Upgrading Electrical Service

Not an answer, but in my building a high-floor owner worked out a deal with the co-op to run new 6" conduit all the way to the top, through the service hall, and then branched off from that. The big expense was drilling holes through all those concrete slabs.

We had to add a new panel to add power when we renovated, but there was additional Con Ed power panel two floors below, so were able to bring the power in from there, not from way below - had to contribute to the "hallway renovation fund" but was much easier for the contractor to bring the power up onlhly two floors., not 22.
(Though the additional electric power did cost a lot).

thanks NWT and ph41 - sounds expensive based on your comments. Anyone know of amy "rules of thumb" for budgeting this type of project?

There is no easy rule of thumb. Cost of the project largely depends on the level of difficulty to run the conduit to your apartment.

If there is a riser space to run the power it is a much easier project. If you have to cut holes through a concrete slabs to get there like NWT well that is going to cost you.

Talk to your super and get a sense how previous owners ran additional power. That will help give you a sense of the challenge and therefore cost factor.

I did a gut renovation on a third floor apartment replacing all electrical. Had the contractor break out the electrical cost and running the additional juice cost about $8,000. Was an easy run bringing the power up access stairs.

Because this sounds like an expensive and complex undertaking, have you confirmed that running something up from basement is actually what you require? In my case, adequate power serviced my floor but my apt's box fed out less power than was available to it. A $500 upgrade to increase amperage (or something--I'm not up on the vocabulary) was all that was needed.

I throw this out only because in my line of work, when a question seems very complicated, before we march ahead trying to answer it, we usually step back and confirm that the question is the one that should be getting asked in the first place.

very grateful for the excellent suggestions - thanks!

Noting the other thread recently posted about the cost of electrical work and other project costs, establishing an organized series of threads on the cost of various renovation components might be an interesting project for the New Year - any takers?

I suggest talking to the architect to see exactly how much you require and if you can just reroute some wires within the apartment. Try to avoid electric dryer,electric oven and huge ACs. I also do not think running juice is an investment easily recouped during resale since no one sees it. Also you have to speak to Con Ed to see if your building can provide all the electricity which you want to bring up.

Hmm. The "size" or capacity of the electrical breaker box in your apt is not necessarily representative of the maximum current/amperage actually deliverable to your apt. If everyone had all their appliances on, and were running close to capacity on their individual breaker boxes in a building - well, let's just say I don't think the transformers supplying the building would have that much power available.

It is up to your building as to whether you "need" to have more power available to your apartment. I would also check to see what they mean specifically when they are supplying with the extra amperage/current - are they changing their electrical setup with Con Ed? Or are they charging you for running a thicker (i.e. higher amperage/current) wire to your apt? You don't want to be paying extra for nothing.