OMG - Electrician Sticker Shock

[guarn3md]

Have begun to get estimates for electrical hook up...
The first electrician to come out was a recommendation from the Hot Springs dealer and he said he would hook up if we bought the Sundance.  Well we did buy from Sundance and his estimate was $750.  We thought it was a little high since he was from Hot Springs.  
Had another electrician come out - his estimate - $1490!!!!!
This morning an electrician came out from the company that was recommended by the Sundance dealer.  He said I would have the estimate by Monday!  Can't wait to see where his estimate lands in this price range!
A family friend is an electrical engineer - now I am thinking we need to do some bribing and have him do the electrical work
Didn't think the sticker shock would come from the Electrician....

[Vinny]

I can relate!  The first electrician that came by said $1800 for 200 Amp upgrade and $650 for tub install. Luckily, I have a friend who's an electrician and he is doing the work (he offered - I HATE to impose on people).

Keep getting quotes - maybe you can get a quote that YOU consider resonable. Although I will say that ALL the quotes were within $100 of each other.

Good luck!

Vinny

[JcDenton]

Personally I found the electrical hook-up part of the whole operation the most troublesome. Our original electrician was a referral from a friend of a friend who said he would do it (for relatively nothing) on a weekend when he wasn't too busy. So we waited (he was very busy for almost the month) and then, just before he was going to come over - he got injured (fluke) at work - minor injury but scans revealed that he had a blood clot in his brain. Long story short - no more electrician. (He's OK now by the way).

As part of our previous agreement, I had done all the grunt work myself - that is - I purchased the GFI Box, the proper cable/wire etc that would be needed. I strung the wire myself, punched a hole through the foundation and prepped the whole thing.

Luckily, our new neighbour just happened to be an electrician! He said he would hook-up the tub (since I had everything all ready. It took him an hour or two one evening but it was finally done! (He wouldn't take any money either.) Overall, our brand-new tub sat empty for an entire month! (now that's aggrevation!)

My point - is even though we had free hook-up, all the materials cost us about $6 or 7 hundred (Can.) The wire was unbelievably expensive as were some of the parts.

It costs money - but don't fret - once that's done, it's done - and you can enjoy your purchase as it was meant to be enjoyed.

Jc

[doodoo]

guarn.

If the $750 quote includes all of the materials then you got a fair price IMO.  I paid something very similar which included all of the parts with the exception of the 60amp pony panel which was supplied by the dealer and included in the cost of the tub.

[Sunny]

I bought a Caldera Niagara that will be about 30’ from my basement electrical panel, subpanel (provided by Caldera) will be on my outside wall about 6’ from tub, no upgrade needed. I got 3 quotes. We’re located in NYC suburb.
1. $1650 from a non-licensed electrician referred by the dealer (supposedly a “good price”)
2. $2400 from licensed electrician I’ve used before that previously charged me reasonable rates for his work, includes a $450 “filing fee”
3. $1075 from licensed electrician in my town, includes a $200 “filing fee”.  He seemed knowledgeable about code issues.

I'm usually in sticker shock over these things.  We're going with #3 since we pulled a permit with our town.  The tub is scheduled for Monday delivery & the electrician is scheduled for Wednesday.

Hope all goes well & I’m in spatopia by Memorial weekend!!

[Brewman]

Sunny-

Did you pull the permit, or did the electrician?
Around here, if you pull a permit, you are responsible for the inspection and re-do's, if any.  
If the contractor pulls the permit, and they should as part of that $200, the contractor has to address the inspector for any issues.  Maybe not the way it works for you, but it's something to consider.
Brewman

[Bill_Stevenson]

It cost me $1,200 for the builder to add the subpanel to the new house and run the wire back to the patio and install a GFI circuit breaker.  Then the electrician came in and it cost another $600 for him to hook up the tub and ground everything.  

Then the building inspector came and...well we don't even want to go there.  :-(

Bill

[Sunny]

Brewman
Hmmm, you’ve got me thinking . . .?

Here’s the way it works here:
We pulled the building permit for the town: the building inspector makes sure we are in compliance with the NY Uniform Fire Prevention & Building Code.  There are no additional town codes.  The main issue here, according to the building inspector is the locking cover in compliance with ASTM F1346.  Cost of town permit:  $300  
The electrician pulls the electrical permit, which is subject to inspection by another guy, not the town building inspector.  There are all sorts of code issues of which I do not even begin to understand.  (I do know the subpanel minimum 5 feet from water rule is a requirement.)  Cost of electrical filing:  $200.  
Believe me, I had to do a lot of research to learn how to proceed with this, and I still am not completely sure I’m doing this right.
Cost of battling all the bureaucracy & paying the fees but having the reassurance if an accident happens that the lawyers & insurance company will see I did everything by the books:  priceless!  

This is way too much info & you’re probably sorry you asked.  But that’s my story.

Sunny

[CraigW]

We had estimates anywhere from 1100 to 1500 including the permit. That included about 50' of conduit/wire from the main to the sub, the sub panel and 60 amp breaker, and connecting the tub. Oh yeah, and a GFCI outlet near the tub which is apparently now required (2002 code maybe?). Seemed like alot at the time, but the electrician was there for probably 8-10 hours due to the length of the conduit and wire pulling.

[leesweet]

A family friend is an electrical engineer - now I am thinking we need to do some bribing and have him do the electrical work
Didn't think the sticker shock would come from the Electrician....

BTW, Electrical Engineers have nothing to do with Licensed Electricians.  I should know, I are one (an EE, that is).  

I also know a lot about wiring, and could probably do a 60A GFCI install myself, but I'd rather pay for the proper permits and the proper everything so it's within code.  Most places you have to have it done by a licensed (locally) electrician to be legal.  The comment about having the electrician get the permits is a good one; make him be responsible for  getting it all done right the first time!

[Mugsy]

Installed D1 AuroraII last week. I already had the cable from the Circuit Breaker box routed into the grawl space which releived some of the expense. The install itself was $412 and included a GFCI 60 amp breaker in the CB Box, running the cable thru the cement block (drilled hole and all), conduit, Outside switch and weathertight box, conduit and wire to the tub , all connections, testing and permits. Took about 2.5 hours of Master Electrician and apprentice. All in all, I thought this was an entirely fair price. He said it would have been in the $750 range if I had not already done the front end cable work..