Ballpark estimate of circut breaker upgrade?

Question

My parents and I are looking at upgrading the circut breaker in our 1960's home. I believe they said that we would only need to upgrade the box, and wouldn't have to worry about replacing the wiring as it is still in good condition. Are there any electricians or people who have recently done the same out there who could tell me about how much it will cost?

I'm asking this because I plan on paying at least 1/3 of the costs to upgrade because part of the reason it is necessary is the amount of electronic equipment I have, and how much power it all pulls.

Answer 1

$1000 - $1200 sounds about right. You will have to get the panel, A new meter socket (most likely), the riser pipe (where the wire comes in from the telephone pole) along with a new weather head, and then much bigger more expensive service entrance wire. You can get a new 200 amp panel kit with the breakers at lowes for $125, meter socket $30, 2" rigid riser and weather head $50 +/-. If your keeping your wiring throughout the rest of the house  the electrician will probably also use a "troth" near the new panel to extend your wiring. Sorry, maybe a little too much info but maybe not

Answer 2

As it requires each and every thing in the house to be inspected and tested, then a ball park figure is 4-500 quid, depending on location.

That will include the addition of an RCD, and I would be concerned that all your 'electronic equipment' may end up leaking so much current, that the RCD is forever tripping out.

And quite honestly, electronics pull relatively LITTLE power, I think It's more likely you are short of socket outlets, if anything.

Telly 2-300Watts (~1-1.5 Amp)

DVD player 40Watts (0.2 Amp)

PC's another 300Watts....

It's Heaters/Driers/Cookers that pull a large current, not the HI-Fi/ electronics/ PCs...

Answer 3

I would say you're looking at around $1000. A 200-amp panel itself is about $250. You may need to replace some old breakers. And, then you have an electrician's labor to do the job.