Hello! Think this will be my first actual post so hopefully I don’t miss anything.
We recently bought a house which needed some electrical work done, but it turned out it needed a lot more done than we thought… We haven’t moved in yet but basically, the overhead lights barely work and if you plug anything into an outlet then all of the lights turn off. The lights also flicker a lot – but that comes and goes.
We’ve been in touch with the 3 closest electricians (the home is in a town under 1k population) and one was nice enough to go to the house for free and look at the outside “meter can.” He provided this estimate (copied and pasted exactly), along with a price of $2,102 USD.
The house was built in 1920.
"Included labor/materials (install):
- 10ft-2inch PVC conduit.
- 2inch weather head.
- 20amp Meter panel combo.
- 4/0 THHN service wire.
- 1-2pole 60amp breaker (AC unit)
- 1-2pole 30amp breaker (water heater)
- Upgrade grounding system."
I thought the grounding system upgrade meant he would turn all of the 2-prong outlets in the house into 3-prong outlets but he told me that doing that would double the price.
(The other two electricians I constacted didn’t see the meter in person but quoted “$1750” and “around $500.”)
Could anyone explain what upgrading the grounding system would do? Also, does it sound like all of this will fix the problem I’ve described? I’ve never dealt with electrical work before and I’m just worried as this is a huge amount of money for people in rural areas like ours, and if it doesn’t fix it then I won’t be able to afford another try or move in…
The other guy that responded is an electrician, but I am not. That aside, your initial descriptions sound like there are pretty serious electrical issues overall. I’m not sure what the budget is you’re working within, but lots of fires start from electricity. It’s a challenge to know when to spend more vs getting a bargain, but in this case, you’re dealing with personal safety. Going cheap could mean losing everything.
Absolutely. I plan on contacting the $2,102 priced electrician tomorrow and asking if once he finishes the job if he can at least look at the outlets and breaker box and let me know if there’s anything overly dangerous that we need to try to put aside money for next. Thank you!
It looks like your quote is to upgrade the meter and main panel, and install new breakers for the AC and water heater. Which is good, and sounds necessary, but only the first step to modernizing the home’s wiring. Upgrading the grounding system means the connection between the main panel and the earth, which usually means driving copper rods in the ground.
Now, if the wiring between the main panel and the outlets is serviceable, he can connect those at the panel and you’re good. But if you don’t have grounded plugs currently, you should run new wires to each outlet and remove the old wiring. This is a big job behind the drywall in every room, thus doubling the quote you got.
Edit BTW the $2000 quote might sound high but it’s fair. For something that can easily burn your house down if done incorrectly, don’t go with the $500 guy.
I see. This helped me understand a bit!
Unfortunately it’s definitely not affordable for now to do new outlets in every room if it will double the price… Though I’d love to. Our current home also suffers from ungrounded outlets and well, honestly, most homes in towns like these do. It’ll definitely be a priority in the future but there’s so much we need done for now…
I’m glad I assumed right to not go with the $500 guy. It seemed so low for the cost the other 2 we’re giving me!
Really appreciate you explaining and your opinion!
Sounds like he’s recommending doing the main service panel, and $2k is a pretty damn good price (for reference, my price is usually around $3500-4k). Upgrading the ground system would be driving a ground rod, and he should also bond the gas and water pipes.
I’m also going to guess that since the house is 1920, you only have a couple original circuits that may be knob and tube, or 2wire cloth insulated cable. Unless the house was built with conduit, you’d have to run a ground wire to every plug and light location, and at that rate you’d be better off just rewiring the house in romex. But yeah the double price makes sense.
I’m honestly not entirely sure of the entire electrical situation inside yet. I do plan on having him look at the outlets for me when he does the job, though.
The outlets inside the home are almost all 2-prong. Some are shaped a bit weird, I believe the weird ones are “alternating current” outlets. The inside breaker box is new (2015 I believe). The house has no grounding and it seems this process will add… some grounding, just not for the inside outlets (since that’d be double the price).
I think I’ll try studying some electrician books or something eventually so I feel more prepared for future upgrades. Obviously not to do anything myself, just to understand better! Eventually it’d be nice to have solar…
Either way, I’m just adding in some extra info for fun – the job is scheduled for soon so hopefully the move will go smoothly! Thanks! Everyone was very helpful and even this comment taught me some terms to look into.