how much would it cost me to get a electrican to run power to my coop

[blueseal]

its about 20 feet from the house to the coop. i have a extension cord running to the coop right now for a 40 watt bulb on a timer.

 

[flakey chick]

How much power would you expect to use out there? A little for light and heat? serious power tool usage? I recommend using a GFCI extension adapter for outdoor power. We used one for our outdoor hydroponics and fountain. Then we found out that our outdoor outlet on the porch was already tied into the GFCI of our bathroom. Cost <$20. You may still want to go for a more robust solution, but it's a good measure of safety you can implement right away (and cheaply).

 

[patandchickens]

I could say "oh, a few hundred dollars" but in reality it depends hugely on the details of your situation.

If you can find someone who's good with YOU doing the trenching and cutting the holes in the walls and running the line, and they just come in and do the connections, that's a lot cheaper. If your municipality doesn't require an electrical permit, that's cheaper (but if they DO, I would encourage you to pony up for it rather than sneak around, for various reasons).

OTOH if it turns out that the circuit you wanted to put it on is already pretty much 'full up' to capacity, or anything else like that, requiring significant rewiring in the house to get power TO where you want to put the coop line, expenses can and will add up.

It sure is worthwhile having proper, correctly-installed electric outlets available in the coop, though!

Best of luck,

Pat

 

[Ken H]

trench 18" under ground and lay a 1 1'2" black plastic tube. That way you can supply electric and water to your coop. As far as electric supply, all you will need is a run of 12/2 with ground from the electric supply to the coop. The final connections are simple and will cost less the more you do instead of an electrician. 12/2 romex wire will cost you much less than $1.00/ ft.

 

[twentynine]

My suggestion: do it yourself. Buy yourself a book about home improvement wiring. If you can read, low to medium handy and moderately physically capable. You can do it with out a hitch.
Cost: book ---$25, wire--- $25-$30, conduit 1/2 pvc ----$5-$10, recepticles/boxes/plates and conduit fittings---$20-$25, hardware(screws, glue and such)---$10.
Now that is connecting to existing 15 amp circuit(existing recepticle at homes nearest point to coop). However if you have to get power source from your distribution panel, I assume distance will increase, you will need 1 15 amp breaker or a doubler. Add $10-$15 for breaker, also wire and conduit cost will increase with distance. Also if you have to install a subpanel the cost of material can go up considerably.

Have an electrician do the whole job? Figure atleast $500 if you can get one for a small job.

 

[bantamsrus]

Ask around--many certified elctricians will "do work on the side" for a case of beer

 

[Mac in Wisco]

How far are you from Biddeford? I have a friend there who is a master electrician...

 

[The Sheriff]

Quote:
Yikes! Give him the beer AFTER he finishes the work and make sure you are the first customer of the day!

Mary

 

[RobinZ]

We had electricity run to our coop this fall. We put up the posts and under ground conduit and the electician did the rest. He charged $200.00 and feel it was well worth knowing the job was done right. We are currently running a timer on one light, a heated waterer, and heat lamp when necessary. We wouldn't have dared try all that on a drag cord situation.

 

[blueseal]

Quote:
im up the coast over by rockland. where they have the lobster festival . probably 2 hrs from biddeford.