Comments on: Home Improvement: Electrical Upgrade http://www.tarkblog.org/general/439 The personal writings of Caleb and Annie Tennis Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:37:04 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: celeb http://www.tarkblog.org/general/439#comment-1444 celeb Fri, 20 Oct 2006 12:44:16 +0000 http://www.tarkblog.org/general/439#comment-1444 The upgrade itself wasn't very hard, however, we didn't have to add any extra circuits. if you're adding central air, then it will be a bit more expensive because not only will you have to upgrade the service, but you'll also have to run wiring from the service to the new central air systems ( outdoor compressor, indoor forced air systems, etc). The main steps we took were: 1) Get a permit. Cost was $30. 2) Have electricity shut off. Your electrician will schedule this with the power company. 3) Have him perform the upgrade. For us this involved running new wire from the meter to the breaker box (which was the most expensive part, as copper is very expensive right now). He put in a whole new breaker box and rewired each circuit into the box. We used all of the existing breakers from our old box so we didn't have to buy any new ones. 4) When done, your must schedule an inspection. Your electrician will do this. If it passes, they will put a sticker on the box and the electrician can call the power company to come back and turn the power back on. The biggest thing to consider is finding a source of electricity to power some lights so your electrician can do the work when the power is off in the house. The upgrade itself wasn’t very hard, however, we didn’t have to add any extra circuits. if you’re adding central air, then it will be a bit more expensive because not only will you have to upgrade the service, but you’ll also have to run wiring from the service to the new central air systems ( outdoor compressor, indoor forced air systems, etc).

The main steps we took were:

1) Get a permit. Cost was $30.
2) Have electricity shut off. Your electrician will schedule this with the power company.
3) Have him perform the upgrade. For us this involved running new wire from the meter to the breaker box (which was the most expensive part, as copper is very expensive right now). He put in a whole new breaker box and rewired each circuit into the box. We used all of the existing breakers from our old box so we didn’t have to buy any new ones.
4) When done, your must schedule an inspection. Your electrician will do this. If it passes, they will put a sticker on the box and the electrician can call the power company to come back and turn the power back on.

The biggest thing to consider is finding a source of electricity to power some lights so your electrician can do the work when the power is off in the house.

]]> By: Lenny http://www.tarkblog.org/general/439#comment-1443 Lenny Fri, 20 Oct 2006 12:28:23 +0000 http://www.tarkblog.org/general/439#comment-1443 hey, i am looking to buy an apartment right now and just had the inspection done. much to my surprise the apartment only has 30 amps. how they ran anything i have no clue. but i will need to upgrade to about 150 amps due to central air. i dont know much about any of this. was is hard to upgrade the service and what steps needed to be done to take care of everything. thanks. hey, i am looking to buy an apartment right now and just had the inspection done. much to my surprise the apartment only has 30 amps. how they ran anything i have no clue. but i will need to upgrade to about 150 amps due to central air. i dont know much about any of this. was is hard to upgrade the service and what steps needed to be done to take care of everything. thanks.

]]> By: corbin http://www.tarkblog.org/general/439#comment-1412 corbin Tue, 26 Sep 2006 12:32:46 +0000 http://www.tarkblog.org/general/439#comment-1412 speaking of tankless business, anyone every heard much, good or bad about them? moms BF had one 20 years ago, and said he had to replace it 3x, and finally went traditional, but that was 20 years ago speaking of tankless business, anyone every heard much, good or bad about them? moms BF had one 20 years ago, and said he had to replace it 3x, and finally went traditional, but that was 20 years ago

]]> By: celeb http://www.tarkblog.org/general/439#comment-1408 celeb Fri, 22 Sep 2006 12:19:11 +0000 http://www.tarkblog.org/general/439#comment-1408 It was an upgrade we wanted to do anyway to make the house more "modern" and it was easier to do it now than wait until we needed it. It tripped for us once when the dishwasher, oven ,and microwave were all going the same time as a the AC and the washer and dryer. It was an upgrade we wanted to do anyway to make the house more “modern” and it was easier to do it now than wait until we needed it.

It tripped for us once when the dishwasher, oven ,and microwave were all going the same time as a the AC and the washer and dryer.

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