follow up to freaking out...electrical problem

[Elle]

Well, the second electrician came today and he took one look at our breaker box and said, "this box is too small.  you should have 42 breakers."  REFRESHING!!!  He said nothing about upping the service....as I figured he wouldn't.  He said it would be no problem to either change out the box or add a side panel.  He said the box change would be cheaper because of our finished basement.  The additional breaker box would require some drywall tear out and repair.  He's going to quote both ways for us to compare.

I'm just thrilled that this guy seems to know what he's talking about.  He is the electrician that the spa store uses.  

Elle

[HotTubMan]

Its funny, our recommended electrician is not the cheapest in town. I always encourage customers to get three quotes. Time and again, Ed gets the work.

Why? Because he comes across like he knows what he is talking about (which he does) and he gets the jobs done quickly.

A good electrician can be hard to find!

[bulmer4nc]

Hi Elle,

Your post made me think... we have a 2nd electrical box on our house - it was there when we moved in, and that's where the hot tub is wired to.  I just wanted to mention to you that ours is on the outside of our house - it's a 200 AMP panel outside.  There is a 100-AMP breaker that links to the panel inside of our house.  The things that are hardwired to the outside (200 AMP) one are the heating/air, stove and the hottub.  

I just wanted to tell you that, in case there was a chance that your electrician could implement something like that, and save you the drywall work!  We have a basement too - and the line comes in under the stairs, which is a big storage space that is not finished.

Maybe that could help...

Jodi

[Elle]

Its funny, our recommended electrician is not the cheapest in town. I always encourage customers to get three quotes. Time and again, Ed gets the work.

Why? Because he comes across like he knows what he is talking about (which he does) and he gets the jobs done quickly.

A good electrician can be hard to find!

I was thinking that is likely the case.  We have another guy coming out on Tuesday.  He is the electrician that the builder that is building our back porch/gazebo uses.  I'll tell ya, this last guy (who came from the spa place) really was easy to deal with.  He might be worth the extra money ($1,000 by the way to do everything).  He not only knows the electrical requirements, but he knows the tub.  The man was just downright smart about what needed to be done.  There is great comfort in that.

Elle