The electrician came by yesterday to break the hot tub off on to its own circuit. He said the job looked easy. It is a 50 foot run from the load center to where the hot tub is located. The attic is large with s straight shot from the load center to the wall where the disconnect will go. He said it would take less than 3 hours in total, not counting time for inspections. I figured it would be near $500.
The quote came in. Holy cow.
They quoted $900 in labor, $600 in parts, and another $150 for a permit. 900 in labor for an "easy" job? I spoke with another electrician who said that no permit is needed to wire in an existing hot tub, only for new installations.
I priced out the parts at home depot:
45 amp breaker: $16.49
60 amp non fuse disconnect: $19.23
60 feet 6/3 romex: $130
40 amp gfi breaker: 12.67
conduit and fittings for the non-attic portion should be around $40.
So, total for parts is less than $250.
This quote looks heavily padded.
I will be getting more quotes.
You can do all your own work up to the point of hooking it into your main panel. And seriously cut a big chunk of moola off the bill.
ReplyDeleteIf you're feeling lucky, or good, or have friends who can do electrical work, you can hook into the electrical panel yourself.
That first quote? Did you manage to find the one gypsy electrician in the area?
My Buddy Marv is an electrical engineer and he's appalled at some of the quotes he got for wiring his new detached workshop.
ReplyDeleteThe cheapest route ended up getting Duke to connect to a new meter can on the shop and digging the trench for the drop himself.
The last time I used an electrician (for replacing the fuse panel and the service to the house), I had quotes ranging from $600 to $2400 for 2 days of work - none of them included parts.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately there are LOTS of trades guys that charge through the nose - that's part of why I do everything I can myself.
Agreed - it isn't that hard to connect to the panel; I've done it multiple times. It's up to you whether or not you get a permit; they won't know if you don't for something like this.