Electrician question

[darktiger]

I am just asking for a rough estimate,

How much would a insured certified electrician cost to put a receptacle on another circuit, or create a dedicated line to a receptacle?

This should be a fairly easy task, and I might be able to do this myself, but lack of time I might just pay someone. I recently bought a portable 12000BTU portable AC unit and placed that in my home computer room. Well there are 3 computers in that room, so when the A/C cycles compressor cycles on/off you can see the draw. It sometimes trips the fuse so I have to go and reset the fuse. Also my UPS does not get the juice needed because the A/C draw on this circuit is to much. So I need either this to pull from another circuit or have a dedicated circuit for the A/C.

[Jeff_Green]

It's kinda hard to say without seeing it. How far away from the panel is this room? Are you looking at a single 20amp circuit? Single Story house?

[ldelacruz]

Like Jeff said the structure is key. If it is accesible then I would say $500

[Jeff_Green]

Depending on who you go with you would probably be right around what Lonnie said.

[andyz]

Make sure you look at your options. I added a circuit to my home office for my PCs. The meter and box outside happens to be on the other side of the wall of my home office. So it was easiest and cheapest to add a new box, drop down some conduit and drill into the office wall and add the outlets. That was much easier than adding a circuit to the breaker box in the house and run wires. (Two story home, office is on the ground floor.)

[kenw]

McBride Electric is who I would call in the Houston area.

[ldelacruz]

I have worked with a guy who went out on His own a few years back that would give you a great deal I am sure. His name is Mike and his company is Semper Fi Electric. He worked for McBride before going out on His own a few years ago.

Phone: (281) 657-5281

[Angelo]

Thanks Lonnie, I am having the same problem as Stanford.
I just called Mike and he's coming tomorrow to give me an estimate.

[darktiger]

Cool I will give Mike a call tomorrow. Thanks Lonnie.

Since his company is called Semper Fi Electronics, was he a former Marines? Do you think he gives other former Marines discounts :)

[Cajungaltx]

We have the same setup - the problem was that the a/c unit, and the computers, and the printers were all on the same line. The wall opposite is shared with the kitchen - my husband ran a line over to that wall, and tied in. None of those outlets ever pull much (gas stove) so it hasn't shut off ONCE since he did that.

[Coogie]

I work at an electrical contractor and am a Journeyman Electrician too.

Anyway, as others have mentioned, the short answer is it depends on the structure, location of the panels, how much sheetrock damage you're willing to accept, and the aesthetics,. We usually deal with custom homes in River Oaks so the thought of running conduit on the outside of the house over their stucco and drilling in from an outside wall is out (the way the cable guys like to). The actual running of wire isn't hard and any electrician can do this - what sets us apart is how we treat your house. We wear booties while working in homes, use drop cloths, and avoid cutting walls unless we absolutely have to.

If you have a single story house with attic access and there aren't any hidden issues(like your panel being overloaded, covered floors in the attic, etc. , it shouldn't be more than $500 for parts and labor. Just make sure they use 12 AWG wires and give you a 20 amp circuit. I am shocked to see some new houses (in particular tract homes) still use 14 AWG/ 15 amp circuits for things other than lighting.

If it's a two story house, it could get ugly...in particular if you have joices instead of open truces. With open truces, sometimes we just open up recessed light cans and use the hole for that to run our wires and just cut one hole. with joices, you could end up with a ton of sheet rock repair. If it's an older house with a crawl space, you would luck out too and just run the wire from the bottom.

Have you checked any adjacent rooms (or even the same room) to see if they're on a different circuit? Sometimes whoever wired the house might have mixed the circuits since it was easier to pull the wire. Some older houses (in particular around Rice University), have old 240 volt plugs for window AC's that can be converted to 120volt. Make sure you see if there are workarounds first before committing to running dedicated lines. Really as long as he's going through the trouble of running one, I'd run a second line (the labor is almost the same) so your computers can get their own line too and if in the future you add a big TV or something you're safe.

Also, if you pull a permit for this job, starting this year (in Houston), all livable areas need to be on an arc fault breaker and just the breaker alone is around $60.

[ldelacruz]

Originally Posted by darktiger

Cool I will give Mike a call tomorrow. Thanks Lonnie.

Since his company is called Semper Fi Electronics, was he a former Marines? Do you think he gives other former Marines discounts :)

How did you ever guess? I bet He would, give Him a call.

ldelacruz added 0 Minutes and 59 Seconds later...Double Post Merged Below

Originally Posted by Angelo

Thanks Lonnie, I am having the same problem as Stanford.
I just called Mike and he's coming tomorrow to give me an estimate.

Glad to hear that Angelo.

[darktiger]

Angelo what was the estimate if you do not mind me asking. I was going to call today, but got sidetracked.

[Angelo]

Stanford, I should have it sometime Friday, the estimate.
But each house is different. The difficulty/labor is what cost.

[darktiger]

Angelo, if I might ask what was the damage?