Upgrading electrical and boiler system?
Question:Need help! I need to know how much approixmately and any challenges or other useful info. Looking at buying old house, almost 100 yrs old. It has the old electrical system with fuses, I would like to have that changed. Is the house not up to code if I don't? Could i do it myself? Also it has a very old, very huge boiler system, I beleive it is natural gas. Should I just change it to a new boiler system? Nothing fancy. Anyone know the cost of that, work involved? Could I do that myself legally? Thanks to anyone who can help me.
Answers:
If your house in 100 years old you should upgrade the electrical panel at the very least. Old houses had about 60 amps of power which is minimal by todays standards. You should have at least 100 amp panel or even 200 amps which standard in new houses. Check with your building department for permits etc. The one draw back to upgrading your panel is you might be forced to bring your entire house up to code which means GFCI plugs in the kitchen and bathrooms 3 prong plugs and such. If you do upgrade you will have a much safer house with less risk of blowing a fuse or having a house fire
Unfortunately you will not be able to legally do either. Changing the main panel will require a permit and a licensed electrician. This is mainly because the incoming electric to the house will need to be disconnected when the main panel is changed out. However you need to check some things first. Many city are know requiring that is you change the panel that you will know be required to bring all the electrical up to code. In a 100 yr old house this could be very costly due to the fact that many walls will need to be opened to correct the wiring. Also many cities are requiring the installation of wired smoke detectors if the main panel is replaced. Changing of the main panel could be as low as $1000 and as much as $25000 by the time all the walls are repaired. In most states only licensed contractors are allowed to purchase boilers so doing it yourself is probably out of the question. Also chances are that they will have to do a lot of rework because new boilers are a lot smaller today. This will also add to the cost. I suggest contacting licensed contractors for both and get at least three estimates for each. Always make sure that they are license, bonded, and insured.
I'LL DO IT FOR $25,000!
I can only say about the electrical. You can do it, that is how I first learned about wiring. House wiring is really a matter of 2 hot wires coming in and a neutral... The 2 hot wires together and a neutral make 220 volts for AC, electric stoves, and dryers etc. A single hot wire and a neutral wire will give you your 110 volts for lighting and your outlets. I would start by buying a basic how to book and read it. If you understand it that is half the battle. I am now a journeyman electrician but I wired my first three houses without any offical training.. What ever you do, PLEASE do not work on any of this live.. Make certian all power is off before you work on any electrical...
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