what comes first the electrician or hot tub

[UnderTheStars]

Hi Sol!  That's going to be tough for anyone to ballpark without seeing your site and knowing rates in your market.  A lot of variables can come into play and the best estimates here will probably not match actual bids you will get in your market.

Here are a couple "top 'o mind":  conduit or no?  Assuming no conduit, can I staple the feeder to underside of joists or do you need the joists drilled?  Am I running through unfinished space (open joists,) finished space (basement ceiling,) or a combination?  What amperage requirement (what size wire?)  Appropriate breaker available in the subpanel or do I supply?  Any other obstructions or things I'll have to work around?  That said, if forced to give a price without seeing the site and not knowing the above - I'd say, "$300, that is only a ballpark not a bid.  If you want a bid I'll have to take a look."

The other thing that is wrong with the $300 is hourly rate varies around the country and market to market within a region.   Hourly rate also varies from a new start-up "one man" operation to the big "been here 40 years" electrical house.  The startup guy can be just as competent but almost half the hourly rate.

So $300 might be high, might be low (3 hours @ $75 with a little cushion for material)  Call a couple people and let them bid the job.  Good luck and let us know!
Stars

[Wheeler]

Hi Sol,

For comparison, I had my electrician add a 60 amp 220V breaker to my main panel, rearrange some other circuits in the panel to make room, added a 110V outlet at the panel (for xmas lights, etc), run about 25-30 feet of EMT conduit outside the house to a spa subpanel/service disconnect (he provided subpanel) and then trench a further 15 or so feet of underground rated conduit (the plastic-type stuff) to the tub location. This also includes all the necessary 4 or 6 gauge wire required by code.

In Northern California, this ran me $1060 or so. I had a couple other bids that went as high as $1300+.

As mentioned by UTS above, you might be able to do things differently depending on where your spa will be located. Get several bids and see what you come up with.

[jenn]

Question for all of you

What is the ballpark cost for running about 40 feet from the subpanel to the outdoor GFI panel?

Thanks....

Ours cost us $500 for the subpanel and run to the tub.  We also had to upgrade our panel because ours was too old and there weren't subpanels made for it anymore (we would have had a used one).  The panel upgrade to a UL listed panel was $1,300.

[doodoo]

Like all prep work the electrical should be dine prior to the delivery IMHO.  The site was prepared for the tub as was the electrical. We got a quote that included a return trip to hook-up the tub to the wire that was left hanging out from the pony panel.  Took about 10 minutes.  Last thing that you want is to have a delay in getting into your tub while you wait for the juice to make it work. Kinda like a new toy with no batteries.