My 100amp breaker box is full, what to do?

[R6bbie]

I had an electrician over and he wanted to put in a new 42 circuit 100amp panel, (I have 12 circuit 100amp now) add new pole on roof (my power line is direct to the roof) and do all the correct fixings outside, He came back at $7500 (that included the heater install and dig out 15 ft 18inch deep)
The power was right off the house no digging, yes he is going to bond the whole pool.

That seems so high, I want to be safe and all but is there any other way to add a few outlets to the ABG pool?

$12K for pool and heater/pump etc 26x15 oval
$7.5K electric
$2.5K 18inch countersink pool into ground/install
10K 320SF deck.
$30+k for an above ground pool?

 

[koffey]

Holy Darn yeah that is high.

My 100amp panel is full as well, and my pool is 56 feet away from the back of my house. Even though the pump is only 5amp draw, the distance is the issue so instead of a 15amp on 14/2 wire, I went bigger.

Here is what I did. I bought a 20amp breaker. Pulled a 15amp out of the panel and two poled that circuit into another breaker or you can get a double gang pole breaker which ultimately does the same thing. Just make sure you don't have excess load on that. I ran teckcable (underground rated) from where I wanted to put the gfic outlets to the house and than romex from a junction box outside the house to the new 20amp breaker.

$30 for the 20amp breaker
$300 for 110ft of 12/2 tekcable and wet connects
~$150 for miscellaneous parts

Question is how comfortable you are doing your own work/inspection/permits or whatnot but I don't see how your electrician is saying this is a $7500 job. I also don't know what your local codes/laws are regarding my said solution of say a tandem pole breaker. Trenching is going to also be the most costly, so if you can DYI that portion, it will be cheaper. Again, there are codes to underground cables like how deep a cable should be, like 1500mm below the surface, you may or may not require a conduit which would make pulling new wires easier or you can just say meh, and get a cable that is rated for underground. But call up another electrician and get a few more quotes AND see if your local laws allow for tandem breakers and if that is an option for your panel.


EDIT: I just noticed your signature and that you are not looking for a few outlets, I take it your request was to power all the pool equipment. If that is the case, you can completely disregard my post with the exception of getting multiple quotes.

 

[BMerrill]

Get a second quote.
Ask for an itemized quote so you will know what is included in the estimate.
Replacing a panel can be very time consuming. The Electrical Contactor will have to follow the current codes. This may include things like; upgrading the wire from the meter to the enclosure, GFIC/ARC fault breakers, whole house surge protector; then adding one circuit for the pump and another for the heater and running the underground wires in conduit to the pool location.

 

[R6bbie]

Get a second quote.
Ask for an itemized quote so you will know what is included in the estimate.
Replacing a panel can be very time consuming. The Electrical Contactor will have to follow the current codes. This may include things like; upgrading the wire from the meter to the enclosure, GFIC/ARC fault breakers, whole house surge protector; then adding one circuit for the pump and another for the heater and running the underground wires in conduit to the pool location.

that is exactly what is going on, I forgot to add that he will install the gas heater with that price.

All I want is (safety #1) a few outlets on the outside of my house to plug in. Can't a sub panel work? My Pool can be within 10 from my home, run a few PVC pipes from the pool to the equipment that is near the house. The electric on the outside of my house is not up to code anymore, can they bypass that or does that have to be fixed before anything, I am in IL, USA

Thanks for everyones replies, the pool delivery date is April 4th, im screwed. Anyone local?

 

[flynwill]

A sub-panel will work and probably be less expensive, it might be possible to add "feed through lugs" to your existing main and feed the new sub directly, Otherwise you will need free up two spaces in the existing main panel for a 60 or 70 breaker to feed the sub. Another option would be to install a new main panel and convert your existing main panel to a sub-panel.

If I were going to spend the money on a whole new panel I would also look to upgrade the service to 200A.

Post a picture of the current setup (with the covers off if you can) so we can see what you are dealing with.

 

[markayash]

I am not a electrician but when my panel was full I was able to add the skinner breakers and double my capacity. I wasn't add anymore load just needed more breakers?

 

[R6bbie]

A sub-panel will work and probably be less expensive, it might be possible to add "feed through lugs" to your existing main and feed the new sub directly, Otherwise you will need free up two spaces in the existing main panel for a 60 or 70 breaker to feed the sub. Another option would be to install a new main panel and convert your existing main panel to a sub-panel.

If I were going to spend the money on a whole new panel I would also look to upgrade the service to 200A.

Post a picture of the current setup (with the covers off if you can) so we can see what you are dealing with.

thanks for the reply and taking a look. I turned #11 off and cant find any outages , 11 is bottom left. this all has to be done by code and will be inspected, im prob asking a lot but safety for the family is #1 but Dang I sure don't want to pay $7000, we are lucky to swim 4 months of the year. I had just had my main line from the pole to the house moved from Comed, it ran across the middle of the yard, $800 to have it put off to the one side. Where does 200amp service come from, how to get it?

 

[BMerrill]

Guessing you live in an very old house as there are no ground wires coming in the panel nor a grounding bar in the panel. The neutral would be grounded at the point of service. It's best to continue to search for an Licensed Electrician and have the electrical system brought up to code.

Or:
Not sure the AHJ will pass any inspection without updating the panel. It may be a good idea to discuss this with the AHJ on site as he can tell you if you can run a feeder from this panel. It is possible to swap out several single breakers to double breakers. A double break takes up the same space as a single breaker.

 

[R6bbie]

Guessing you live in an very old house as there are no ground wires coming in the panel nor a grounding bar in the panel. The neutral would be grounded at the point of service. It's best to continue to search for an Licensed Electrician and have the electrical system brought up to code.

Or:
Not sure the AHJ will pass any inspection without updating the panel. It may be a good idea to discuss this with the AHJ on site as he can tell you if you can run a feeder from this panel. It is possible to swap out several single breakers to double breakers. A double break takes up the same space as a single breaker.

isn't this bottom bar the grounding? or no
thanks for your reply. what is AHJ?, what was a feeder also? house is 1960

 

[BMerrill]

What is the photo Breakerbox1 is the neutral bus bar where the white wires (neutral wires) are commonly connected.
AHJ = authority having jurisdiction = building inspector
Feeder is the wire assembly (cable) from the main panel to a sub panel.

 

[R6bbie]

What is the photo Breakerbox1 is the neutral bus bar where the white wires (neutral wires) are commonly connected.
AHJ = authority having jurisdiction = building inspector
Feeder is the wire assembly (cable) from the main panel to a sub panel.

This is what they are doing for the $6K+ and whatever extras come about, what do you think?

 

[cowboycasey]

I would do all that except change your brand new 100 amp panel to a 200 amp panel.. You will never lose any connections and will gain connections over the years.. I have a 200 amp panel stuffed with breakers and I was able to run a 60 amp leg to the pool.

 

[R6bbie]

I would do all that except change your brand new 100 amp panel to a 200 amp panel.. You will never lose any connections and will gain connections over the years.. I have a 200 amp panel stuffed with breakers and I was able to run a 60 amp leg to the pool.

what does it take to make it 200amp? Is it just the box or is it the line that comes to my house and the box?
I just had my line moved from the middle of the yard to off to the side so I can get the pool installed, I thought I had an early jump on this and now I am running out of time, what a Darn show this has become, im over my head

 

[wireform]

The wire to the roof from the pole is most likely good for 200 amp. From there through the meter pan and the electrical panel would need to be upgraded so basically everything till the incoming wire would need to go.