Install Estimation High

[reef12344]

Hello

All this is very new to me but wondering if this sounds right.

I asked for an estimate for a house charger and received the following:

"After reviewing photos, you meter/main combo isn’t safe or up to code and would be a liability for us to service it. The estimate to update your meter/main combo and install the customer supplied Tesla mount charger is $3,500.00, this price includes permit, CAD drawings, material, labor, taxes, and sitting inspections."

The house is older but thought that sounds expensive.

Any other thoughts?
I just contacted three other companies tonight and awaiting their response.

 

[user212_nr]

The thing about old electrical wiring is that it has a tendency to catch fire for no good reason. So lets say the electrician does some work and afterwards the house burns down, its not really his fault, yet he is left with the legal burden of lawsuits and insurance. He may actually be at fault if he avoided proper inspections in order to avoid doing expensive work.

I'm not an expert on old panels, but it looks like 1950s - 1970s type aging. Probably a worthwhile repair, its nothing to do with the Tesla charger, its just you have the old home and when you do electrical work is when the government will tell you what upgrades you need to make. They don't come to your house and say "fix this old panel", they wait until you have some work you need. On the bright side the Tesla install is basically free with the panel upgrade.

Also it looks like the panel only supports 50 amps. 60 amps is how much power the wall connector uses, and 15 is the minimum I think. Using that panel would leave you with no power for your home.

 

[ucmndd]

I think he’s quite right - you need a panel upgrade. There’s no room for a new 240v circuit in that panel and you’ve already got it jammed full of tandem breakers.

It’s time.

 

[Sophias_dad]

Also it looks like the panel only supports 50 amps. 60 amps is how much power the wall connector uses, and 15 is the minimum I think. Using that panel would leave you with no power for your home.

I don't see where that panel only supports 50 amps, but in any case, there's a ton of 240 volt loads in there already (AC, range, oven, hw heater, dryer, and so on). If you happen to not be using one of those(dryer or range or hw heater being switched to gas), you might be able to eke out 15-20 amps of EV power. One of those loads might not really count as a concurrent load(you are unlikely to use AC and resistive heating at the same time), but even without that, the panel looks ancient and already nearly overloaded.

That outside 'main' doesn't appear to be a breaker at all, but rather an enormous blade connector that cuts power to the entire house when you physically pull it out. Maybe there's a couple 100 amp fuses built into the pull-out assembly(probably is, since there's no other main breaker in the path to your interior panel, and no main in it). Its a little strange to have the same duplex breaker feeding the range and hw heater, btw. I also can't read the lowest 240v breaker on the right column.

I'm not sure if anyone would do it, but it might not be unreasonable to not touch the indoor panel at all, and put a proper 'main' breaker panel in place of the outdoor 'main', and have a 100 amp circuit connected to the indoor panel, and another circuit directly feeding your charger(or a panel in the garage to split it to two chargers, if you want). Its probably less wire pulling to do it this way, rather than upgrade the wire to the indoor panel to carry 200A.

Also realize that the electrician has to consult and coordinate with the electric company. They may even have to run new wiring to your house, if they didn't predict that someone might want 150 or even 200 amp service originally.

 

[jrweiss98020]

The main breaker (fuse) there is 100 A. They upgraded my main panel from 100 A to 200 A when I had mine installed.

 

[user212_nr]

The main breaker (fuse) there is 100 A. They upgraded my main panel from 100 A to 200 A when I had mine installed.

Where do you see the fuse?

 

[GenralSpecific]

Based on your photos, for your own safety, pay the $3500 and get your service updated. I wonder how close to the max your house already draws, no way it’ll support a Tesla as is.

 

[Sophias_dad]

Where do you see the fuse?

If you zoom in on the diagram of the sixth picture it clearly says 'fuses', and based on the shape and orientation, the entire pullout thing is a fuse holder.

 

[jrweiss98020]

Where do you see the fuse?

Label on the outside box.

 

[jpfive]

The thing about old electrical wiring is that it has a tendency to catch fire for no good reason. So lets say the electrician does some work and afterwards the house burns down, its not really his fault, yet he is left with the legal burden of lawsuits and insurance. He may actually be at fault if he avoided proper inspections in order to avoid doing expensive work.

I'm not an expert on old panels, but it looks like 1950s - 1970s type aging. Probably a worthwhile repair, its nothing to do with the Tesla charger, its just you have the old home and when you do electrical work is when the government will tell you what upgrades you need to make. They don't come to your house and say "fix this old panel", they wait until you have some work you need. On the bright side the Tesla install is basically free with the panel upgrade.

Also it looks like the panel only supports 50 amps. 60 amps is how much power the wall connector uses, and 15 is the minimum I think. Using that panel would leave you with no power for your home.

Ditto. Avoid the temptation to find the lowest bid here. You have a chance here to upgrade the house. At the same time, you add a Wall Charger, which is an investment in the amenities and future value of your home. You'll be glad you did. Good luck, and enjoy the convenience of the charger.

 

[eprosenx]

Hello

All this is very new to me but wondering if this sounds right.

I asked for an estimate for a house charger and received the following:

"After reviewing photos, you meter/main combo isn’t safe or up to code and would be a liability for us to service it. The estimate to update your meter/main combo and install the customer supplied Tesla mount charger is $3,500.00, this price includes permit, CAD drawings, material, labor, taxes, and sitting inspections."

The house is older but thought that sounds expensive.

Any other thoughts?
I just contacted three other companies tonight and awaiting their response.

I have not studied your photos in great detail, but yes, I concur. I would not want to touch the existing setup. It is time for a service upgrade.

Replacing the outside bits with a new meter main is a great way to go. (eventually replacing the inside bits would be good too, but they are not known to be a hazardous type)

That price is actually not bad for a service swap. I would want more details though on what brand of gear is going to be used and more specifically, whether it will be an upgrade to a 200a service I hope. I would also want the wall connector to be connected with a full 60a circuit.

 

[user212_nr]

I'd also point out that, even though this estimate is high, the OP should really have the rest of his wiring inspected as well. Just on account of time, things can get pretty bad and someone should at the very least take the covers off all the electrical outlets and see how things are "in there", as well as replace the outlet with something newer. As long as the wire is in good condition, it won't cost much to replace all the outlets.

https://www.cableorganizer.com/learning-center/articles/5-reasons-to-replace-your-wall-outlets.html

People don't think that they need to do any maintenance on electrical, leaving a lot to "good fortune" and "insurance". Your stone house (I think, from the photos) will probably not burn down, but better to keep things in good condition. You'll get a lot of that back when/if you sell.

 

[reef12344]

Thank you all for your feedback. I figured we needed an update, since the house is 1950s and every once in a while we have an outage but just wanted to make sure the estimate was too crazy. I will research further regarding materials and plans but greatly appreciate the feedback and I learned a lot.

Thanks and stay safe.

 

[Gasaraki]

I think to get that whole thing upgraded, inspected, and have the Tesla charger purchased and installed for that price is reasonable. It cost me $1000 just to have the Tesla charger purchased and installed in to a brand new 200A breaker.

 

[KenC]

You have two ranges, cause breaker 10 and 11 are both ranges.

 

[eprosenx]

Hello

All this is very new to me but wondering if this sounds right.

I asked for an estimate for a house charger and received the following:

"After reviewing photos, you meter/main combo isn’t safe or up to code and would be a liability for us to service it. The estimate to update your meter/main combo and install the customer supplied Tesla mount charger is $3,500.00, this price includes permit, CAD drawings, material, labor, taxes, and sitting inspections."

The house is older but thought that sounds expensive.

Any other thoughts?
I just contacted three other companies tonight and awaiting their response.

The more I think of this, I likely would inquire about replacing the entire inside panel as well. It is the same age and while doing the outside panel would be good in many ways and would give you plenty of capacity for the Wall Connector, your inside panel is past its lifespan as well. Even though the EV power would not be running through there, I probably would replace it.

Maybe you could get the electrician to do the entire thing for $5k. I think that would be a pretty good deal. (note I am suggesting just a panel swap inside, but probably keeping the same wire from the outside panel to the inside one assuming it is still in good shape)

Note that your current service is only 100 amps which is pretty tight for a house. I am assuming The quote you got was to upgrade you to a 200a service outside (but still just run 100a to the inside panel as that wire is likely difficult to replace).

If it was easy to replace the wire from the outside to the inside panel I probably would replace that too but unlikely. I might even upgrade it to a full 200a capacity (or even 125a) depending on if needed now or possibly in the future.