hours and that involved running the wire through one block wall and one wood stud. Pain in the ass, but only cost $9 for the plug and $13 for the short piece of wire. I'm not a licensed electrician but have wired two houses by myself, one 2400 Sq Ft and one 8000 Sq Ft. Any electrician can do it in a minimal amount of time and would prefer to not get a permit. A lot of time and paperwork for nothing.

 

[Runt8]

Only because you don't know anything about building or electricians. The people who always advise for electrical permits do so because of "feelings". I don't advise based on feelings, but rather on understanding the work involved and the electrical trade. It is far riskier to drive on the interstate at 80 mph than it is to hire an established electrician to put in a plug without a permit.

Are you aware that in most of the developed world, including Germany, that there is no permit for this work?

I know plenty about building and electricians. My reasoning for getting a permit and inspection:
1. I’ve seen plenty of shoddy electrical work by people who should know better. If the electrician knows their work is going to be inspected then they will be sure to do it correctly and not cut corners. Always a good idea when it potentially could endanger my family. And an electrician who tries to convince you to skip the permit and inspection to save time and money isn’t one I would trust doing work on my house anyway.
2. Insurance companies will jump at any chance to deny a claim. Uninspected electrical work (in a locale where it is required) is practically begging them to deny future claims. I also signed a contract with my insurance company stating that I would comply with all building codes and processes in all future work.
3. It’s the law (again, in locales where it is required).

If you don’t know anything about the electrician doing the work, then you have no idea if they are doing the work correctly. I’m not about to put my family and house at risk in order to save a couple hundred dollars. And telling people who may have zero experience with electrical work to skip the permit and inspection “because it’s easy” is highly irresponsible.

 

[Lasttoy]

Basic info ; you need a blank double circuit breaker spot to install a 50 amp breaker
At Home depot
1 14.50 box complete $50
50 breaker $20
? Ft of 01 4 wire, you need red, black,white, green wire

You can do this yourself. It took me 2 hours. Watch all the youtube videos. Its easy.

 

[Lasttoy]

Basic info ; you need a blank double circuit breaker spot to install a 50 amp breaker
At Home depot
1 14.50 box complete $50
50 breaker $20
? Ft of 01 4 wire, you need red, black,white, green wire

You can do this yourself. It took me 2 hours. Watch all the youtube videos. Its easy.

 

[Lasttoy]

Basics, you need blank double blank in cb panel for 50 amp breaker
14.50 receptical box is $50 at HD
50 amp breaker $25
01 wire $50 , red, black, green , white
Takes 2 hours
Watch youtube videos, very easy , takes 2 hours for beginners

 

[TexasEV]

@Lasttoy , no matter how many times you post it, no one should be doing electrical work with 240V based on watching a You Tube video. If someone can’t afford to hire a licensed electrician to install the circuit, perhaps they shouldn’t be buying the car.

 

[pkalhan]

@TexasEV +1...spend $50k for a car but cheap out on a couple of hundred bucks for an outlet does not make much sense to me at least.

 

[Jack6591]

Permitted home improvements add to your property value. Unpermitted work adds liability. In my view, the permit is a pain, but well worth the effort.

 

[Terthen]

Good luck. I’m San Diego the city said permit for this is required. I had to call about 10 electricians to find one who would 1) help me get the permit, and 2) not overcharge. It was frustrating because city says get a permit but everyone doing the work said “you don’t need one for this”, and they were all licensed.

I did eventually find one that helped me get the permit and did the work. The permit added about $250, but the electrician I found only charged $400 including parts because like everyone said it’s really an easy job overall, so it all worked out.

Btw another option: I added solar and as part of the job they added another 240V outlet as part of the work for $500 including a run across to the other side of our 2 car garage. They had to get permits for solar anyways so they lumped it all togther. Not sure in your area if it makes sense to go solar though.

 

[markb1]

@Lasttoy , no matter how many times you post it, no one should be doing electrical work with 240V based on watching a You Tube video. If someone can’t afford to hire a licensed electrician to install the circuit, perhaps they shouldn’t be buying the car.

I dunno.. you can learn a lot from YouTube. (You can also get a lot of bad advice, too, of course.) But it's perfectly legal to do your own electrical work... as long as you get a permit!

 

[markb1]

Good luck. I’m San Diego the city said permit for this is required. I had to call about 10 electricians to find one who would 1) help me get the permit, and 2) not overcharge. It was frustrating because city says get a permit but everyone doing the work said “you don’t need one for this”, and they were all licensed

Well... that makes it easy to filter them out! They must either be incompetent or lying. Both good reasons to show them the door!

 

[nwdiver]

A lot of time and paperwork for nothing.

+1

I'm sure it depends on location but our last install the inspector just took a quick look to see that the permit matched what was installed... didn't look at anything in terms of HOW it was installed. Just a quick $35 for the city... total waste of time and $$$.

Installing an outlet isn't rocket science. If you can follow a recipe on how to cook a chicken dinner without burning the house down or getting food poisoning you can follow directions on how to safely wire a 240v outlet...

Using a professional electrician and getting it inspected guarantees nothing. I've helped with ~10 self-installed PV systems. The only incorrect installation I've seen was with a project installed by an experienced electrician and inspected by the state. Sometimes the fact it's your house makes up for years of electrical experience....

It would be interesting to see how 'pro' installs rank vs 'DIY'... from my experience it's not favorable to the 'pros'... this is what happens if you don't tighten your termination correctly on the hot leg of a 11.4kW inverter Installed by a pro... inspected by the state...

Oh... just remembered another 'pro' install I fixed.... 8+8 = 16... right? A friends PV system had two 8A strings in parallel tied to a 15A fuse... guess what happened Yep... and that installer had to drive 4 hours from Abq to Hobbs to replace a 15A fuse with a 20A fuse which also blew a few weeks later because of cloud edge effect...... ON A SYSYEM THAT DID NOT REQUIRE FUSES. Sorry for the rant... but I've seen much better work from determined DIY'ers + google than journeymen....

 

[Rotarypower]

Hey remember there is also a tax credit (30% up to $1000) for installation of EV charging equipment (for 2017 at least there was, not sure if they have extended it yet for 2018). This was great on my taxes as I spent over $600 on the electrician coming to do the work, and the mobile S/X charger ($550) so I got a $300 credit. I can only hope they extend this for 2018.

 

[Knightshade]

Hey remember there is also a tax credit (30% up to $1000) for installation of EV charging equipment (for 2017 at least there was, not sure if they have extended it yet for 2018). This was great on my taxes as I spent over $600 on the electrician coming to do the work, and the mobile S/X charger ($550) so I got a $300 credit. I can only hope they extend this for 2018.

At a glance looks like it was only extended for 2017 retroactively (in Feb 2018)- and currently doesn't cover new installs (though I suppose it's always possible they'll decide to offer it retroactively again...a pretty nonsensical way to incentive behavior)

 

[SoundDaTrumpet]

Someone needs to run that numbers to be sure your panel has enough spare capacity. You don't want to discover that it doesn't after the installation.
My 14-50 cost about $1800, with a 100-foot run from the panel to the garage.
Robin

1. In the City of the Tesla Car Factory, the permitting process requires the aforementioned NEC load calculation. This can take anyone from 10 minutes with experience to a few hours if you are new and like to read. This is two trips to the planning department.
2. The homeowner can walk the paperwork and be the one present at inspection. This will save anywhere from 1 hours to 5 hours of work by the contractor.
3. The power load is equivalent to your electric stove / oven in your garage, so the idea of getting a 3rd eye to look at the work is valuable.
4. There is nothing wrong with saying this is your first time doing an install like this (even if you "subcontracted" the work out). My inspector spent 20 minutes with me about the installation, and I peppered him with probing questions, like what are you looking for. Great electrical mini-class at cost of ~$150. Sad how the solar inspector only spent 5 minutes and that permit was >>$500. Difference was a perceived homeowner charger installation vs. professional solar installation.
5. Contractors generally badmouth the need for inspections, yet permits are to the benefit and protection of homeowners.
6. I would recommend installing the hardwired Tesla Home Wall Connector instead. A NEMA 14-50 isn't safe for kids, and it's a bear to jam the wires & receptacle into a 2-gang box.

 

[chronopc]

I'm pretty sure I got ripped off by my electrician. I live in the Bay Area in SF and it cost me $650 for the install. The fuse box is on the same wall as where I ended up placing the outlet so he didn't really need to run any wires. He and his assistant was there for about 1 hour.

I'm pretty sure all the electricians are aware of how popular EVs are getting and are jacking up their prices. I was getting quotes as high as $900.

 

[Chickenlittle]

HI Everyone,

I am having two electricians coming over on Tuesday to give me estimates on the cost of installing a NEMA 14-50 outlet in my garage near my main box. I am not very knowledgeable about this sort of thing so I wanted to ask if it is needed or required to get permits before having this outlet installed? If it is required I will get it done, but was also wondering why it is needed.

One of the electricians is a recommended electrician from Tesla's website. I am not thinking the cost should be too high as the outlet could go right where my breaker box is thought I would like it installed between my two garage doors so I could park in either spot and still charge. We will see how it goes and thanks in advance!!!

I have installed on my own without permit or issue. However I bought new home and had builder install one as condition for sale. Noticed the electrician didn’t get permit and got into a dispute with builder over another issue and demanded he get a permit for the outlet. He got angry but had no choice. Was there for inspection by the county and electrician was shocked on touching the outlet. Of course the inspector failed it. Funny but it could have been me