Average Pricing to Install 240v 30 Amp Outlet

[Brewmegoodbeer]

I recently got a quote from an electrician to install a 240v 30 amp l6-30 outlet for 525 dollars. That pricing I thought was way steep but unsure what the usual pricing is.

 

[Carolina_Matt]

I looked into it locally (Charlotte) and a few quotes were for $250. That seemed the cheapest price for a licensed electrician, although some of them were $300-450.

There were a few handymen that gave slightly lower quotes.

This is for GFCI. It would have been $100 cheaper if I got a regular outlet, but for brewing I didn't consider that option.

 

[sicktght311]

It depends on location, and then how far you have to run the line. When i was quoted for hooking my hot tub up (240v 30amp with a spa panel) some of the electricians wanted a crazy amount. Ended up having a friend who used to be an electrician do it for me for $100 plus parts. The longer the run, the more expensive it will be

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

I looked into it locally (Charlotte) and a few quotes were for $250. That seemed the cheapest price for a licensed electrician, although some of them were $300-450.

There were a few handymen that gave slightly lower quotes.

This is for GFCI. It would have been $100 cheaper if I got a regular outlet, but for brewing I didn't consider that option.

Good to know! Ill keep shopping around.

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

It depends on location, and then how far you have to run the line. When i was quoted for hooking my hot tub up (240v 30amp with a spa panel) some of the electricians wanted a crazy amount. Ended up having a friend who used to be an electrician do it for me for $100 plus parts. The longer the run, the more expensive it will be

Its going to be about 3 to 5 feet from my home electric panel.

 

[grampamark]

Costs will vary widely depending on location, how much demand there is for electricians, and the difficulty of installing the circuit.

In an unfinished basement with an easily accessible electrical panel, $525 seems high. If the job involved fishing cable through finished spaces over a long distance that might be cheap.

I do home repair/remodeling as a winter side gig and do quite a bit of residential electrical work. In this part of the world, in an easy access situation, it would probably cost <$300.

Edit: Since the OP mentioned that it would be close to the panel I would estimate the cost of materials + a couple hours labor.

 

[sicktght311]

Yeah if this is 3-5 feet from the panel, in an unfinished basement, thats way too high. Realistically it isnt difficult to install a line with a GFCI spa panel. You just have to be confident and comfortable with shutting off your main power, testing to ensure lines are dead. Then its basically just running wiring, securing wire into the wiring terminals, popping a new breaker into the panel, grounding, and you're good to go. Shouldnt take a competent electrician more than an hour

 

[augiedoggy]

if its surface mount 3-5 ft from the panel it should be about $100 in materials and should take an hour or less to do.

I did my own for about $150 but it was to a second floor spare bedroom. (and I also only need a 30a circuit so the wire was cheaper and easier to run)

 

[mongoose33]

How much did I pay? I did some of the work, so it cut the cost significantly--things like mounting the subpanel I used, running the 6 gauge wire through joists, like that. I paid him $125, but his hourly rate is $35; what's hourly where you are? Some depends on if you're in New York City or California; I'm in the Midwest. I don't know expensive such things are in Florida.

You also need to know if you have to run the wire in metal conduit. I've seen shows like "This Old House" where the code requirements in places like New York are just, IMO, nuts. So you can't just go by what we pay--it's cheaper to live where I am, much, much cheaper.

One thing people have to figure is what it takes for an electrician to walk in the door. You have the time spent giving you an estimate, time spent getting the materials, time spent traveling to your home...

That said, if it's a 3-foot run, he ought to have a piece of scrap wire he could use for that. The receptacle? Under $10. The breaker? If it's a GFCI, could be anywhere from $50 to $105, depending on the system your home uses.

*****

Having said all that, $525 to run a 3-foot line to a receptacle is crazy, IMO.

I would suggest two things: one, make sure it's a 4-wire receptacle. That's modern code, I believe, and it'll let you run both 240v and 120v from the same receptacle. My panel runs the element (240v) but also can run the pumps off 120v circuits.

Two, make sure you have GFCI protection. That can be pricey, but so is being electrocuted. Water and electricity? You know the deal, I'm sure. The problem is that the GFCI breakers for such circuits are pricey. Mine cost $105, IIRC, as I have a Square-D system that's expensive. That's just for the breaker.

But I can't imagine doing this electric brewing thing without it. All you need is a wacky connection in an element, or...well, anywhere, and you're toast. Maybe literally.

*****

Based on what I'd expect to pay around here, $105 for the GFCI breaker, $10 for the receptacle, $30 for the wire (you might be able to buy a short length, but usually you have minimum-sized rolls of wire), maybe some conduit ($20), a few wire nuts (39 cents), a few screws, and the electrician's time. Add a 25 percent markup.

I wouldn't expect it to take more than an hour. Heck, *I* could do it in an hour. Figure a second hour for the estimate, the travel, the other stuff. If the electrician charges $75/hr that's $150 for his time.

Total:

$150 labor
$131 GFCI
$65 (Wire, conduit, etc).

$346 if my math is correct. I'd think something in that ballpark would be reasonable.

*****

One last thing. I used to make and sell custom golf clubs. Repair them too, and regrip them. Suppose someone had a head come off a shaft, and they wanted me to fix it. What should I charge them?

The costs are trivial--maybe $3 if I need a special ferrule, epoxy, cleanup stuff, shaft-centering beads or flakes, but that's the high side.

The rest is my time. Two minutes to clean the shaft, three minutes to clean out the hosel, three minutes to mix the epoxy, 1 minute to insert the epoxied shaft into the epoxied hosel...then wait. All of it, 9 minutes.

So what should I charge? I had the time talking to the golfer, explain what I'd do, arrange to get it back to them....I also had a shop with the equipment necessary to do this--a belt sander to prep shaft tips, mandrel so I could affix sandpaper to clean out the hosel, etc. etc.

And I want it to be worth my time to fool around with it.

I'll charge $25 at least, because it's not just my time, it's marketing costs, website costs, taxes, etc. etc. All for no more than 9 minutes of "work."

Sometimes we forget that it's not just the time we're paying for, it's all the other stuff, PLUS the expertise which was developed over a number of years.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

It also depends if you need a permit in your location. A reputable electrician will add that fee in if it is necessary, and if conduit is required, and copper v. aluminum wire.

 

[Mikko Panimo]

Nothing. All of my outlets are 240v

 

[augiedoggy]

Nothing. All of my outlets are 240v

but are they 30amps?

 

[Mikko Panimo]

but are they 30amps?

My household service is 3*30 amp (three-phase), so any downward circuit should be max 25 amps, be it 1x25 or 3x25, just to keep the breakers flipping in the right order and prevent wires from overheating. Normal wall sockets here are 16 amp, so if you need to run something over 3kw then you generally go 2 or 3 phases. With that, you can run 6kw or 9kw heating elements, for example.

I didn't even know you guys have 240v in US.

 

[hezagenius]

Not directly comparable, but last year I had a 100A breaker installed in my garage with a 20A/220 outlet, a 30A/220 outlet and a 20A/110 outlet, all GFCI. The price was $525 and that included all labor (including running a cable up from my basement storage area where the main box is) and all materials. I have no idea price-wise if that's a good deal, but it beats me getting electrocuted trying to do it myself.

 

[mongoose33]

Not directly comparable, but last year I had a 100A breaker installed in my garage with a 20A/220 outlet, a 30A/220 outlet and a 20A/110 outlet, all GFCI. The price was $525 and that included all labor (including running a cable up from my basement storage area where the main box is) and all materials. I have no idea price-wise if that's a good deal, but it beats me getting electrocuted trying to do it myself.

That strikes me as a reasonable price. When I ran 6-gauge wire from my main box to the subpanel in the garage, I had to buy a 50-foot roll of wire. Cost me something like $120 just for the wire. Then there was the 30-amp GFCI which was $103. With labor and the sub box, your price seems in the ballpark to me.

 

[hezagenius]

Then there was the 30-amp GFCI which was $103

I didn't believe that when I saw the estimate so I had to double check, and sure enough those 30A GFCI are pricey!

 

[Gibberoni]

Wire is going to be one of the biggest costs, based on how far you are from the box.

I installed this run myself. The load center (breaker box) is about 5 ft up and to the left from the edge of the picture.

30amp GFCI: $25 (I work at Eaton, so yeah that was nice, usually $110)
25' 10/3 + ground wire: $45
NEMA 14-30 outlet: $15
30' 1/2 Conduit (hard) + Elbows + 90* + 1 gang box: $20

Materials for me cost ~$100, a usual shopper could expect close to $200 for just materials for a 25' run.

 

[JayDog]

$525 seems a bit high. I was quoted 350 for a 50 amp, and 2 20 amp circuits. That didn't include the permit fee but that should add about $75. As others have stated make sure you use a GFI breaker, sure it adds about $75 but do you want to risk a loss of home or life over it?

 

[kevin58]

mine cost $118.00. It was a surface mount and less than 3 feet from the panel.

 

[lump42]

Price will vary also depending on how busy the electrician is and how much trouble they perceive the person to be. Contractors will bid higher to make it worth their headache.

 

[Scout]

My household service is 3*30 amp (three-phase), so any downward circuit should be max 25 amps, be it 1x25 or 3x25, just to keep the breakers flipping in the right order and prevent wires from overheating. Normal wall sockets here are 16 amp, so if you need to run something over 3kw then you generally go 2 or 3 phases. With that, you can run 6kw or 9kw heating elements, for example.

I didn't even know you guys have 240v in US.

Yes but it's single phase. Generally the only things that run 240v are stoves, dryers, hot water heaters, etc.

 

[sleev-les]

I installed a 100A subpanel in, ran 2 new outlets and filled the sub panel with new breakers for $600. Thats all parts, but did the work myself.

 

[Bohern]

Mine was $800 but it was 40 ft from the box and had to be fished behind a wall and then ran. Also it was a 50A circuit as well. The run length was the most expensive part.

 

[WesBrew]

I got an estimate of $580 to run 30a on a 25ft run. requires some drywall cutting to run over a room.

 

[RoguePixels]

I've had a 240 line pulled to the garage for a car charging station that was about $300. I've also pulled my own 240 in the basement which totalled about $180 for the 30 amp gfci breaker, outlet, conduit and cable. If your not comfortable pulling it yourself, you might get another estimate as $525 seems high.

 

[muhteeus]

I just finalized my list. $60 in breakers (my panel is full and it's old, putting in 2 tandems to make room for the 50A), $90 50A GFCI spa panel, $70 6/3 wire, and $25 for outlet.

So about $250 to do it myself. Within 5 feet of the panel... The cost covers 25' of wire.