Home Power Upgrade Costs?

[bignath]

Have searched but not able to find the info i'm after.

Have been thinking about upgrading power supplies in the house.
At the moment, i'm brewing out on our second pergola area which has a spa, water softener, hot water service, and plug in fluoro lighting.
My current power requirements mean running two power cords. I have been unplugging the fluoro in the roof of pergola for one feed, and disconnecting the water softener and using that as my second feed.

The spa is running off of this part of the fuse box/circuit board:




The power for the spa runs up through the roof and out of the eaves, across the timber frame for the pergola and then down to this:



What im wondering is, can that switch above, changed to accomodate an exterior powerpoint so i can use it to brew with?
We only run the spa in summer, as we don't use it during the colder 9months of the year, so i was thinking if this was legal/possible, i'd just turn off the spa to brew in summer, and switch it back on at the end of the brewday.

Or alternatively, does anyone know what the cost would be to run two 10amp circuits outside to a double powerpoint so i could use it as a dedicated power outlet for running two 2200W elements?

I have no clue on household wiring/electrics/circuits so i don't know if any of this is either possible, or even legal.

Just trying to get opinions on what it's cost you guys to put in additional circuits for brewing.

I could keep going by disconnecting the wiring and the water softener, but it would be cool if i had a dual outlet that i could have dedicated for brewing.

EDIT: Is the red circuit in the first pic, a 32amp circuit? If so, could i get a 32amp installed in the spare spot next to the blue one, and have that go up through the roof, outside through the eaves alongside the spa power feed, and then terminate into a dual powerpoint capable of handling the power?
I need to run two elements, a pump, laptop, and a drill. Although the laptop and the drill can share power by unplugging laptop to crush grain.

 

[DU99]

the two cb's are rated 32and 16 amp i can't see if you not using the spa,get another 16 amp circuit..in another words go for it...

 

[woodwormm]

there must be brewing sparky in the mount... if you're on here.. fess up and go drink some of Big Nath's beer!

 

[shmang]

Call your friendly local sparky,
Its possible (and legal) to go down either road, it will all come down to the cost.
Power points (in general, but not always) are fairly cheap to put in, and with the dedicated circuits installed you could have a spa while brewing :lol:

 

[Rodolphe01]

Mash in the spa, recirculating pump is already there B)

 

[real_beer]

Mash in the spa, recirculating pump is already there B)

Good idea, Bum Crumb Bitter & Toe Cheese Pale Ale are two possibilities such a set-up would be ideal for.

Cost me about $150 2 years ago in Perth to have a 15amp power point installed in the garage. If you had more than one installed at once it'd probably be a fair bit cheaper for the second.

 

[benno1973]

Cost me about $150 2 years ago in Perth

Which means that anywhere else it would cost around $20...

 

[real_beer]

Which means that anywhere else it would cost around $20...

I wasn't to alarmed at the price of the installation but now after all the recent price hikes I have to ask my bank manager for a loan when I want to have electricity flow through it :lol:

 

[Verbyla]

In short no you can't use either circuit. They are dedicated for their particular use and it is illegal to run general power outlets from them. They also look to be straight circuit breakers and should have RDO protection on them if they are to be used for general power.

You'd only need a 20amps circuit, even if your pulling 22-24amps as it would take well over an hour to trip and the elements, pump, laptop ect would cycle on and off so I doubt it would be an issue.

In regards to cost. I'd expect you'd pay $200-250 for a double weatherproof outlet off an existing circuit. $300-350 for a new circuit with weatherproof outlet. Prices may be higher or lower depending on the house and typical hourly rate in your area.

Hope this helps

 

[bignath]

In short no you can't use either circuit. They are dedicated for their particular use and it is illegal to run general power outlets from them. They also look to be straight circuit breakers and should have RDO protection on them if they are to be used for general power.

You'd only need a 20amps circuit, even if your pulling 22-24amps as it would take well over an hour to trip and the elements, pump, laptop ect would cycle on and off so I doubt it would be an issue.

In regards to cost. I'd expect you'd pay $200-250 for a double weatherproof outlet off an existing circuit. $300-350 for a new circuit with weatherproof outlet. Prices may be higher or lower depending on the house and typical hourly rate in your area.

Hope this helps

Sweet, thanks mate.

answers all my questions. thought it would cost more than that too. If i can get it done for anywhere near that i'd be stoked.

Cheers,

Nath

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

All you need to do is install a new sub mains board where the switch is and keep the existing 32A breaker in your main box. The 32Acct becomes a mixed circuit from your main meter box. Your sub mains board will need a breaker for your spa, and breakers for power point.install RCD ( residual current device ) breakers in your sub board and you are sweet. a new sub board wont be much bigger than the switch. Very legal and very doable but you will need a sparky to do it. Thats how my shed was done.

 

[8-ball]

if you were local to me id do it for about $500 cash 2 15amp circuits on rcd's(safety switches) new swb box next to existing all depends on your incoming mains if it could take the extra stress or not

 

[bignath]

All you need to do is install a new sub mains board where the switch is and keep the existing 32A breaker in your main box. The 32Acct becomes a mixed circuit from your main meter box. Your sub mains board will need a breaker for your spa, and breakers for power point.install RCD ( residual current device ) breakers in your sub board and you are sweet. a new sub board wont be much bigger than the switch. Very legal and very doable but you will need a sparky to do it. Thats how my shed was done.

Cool, that's what i was hoping could be done. So the "sub mains board" is literally like a smaller version of what's in my main circuit box is it? That would go outside (near the spa) and the spa would then be run off of that, as well as two extra outs for the brew rig?

if you were local to me id do it for about $500 cash 2 15amp circuits on rcd's(safety switches) new swb box next to existing all depends on your incoming mains if it could take the extra stress or not

Cheers 8 Ball,

you a sparky??

Any idea's on what i'd be roughly looking at this costing me without "mates rates"? - worst case snenario so to speak?

Currently running two extension cords, each from a separate circuit which is doing me fine, but i'd love a purpose built solution outside so i didn't have to run the extensions..

Cheers guys,

Nathan

 

[mxd]

if you were local to me id do it for about $500 cash 2 15amp circuits on rcd's(safety switches) new swb box next to existing all depends on your incoming mains if it could take the extra stress or not

and where are you to assist all the rest of us

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Cool, that's what i was hoping could be done. So the "sub mains board" is literally like a smaller version of what's in my main circuit box is it? That would go outside (near the spa) and the spa would then be run off of that, as well as two extra outs for the brew rig?





Nathan

Yep Exactly. Sub mains boards feed from your main board and allows further distribution of power. Generaly the total current of the sub mains should not be greater that its breaker on the mains board.Also the wiring needs to be able handle the total max current as well.Not very common in domestic houses, but are common as muck in more complex and larger buildings.

 

[8-ball]

Yeah I'm a sparky I'm in Brisbane

All depends ok on the situation and what the going rate is in your area your looking at about $200 for the 15 ampers 100 in cable and depending how far away your swb and we charge 110 an hour probably 3hrs work I'm probably missing something
Ahh the rcbo's 100 swb 80