Sparkies.

oh_hunnihunni, Jul 11, 3:58pm
My neighbour bought one of those wall heaters for her bathroom and asked our LL what the story was re installation. She's been told they'll organise an electrician to do it and it'll cost her $586. She was a little shocked.

Is she out of touch, or is that a bit high a quote for a pretty straightforward little job?
sossie1, Jul 11, 4:18pm
We just a sparky around for 2 hours, wired up fluorescent lights in garage, replaced heating element in hot water tank, $300 including titanium element and some wiring
oh_hunnihunni, Jul 11, 4:20pm
Ah HA! Lol.

My Scottish genes might just've been correct then.
ryanm2, Jul 11, 5:00pm
No 2 jobs are the same , a new power point or circuit may have to be run which would mean an RCD somewhere. Access may be limited to certain areas, or it could be a back to back install on an existing RCD protected circuit which would mean a very straight forward job costing at least half that figure.
elect70, Jul 11, 5:52pm
The LL has got to include his time & % of cost of the job ontop . eveyrone has to clip the ticket , then there is the paperwork required travel van costs wear & tear on tools $585 is cheap i reckon more like 6-700$ & depends on wether he gets fresh tea & scones for smoko .
fast4motion, Jul 11, 6:23pm
A wall heater in a bathroom typically needs a new cable run down the wall, therefore climbing into the ceiling. Quite likely they'd need to run a new circuit with an RCD, and ideally they'd also fit an easily accessible wall switch, so you don't need to reach for the pull cord to turn it on and off.
Nobody would know the costs without looking at the job, but it's not even remotely comparable to the relatively simple jobs described in #2.
oh_hunnihunni, Jul 11, 7:01pm
The access panel would be about two feet away from the bathroom wall, these are very tiny units, but I get your point, thank you.
oh_hunnihunni, Jul 11, 7:05pm
Unfortunately for this sparky, that neighbour doesn't bake, and is more of a coffee drinker.

Now, if it was MY unit. but I just whacked in one of those heat lamps. Problem solved, no sparky required. Yet.
pauldw, Jul 12, 12:45am
Normally bathroom heaters and heated towel rails are wired to permanent connection units rather than using socket outlets. AFAIK pcu's don't require RCDs.
johotech, Jul 12, 8:25am
That's right. If it's permanently connected it doesn't require an RCD.

And the electricians commenting above should know that .
oh_hunnihunni, Jul 12, 8:58am
I had one done decades back and it was all linked to where the old light switch was and from memory wasn't a huge job, but of course that was a long time ago.

I'm going to suggest she gets her own quotes, at least that way she'll be sure she's not being overcharged for improving a property she doesn't own.
ryanm2, Jul 12, 10:27am
Yeah I missed the bathroom heater part , no RCD requirement.
gabbysnana, Jul 12, 2:24pm
oh good to know!
bennybullet, Jul 13, 7:55pm
Hi just a question in regards to quotes I have had from 2 sparks for a reno job.
The difference was $1200 but what I really want to know is if a quote is binding or can they add on to it if they feel they have underquoted. Any advice appreciated
johotech, Jul 14, 8:24am
A quotation is a fixed price for a fixed amount of work.

The difference in the prices could be the brand and quality of fitting, or maybe they aren't both quoting on exactly the same amount of work.
oh_hunnihunni, Oct 20, 4:42pm
Interesting side bar. we've been told by a sparky that some of them are over quoting for small jobs they don't really want because there's so much work on they can pick and choose. One of the benefits of our rapid growth perhaps?