Dedicated Electrical Circuits? How much did you spend?

[ariellemermaid]

We’re putting in a new tank and it seems everyone recommends not running a tank without 1-2 dedicated 20 amp electrical circuits for larger tanks (GFCI or not is debated). The cost varies widely by how much you DIY, location, home layout and distance from the breaker box, etc. So I’d like to know how much you guys actually ended up spending making this happen in your homes. If you ran the wires yourself but had an electrician just hook it up to the box, include the breakdown in the comments!

 

[Dbichler]

First you have to calculate how many amps your pulling or going to pull to determine how many 20 amp breakers you’ll need. I have my 210 on it’s own 20 amp. I pull 13 amps max. I ran the wires myself to 3 separate outlets. My coworker is a master electrician who is redoing my entire house so my price wouldn’t be accurate for your situation. 12/2 wire is $168 dollars for 250 ft. Highest it’s ever been. A couple gfcis and your already at $225. Electrician at a minimum if you know someone would probably be another 250. If they do everything your probably looking double to triple that so anywhere from $225-1500. Not to mention if you have your tank in a difficult location and have to tear up drywall or whatever else you find wrong.

 

[homer1475]

Installed 2 20amp breakers and ran 2 runs of 14/2nmb with 2 GFCI outlets for my tank.

I did the entire thing myself(pretty handy DIY skills as we rewired our entire home, and passed electrical inspections lol). So other then material costs, and my time, labor was $0, but materials was around $200 all said and done.

 

[Onewolf]

First you have to calculate how many amps your pulling or going to pull to determine how many 20 amp breakers you’ll need. I have my 210 on it’s own 20 amp. I pull 13 amps max. I ran the wires myself to 3 separate outlets. My coworker is a master electrician who is redoing my entire house so my price wouldn’t be accurate for your situation. 12/2 wire is $168 dollars for 250 ft. Highest it’s ever been. A couple gfcis and your already at $225. Electrician at a minimum if you know someone would probably be another 250. If they do everything your probably looking double to triple that so anywhere from $225-1500. Not to mention if you have your tank in a difficult location and have to tear up drywall or whatever else you find wrong.

13 AMPS? You must have some large heaters and power hungry lighting?

My 90 system draws about 180 watts (1.5 amps) when the lights are at max intensity during the day. And the heater almost never runs (Central Florida).

 

[Onewolf]

We’re putting in a new tank and it seems everyone recommends not running a tank without 1-2 dedicated 20 amp electrical circuits for larger tanks (GFCI or not is debated). The cost varies widely by how much you DIY, location, home layout and distance from the breaker box, etc. So I’d like to know how much you guys actually ended up spending making this happen in your homes. If you ran the wires yourself but had an electrician just hook it up to the box, include the breakdown in the comments!

Have you done a calculation of how much power your system is going to use?

 

[Kershaw]

DIY for 1 20 amp circuit.
80$ wire
25 for GFI receptacle
2$ for sheet rock box.
15$ for breaker
20$ for flexible conduit to go from panel to under my house.
8$ for wire staples.

 

[alton]

The first thing like others have posted is total your watts on all equipment. For my 120 gallon I have 3 x Xr15 G5 300 watts , M1 80 watts, 100 watt heater, and skimmer pump 55 watts
300
80
100
55
535 total watts divided by 120 volts = 4.458 amps max
But since I run my lights at 50% and my M1 at less than 50%, with it being summer and heater not running I am actually only drawing 2 amps total and at night less than 1 amp.

 

[KStatefan]

I have mine split between two different circuits. One is dedicated and the other is shared with other items in the basement. The dedicated circuit was originally going to be for a refrigerator but we decided we did not want that in the basement. I have two separate GFCIs on the dedicated circuit. I have the heater controllers each on different circuits. I have my flow pumps and return pumps on different ciruits.

 

[Johnd651]

Don't forget the hidden expense of the tools... if you don't already own them, if you decide to do it in your own.

 

[scrappy35]

I did all the electrical myself for 2 - 20a circuits in my fish room. Couple hundred on supplies. It was paying my drywall guy to fix the mess I made to run the circuits that cost ‍ I also added a bathroom exhaust fan in the middle of the room also. The 2 circuits is enough to run the 16 tanks I have up and running with room to spare. With everything on, my 75g saltwater pulls 5 amps.

 

[Kershaw]

I’m pretty sure electricians in ca would charge close to 1k to run a circuit…
I’m on an elevated foundation so was easy. Cut box size hole in sheet rock.
drill through bottom of inside wall with right angle drill adapter and Paddle bit.

if you are on a slab you will have to run conduit out side your house or go through attic. Then at least in my house there are horizontal wood called fire blocks in every perimeter wall makes things hard.

 

[ariellemermaid]

So many DIYers! I am too, but 1) I’ve never done this kind of major electrical work, certainly not going to poke around a breaker box, and 2) I have zero experience running things behind drywall but I have gotten pretty good fixing holes.

My setup is a large finished basement area on a slab with the breaker box in a storage room off of it. So it’s close by…but the catch is that the wiring would (I think) have to be run through the ceiling perpendicular to all the cross beams! I’m sure the price is going to be on the high end but after spending $7K to put down luxury vinyl plank I’m getting tapped out on how much I’m willing to spend on dedicated home improvement for a fish tank. Just guessing we’re talking more in the $1500+ range given the layout.

I haven’t done the math on the total amps yet however it’s a tech heavy area. Good home theater system, office with gaming PC, server, a bunch of light fixtures etc. Sometimes when I turn on the entertainment center the computer UPS’s switch on for a second on the other side of the room (I.e. a lot of outlets share the same circuit). Also, for some random reason a breaker flipped when we were on vacation; thank GOODNESS our flourishing coral/invert tank wasn’t on that circuit. Something like that happening wasn’t on my radar. All of this leads me to believe we’re going to have to find some way to get the equipment on a less busy circuit. Probably don’t need 2 dedicated circuits for a 200g system, but also doesn’t seem like much more effort to do 2 at the same time if we’re going to do 1.

A couple of hundred in supplies doesn’t bother me. Thousands of dollars just for a socket or two to plug a fish tank in is a problem.

 

[snorklr]

the supplies are relatively cheap as previously pointed out...the problem is how many obstacles there are between the panel and the new outlet...unfinished attic or basement makes things easier...slab or finished second story another story, direction of joists in floor or ceiling is difference between drilling 2 holes and patching drywall vs a hole every 16 inches...2 circuits is just extra insurance if the gfi trips on one you can still have some circulation and flow....my pump and skimmer are on one and the powerheads are on the other

 

[Montiman]

I would consider myself handy but I realized I had never run conduit before and the learning curve always has a time and material cost. I also would have needed to purchase a variety of new tools that I likely would never use again. I needed some other electrical work done so I paid $3000 to put in 3 controllable security lights and 2 dedicated 20 amp circuits for the tank. It took 2 guys 4 hours and I feel like it was worth it.

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

I live in NJ and literally just ran this a week ago because i kept popping my breaker every time the heater went on. $785

On the bright side, i was able to run this through my Generac switch so that I can run my tank on my portable generator if I lose power.

 

[homer1475]

First thing first....

Look in your breaker box, and see if there are extra panels for breakers. If not, then the price just went up exponentially.

 

[Johnd651]

First thing first....

Look in your breaker box, and see if there are extra panels for breakers. If not, then the price just went up exponentially.

Not always, most boxes allow you to use tandem breakers.

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

Not always, most boxes allow you to use tandem breakers.

Yup. I am using these. they are great.

 

[homer1475]

Not always, most boxes allow you to use tandem breakers.

Very true, but if there isn't an open spot for even the tandem breaker, you have to install a new box to accommodate the extra breaker(s).

 

[Kershaw]

First thing first....

Look in your breaker box, and see if there are extra panels for breakers. If not, then the price just went up exponentially.

Good looking out! I forgot about this also. I had to change my panel to make room for more circuits.