Quotes for 220v 30A outlet installation in Orange County

[mepeh]

I'm trying to get some estimates over the phone for a 220v 30A outlet in my garage.
EVSEupgrade suggested i need a 30A-L6 outlet and everyone i ask quotes around 500$ for labor + parts.
Are they going crazy or are my expectations way off ?

The meter is behind the garage wall and my gas dryer (a 30A 220 Outlet that is available right next to it) is right on top of the garage.
At this point i'd rather buy the 110-220v converter for 400$ and use 2 110v outlets (i have about 10 in my garage)

Can someone recommend an electrician that hasn't gone wild yet ?
Orange County CA area

 

[Boomer23]

If you haven't tried him already, try Jason Wakefield at Wakefield Electric. I can't guarantee any pricing, but he's fair and honest. I've been recommending him for two years, but I don't have any recent feedback. I hope he works out for you, and I'd be interested in hearing how you fare with him.

 

[mepeh]

If you haven't tried him already, try Jason Wakefield at Wakefield Electric. I can't guarantee any pricing, but he's fair and honest. I've been recommending him for two years, but I don't have any recent feedback. I hope he works out for you, and I'd be interested in hearing how you fare with him.

I left a message and will probably hear back from him tomorrow
Thanks for the recommendation

 

[FairwoodRed]

I don’t think your quotes are way out of line. I paid $750 to have one put in at my work here in Seattle – permits included. Of course I did one myself at my house for like $80 in parts. If you’re thinking of a quick 220, then you need to make sure that your garage outlets are on different legs. The first step in that is find out if they are different breakers…

 

[smkettner]

$500 + materials may well be reasonable. Much better choice than full time use of quick220 adapter IMHO.
BTW if pulling wire tell him to use #6 for easy upgrade to 50 amp in the future.

 

[Nubo]

Did the electrician itemize the charges? Not sure about your area, but if permit and city inspection is required, that is time (and perhaps fees) that the electrician may be billing as part of the job.

For some perspective, during the early days when Nissan was steering people towards Aerovironment installers, people were getting gouged $3000 for the most basic of installations.

 

[moonpoint]

I am in the same boat as you -trying to get a 240V outlet installed in the garage. I am in san francisco bay area though.


I called a few electricians based on the yelp reviews, and I was told about $400(without the city permit costs, which might add another $200 I guess)

Then I tried the redbeacon(home depot's services, I think), and their quotes were reasonable, ranged from $170-350. I am yet to contact them, but you might get better luck with those leads

best

 

[RonDawg]

I'd be a little suspect about the accuracy of phone quotes, unless you live in a cookie-cutter subdivision of recent vintage and those electricians have already done work on a similar floorplan house.

I just spent almost a grand on just the install alone, so if you can get it for $500 I would say you're not being ripped off, especially if the electrician has to run conduit to a different location.

 

[sc540i]

A piece of advice that the # of hours of labor to do wire conduit, junction box, replacing breaker is most likely within 2.5 hrs for a good electrician. The fee is mainly based on the labor hour. I have a electrician who wired my whole house for the job before. He charged $500 to cover 2 hrs of work, 36 ft long conduit, wires, 40 A breakers, couple 4" sq. boxes. I did provide the outlet socket as I specially acquire myself. This is no city permit but it is done to the code. City permit is being charged about $300 for any small work now. I think $500 to put up an outlet using space in existing panel is reasonable for me. The material alone will be over $150 for me plus 4 to 5 hrs of my labor or more if I have to multiple trips to the store.

 

[mepeh]

Thanks fellows for all the replies.
I did get more quotes.
Called about 8 electricians, including Jason Wakefield at Wakefield Electric (@850-1200$)

I had one electrician come today and looked at it and said HELL NO ! He initially quoted 500$ for labor alone.
He said it would be too complicated for him to get to the breaker panel, (over 30 years in business.)

I'll do it myself. Just need to go to Home Depot and get the parts i need. I worked as an electrician on cars, so i have some basic skills/knowledge.
All i need to do is connect to my 220V 30A outlet that is available next to my dryer upstairs, then run a 10-20ft line to my garage. I have a Gas dryer so that outlet is free.
I've never perforated the floor in houses like these, but it should not be too complicated. I plan on drilling a hole right in the corner behind a closet and that will go down to my garage.

My first assumptions is that you can get a 220V for about 150-200$, but looks like that needs to be 5x

One thing to mention, we don't need a permit to get 220V outlet in our garage. At least that's what our HOA told us
And i really want to avoid cutting dry wall just to have charge a car

I'm also going to home depot and ask for some quotes there

 

[davewill]

... One thing to mention, we don't need a permit to get 220V outlet in our garage. At least that's what our HOA told us
And i really want to avoid cutting dry wall just to have charge a car ...

On these installs it's fairly common to simply mount conduit on the wall rather than opening and repairing drywall.

I'm 99% sure you DO need a permit, but it's up to you if you want to skip that step. Generally, you don't need a permit to do simple repairs like replacing switches and outlets, but do to do anything else (like run new circuits or add outlets).

 

[RonDawg]

Yeah mine was external metal conduit fastened to the drywall. If I wanted a hidden installation it would have been FAR more expensive.

A big chunk of my installation costs were to meet requirements imposed by my municipality, which include an external dedicated meter (even though I don't get a discount on my electric bill) and a dedicated cutoff switch.

 

[Nubo]

...
I'll do it myself. Just need to go to Home Depot and get the parts i need. I worked as an electrician on cars, so i have some basic skills/knowledge.
All i need to do is connect to my 220V 30A outlet that is available next to my dryer upstairs, then run a 10-20ft line to my garage. I have a Gas dryer so that outlet is free. ...

You can't just tee off of the dryer circuit AFAIK. 240V outlet needs to be on a dedicated circuit - no sharing. So at the very least you would need to remove the dryer outlet and replace with a proper 240V junction box. It's not enough to say "I'll never use the outlet".

I'm not sure if even the junction is allowed or what the requirements are. It's certainly not ideal -- another point for heat to build up.

There are really good reasons for permits and electricians.

 

[mepeh]

$1100 for labor is the best quote i could get..
That kinda sucks. Now i'm thinking the aeroviroment 1800$ quote for the unit + labor - the CA tax credit is not that bad of a deal.

I see people run the 110-220 transformers that plug into 2 separate outlets.
Is that an acceptable option ?

 

[smkettner]

$1100 for labor is the best quote i could get..
That kinda sucks. Now i'm thinking the aeroviroment 1800$ quote for the unit + labor - the CA tax credit is not that bad of a deal.

I see people run the 110-220 transformers that plug into 2 separate outlets.
Is that an acceptable option ?

The quick 220 option is not the best permanent solution IMO. Cannot use GFI outlets BTW.

 

[davewill]

$1100 for labor is the best quote i could get..
That kinda sucks. Now i'm thinking the aeroviroment 1800$ quote for the unit + labor - the CA tax credit is not that bad of a deal.

I see people run the 110-220 transformers that plug into 2 separate outlets.
Is that an acceptable option ?

It's not a transformer, but simply combines two 120v outlets that are on opposite phases of the 240v service into a 240v/15a or 20a outlet. It's not recommended for daily use, but it does work.

BTW, if you have a dedicated 120v (only one outlet on the circuit), you can repurpose that circuit for 240v. You'll be limited to the amperage of the original 120v circuit, but it is a viable option. Here are instructions that Phil posted a long time back: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=2707&p=73701&#p73701" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

... First, be absolutely sure that it is a dedicated circuit! Use extreme caution!

1. Cut power to the service panel feeding the circuit.
2. Shut off and remove the original single-pole breaker (15 or 20A).
3. Locate the white neutral wire and remove it from the Neutral Bus bar.
4. Use red tape to cover the white wire so that it's now clearly red.
5. Verify power off and Remove the old outlet.
6. Tape the white wire here as well.
7. Connect and install the new 240V outlet. (Black to X, Red to Y)
8. Install the new 2-pole 15 or 20A breaker.
9. Wire the black and (now) red wires to the 2 screws on the breaker.
10. Replace the panel cover, restore power, and then turn on the new breaker.

-Phil

 

[mepeh]

$1100 for labor is the best quote i could get..
That kinda sucks. Now i'm thinking the aeroviroment 1800$ quote for the unit + labor - the CA tax credit is not that bad of a deal.

I see people run the 110-220 transformers that plug into 2 separate outlets.
Is that an acceptable option ?

It's not a transformer, but it simply combines two 120v outlets that are on opposite phases of the 240v service into a 240v/15 or 20a outlet. It's not recommended for daily use, but it does work.

BTW, if you have a dedicated 120v (only one outlet on the circuit), you can repurpose that circuit for 240v. You'll be limited to the amperage of the original 120v circuit, but it is a viable option. Here are instructions that Phil posted a long time back: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=2707&p=73701&#p73701" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

... First, be absolutely sure that it is a dedicated circuit! Use extreme caution!

1. Cut power to the service panel feeding the circuit.
2. Shut off and remove the original single-pole breaker (15 or 20A).
3. Locate the white neutral wire and remove it from the Neutral Bus bar.
4. Use red tape to cover the white wire so that it's now clearly red.
5. Verify power off and Remove the old outlet.
6. Tape the white wire here as well.
7. Connect and install the new 240V outlet. (Black to X, Red to Y)
8. Install the new 2-pole 15 or 20A breaker.
9. Wire the black and (now) red wires to the 2 screws on the breaker.
10. Replace the panel cover, restore power, and then turn on the new breaker.

-Phil

That does seem like a good option, but all my outlets share something.
Oddly enough, my garage door shares the circuit with my Range :|

 

[RonDawg]

$1100 for labor is the best quote i could get..
That kinda sucks. Now i'm thinking the aeroviroment 1800$ quote for the unit + labor - the CA tax credit is not that bad of a deal.

Again I paid just under a grand ($990 to be specific) and does not include the EVSE.

 

[Ingineer]

$1100 for labor is the best quote i could get..
That kinda sucks. Now i'm thinking the aeroviroment 1800$ quote for the unit + labor - the CA tax credit is not that bad of a deal.

I see people run the 110-220 transformers that plug into 2 separate outlets.
Is that an acceptable option ?

Is your electrical panel close to the charging location? (for example, in the garage or on an adjacent wall) If it is, then $1100 is WAY too much! Get another electrician to quote you.

-Phil

 

[mepeh]

$1100 for labor is the best quote i could get..
That kinda sucks. Now i'm thinking the aeroviroment 1800$ quote for the unit + labor - the CA tax credit is not that bad of a deal.

I see people run the 110-220 transformers that plug into 2 separate outlets.
Is that an acceptable option ?

Is your electrical panel close to the charging location? (for example, in the garage or on an adjacent wall) If it is, then $1100 is WAY too much! Get another electrician to quote you.

-Phil

Nope, no adjacent walls with the breaker panel. It's upstairs and a room to the left. I have to go through the walls that i share with my neighbor to connect to it.
It does share the wall with my meter, but i was told they are not allowed to use it for this purposes.

I have 2 Leafs and tonight was the first night i didn't have to charge any of them, i just use the public stations or the outlet at my work.

My thing is that i'm getting my charger from evseupgrade this week, and that means i will have a 220 evse and no outlet for it