Our inspector also noted we needed GFCIs in the basement, bathroom, kitchen and garage. GFCI means ground fault circuit interrupter and GFCI outlets are designed to protect electrical shocks. These outlets are required as part of code in kitchens, bathrooms, near pools, outdoors, and just about anywhere that risks having water come in contact with them. GFCIs help avoid electrocution - pretty important, right? You can tell if you have a GFCI installed if it has that little reset, pressy button in the middle, like this:
So I needed to get some quotes for the work. What we needed was to upgrade the meter (our inspector said 150 amps would be fine but 200 amps would be ideal in case we ever decide to build the house up more) and get GFCIs put in the aforementioned rooms. So I Googled “electrician in Clifton. NJ” and came up with an electrician’s network site. I plugged in my info and within minutes I was getting calls from electricians to meet with me and provide a quote.
I got about 4 different quotes for this work ranging from $2400 to $2800. So if you need to get a new panel installed expect to pay $1800 - $2400 (GFCIs are about $80 each or so to put in).
Erin and I both researched all of the electricians who gave us quotes and they all came out clean. So we decided to go with a quote that was slightly higher than the others mainly because he had other contacts that could help us with our kitchen demo, plumbing, sheatrocking and other contractor needs (which he actually organized for us).
In the end, we got this awesome new electric box and the GFCIs installed in only a few days time.
And when they took out the old panel, yeah, there were burn marks. So more than likely there were a few close calls there...
Time spent: 1 week (4 days for quotes and decision; 1 day for official agreement; 2 days for them to do the project)
Cost: $2700
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