It Must Be A Good Time To Be An Electrician

[scfr]

We're building a new house. The amount of "extra" electrical we are putting in is kind of mind-blowing. Although in the past I've sworn I'd never want to own a house that isn't a combination of electric and gas, our new house will be 100% electric. Although I'll be crying the next time we have a mult-day power outage, it just seems to be the way the world is moving.
Electric heat pump and water heater
Extra boxes for ceiling fans to keep A/C use down
Electric fireplace
Induction range (no more gas cooktop)
Floor plug for electronics used on the couch
Extra outlets in the bathrooms for bidet toilets
Dedicated outlet in the garage for the level 2 EV charger that we'll eventually use

Electricians must be having a real "make hay while the sun shines" moment!

[bjl584]

I've been working with a lady who cleans out new construction houses after the contractors are done.
Basically picking up all the debris left behind.
I see a mix of all electric and electric gas combos.

But it is a pretty good time to be involved in any of the trades.
It's a good alternative for those not interested in or who can't afford traditional college.

[kork13]

But it is a pretty good time to be involved in any of the trades.
It's a good alternative for those not interested in or who can't afford traditional college.

Gratefully this mindset is ever so slowly & slightly beginning to return to the general awareness. Since I was a kid, my parents always impressed upon us the notion that the trades were a great option to consider. I think of any of the major trades, my interests probably would have taken me into being an electrician, and my youngest brother worked in a forge/heavy machinery shop for about a year. It turned out that all of us went almost straight to college and are now in professional careers (military officer, supply chain mgmt, and pilot -- still using his hands, as it were)... but when my family established a scholarship at our high school in honor of my brother who died while attending the school, it was very explicitly designed to be available for kids going to both colleges & trade schools. I have every intention of following their example, and encouraging the trades right alongside college.

[rennigade]

While you're at it, you should consider picking up a gas generator and have the electrician run certain things into a panel so in the event of power outage...fire up the generator and those specified outlets will have power. We have our water pump, fridge, deep freezer, kitchen (minus electric stove,) and entertainment center hooked up. Ive had to bust out the generator a few times and its awesome. Again, not necessary, just a splurge sort of thing that wont get used much.

If its new construction, those added outlets you're putting in are simple. If drywall is already up, its more of a pain. I installed a floor outlet for our entertainment center. Its nothing special, the shape is just different than wall ones. It uses the same $0.67 single gang box as any other outlet found around your house. I enjoy doing electrical but would never do it for anyone else. Too much liability unless you're insured. 250' 12/2 romex is $160 a spool at lowes at the moment, which has never been seen before. When I bought it a coupe months pre pandemic, it cost $57. Even when prices were up it was around $78. Id hate to know what all of the electrical is going to cost you now.

[ua_guy]

We had a Wolf gas range in our last house and I loved it. Our next place came with an induction range and I can't say enough good things about them. I love ours...I hope you really enjoy it!

Ditto on having a transfer switch wired in for a generator, even if you don't have the generator yet. Easier to do now while walls are still open. You can choose which circuits to have brought over, depending on how big a generator you might want to go with. Like ^^^ we also need to power our well pump when the power goes out, so it was a must have for us.

It's always good to be an electrician. Or a plumber. Or have any skill that people will always need, really!

[bjl584]

If you want to run your house on a generator after the fact you can buy this adapter for the incoming meter.
Depending on the size of the generator you might have to switch off certain circuits in your panel, but you can run the essentials with this

https://www.homedepot.com/p/GenerLink-40-Amp-Meter-Mounted-Transfer-Switch-with-75kA-Per-Phase-Surge-Protection-MA24-S/301962200

[scfr]

While you're at it, you should consider picking up a gas generator and have the electrician run certain things into a panel so in the event of power outage...fire up the generator and those specified outlets will have power. We have our water pump, fridge, deep freezer, kitchen (minus electric stove,) and entertainment center hooked up. Ive had to bust out the generator a few times and its awesome. Again, not necessary, just a splurge sort of thing that wont get used much.

If its new construction, those added outlets you're putting in are simple. If drywall is already up, its more of a pain. I installed a floor outlet for our entertainment center. Its nothing special, the shape is just different than wall ones. It uses the same $0.67 single gang box as any other outlet found around your house. I enjoy doing electrical but would never do it for anyone else. Too much liability unless you're insured. 250' 12/2 romex is $160 a spool at lowes at the moment, which has never been seen before. When I bought it a coupe months pre pandemic, it cost $57. Even when prices were up it was around $78. Id hate to know what all of the electrical is going to cost you now.

I think a generator is a great idea, but unfortunately that idea was vetoed by my husband.
Rewiring a lamp is the extent of my electrical experience and I don't plan to expand on that. Kudos to you for taking on a floor outlet!

[scfr]

We had a Wolf gas range in our last house and I loved it. Our next place came with an induction range and I can't say enough good things about them. I love ours...I hope you really enjoy it!

Ditto on having a transfer switch wired in for a generator, even if you don't have the generator yet. Easier to do now while walls are still open. You can choose which circuits to have brought over, depending on how big a generator you might want to go with. Like ^^^ we also need to power our well pump when the power goes out, so it was a must have for us.

It's always good to be an electrician. Or a plumber. Or have any skill that people will always need, really!

Thanks for the well wishes on the induction range. It was my choice (carefully researched), so hopefully we're both happy with it.

Regarding the trades: I know business is booming overall, but I imagine this must be a tough time to be someone who works with residential gas hookup and gas appliance installation.

[myrdale]

Electric heat pump and water heater
Extra boxes for ceiling fans to keep A/C use down
Electric fireplace
Induction range (no more gas cooktop)
Floor plug for electronics used on the couch
Extra outlets in the bathrooms for bidet toilets
Dedicated outlet in the garage for the level 2 EV charger that we'll eventually use

Nothing on this list struck me as that unusual or pricey.

HVAC needs electrical regardless of if there is a gas furnace or not.
Water heaters are either gas or electric.
Every room in your house has a light fixture, adding a fan isn't that significant of an increase.
I am assuming the fireplace burns wood, but has a blower, so that is one extra circuit.
Electric stoves have been a thing for a very long while.
I don't like the idea of floor plugs, just put an extra outlet on the wall where needed.
The bathroom outlet is truly extra, but this shouldn't be that massive of a expense.
The EV charger drop is probably the largest expense on the list. Even then, 10/3 with a ground is about $3.25 a ft. Outlet, breaker and all I wouldn't think we'd be talking about more that $300.

[corn18]

One thing I did that I would highly recommend: install lots of outlets outside. I put 5 on the lower part of the house and 4 up in the eaves. The builder charged me $60 each and well worth it.

I also added 3 extra outside water faucets. No more running hoses all over the place.

Every room has a fan + light hookup in the ceiling. Haven't used them all, but nice that they are there.

If your house has gas, even if you are not using it, have the builder run a pipe to wherever someone might want a grill. You might not use it, but it costs a lot to add it later.

[rennigade]

I don't like the idea of floor plugs, just put an extra outlet on the wall where needed.

I agree with a wall outlet when you can. Ive seen living rooms where the couch isn't anywhere near the wall, sort of in the center of an open room. In that case, floor outlet would be your only option.

For me, our entertainment center is pushed up against against bricks. I didn't want to bother trying to knock a brick out and fish a cable, so I ended up with a floor outlet since plywood is easy to get through.

[scfr]

The great room is designed for a "floating" sofa (in the middle of the floor) so the floor plug is definitely the way to go. That seems to be the most common layout in new homes in our area.
The fireplace is 100% electric (aka fake as there is no real fire involved - lol). Again, electric fireplaces seem to be the standard now in our part of the country, in houses at all price points.
The electrician mentioned that most of the houses he has worked on recently are adding the EV charger and bidet plugs. Not something we would have seen even a few years ago.
I assume it's the same nationwide, but don't know.

There will be no gas line run to the house at all. A gas line was in the original spec but as the plans came together I realized we really wouldn't need it. The only reason would have been for the grill that corn18 mentioned, but we really aren't barbequers and we can save money by skipping that utility hookup not to mention no monthly gas bill (and even if we didn't use the gas there would surely be a monthly service fee).

There