What would be the best option to relocate power coming into a house with the scenario below? Currently, it's in a closet and severely outdated, so we need to upgrade it. Ideally, I'd like to move it to the garage, but it's on the side of the house/property. The power is above ground, so I'm hoping that makes it "easier".


My apologies for the crude drawing. In the picture, it's house A. Power runs from a pole that is on the line between A & B. The green shaded area is where the garage is. Yellow lines are the powerlines that run through the property with the dotted yellow being the line into the house.

We are in an Oncor delivery area if that matters.

You might be on the hook for the pole and labor of employees but if you request it, they might move your line to here by adding a new pole and disconnecting you from the old and move your meter. The house side of the power will be all on you to fix though. New panel, wiring for house. This wont be cheap by any means.

All your house wiring terminates there. You'd have to move it all. Essentially rewire your entire house. Just replace the panel where it is if you think it's outdated.

Just to install a new pole and reroute main power line feeds will run you about $3K based on my experience with having that done by ONCOR for our old building power feed several years ago!

Dr. Venkman said:

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All your house wiring terminates there. You'd have to move it all. Essentially rewire your entire house. Just replace the panel where it is if you think it's outdated.

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Yep, thats the biggest cost, to rewire it all. Replacing the panel only and bringing it up to code will be much cheaper. Prolly $1500 ish max for new 150-200A panel + all new breakers (Depends on how many you need, always have extra installed, dont max your brand new panel if your replacing it). Had this done before selling my old house. If you are in the Houston area and you need a reference, i can give you my general contractor's contact info and he can get you a quote for his guys to do the work. If you go to an electric supply store and buy all your breakers and panel yourself and only pay for install, it will save you a few hundred but that usually kills any warranty he will offer on the parts.

This will cost so much that we should go ahead and charge you for this thread also

If you upgrade/replace panel, it can't go back into the closet.

It can, just don't pull a permit. Or put it on the outside wall of the closet.

UnderoosAg said:

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If you upgrade/replace panel, it can't go back into the closet.

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That is what I was reading as well. The house was built in the late 70's so there's a lot that needs to be updated.

We will be doing some pretty extensive renovations and are budgeting an electrical overhaul, so I know moving the panel will be expensive just because of having to re-wire the house.

My main concern is that area is a bathroom closet and not sure we can update the house and leave the panel in there. I'm trying to find other options/places to put the panel, but that whole left side of the house where the power comes in is bedrooms and bathrooms, so there's no "logical" place. (Both bedrooms will be for our kids, so I'd like to avoid keeping the main panel in their rooms.)

I guess I just need to reach out to Oncor and see what options they have/propose. They have overhead lines that run behind all the houses on our street and the poles sit on the property line every 2 homes. So "our" pole is to the left, but our neighbors on the right have their pole on the right side of the property. Not sure they would want to add another one in the middle, but I guess it's worth the ask.

I was hoping there might be another option I wasn't thinking of, but it sounds like the only real option to spend $$$.

You may be able to pay to have the service line buried to your new location but still the same pole. You would likely supply the underground conduit and new weather head and they would pull the cable. That is work you could do yourself or without an electrician unless an UG/rough inspection is required.

Is the panel currently on a wall where you could flip it from inside to outside? The new panel would have to be weatherproof but then all your circuits don't have to be moved. An outside panel might be more cost effective than moving the panel depending on what needs updated.

That's a good call. I think we could probably flip it to outside without too much trouble.

I feel pretty ridiculous for not thinking about that.

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and help!

I had electrical issues a few years ago and because of code, my box had to be moved out of the washer/drier area. It was put on the outside wall (maybe 10 feet away) and was upgraded which eliminated tripping breakers when hair dryers, curling irons etc were used at the same time. The house was built in the '60s.

I don't recall the exact cost, but i believe it was around $2,000.

TravelAg2004 said:

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That's a good call. I think we could probably flip it to outside without too much trouble.

I feel pretty ridiculous for not thinking about that.

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and help!

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Flipping to an external box is done quite often to satisfy current NEC.

ItsA&InotA&M said:

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I had electrical issues a few years ago and because of code, my box had to be moved out of the washer/drier area. It was put on the outside wall (maybe 10 feet away) and was upgraded which eliminated tripping breakers when hair dryers, curling irons etc were used at the same time. The house was built in the '60s.

I don't recall the exact cost, but i believe it was around $2,000.

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If all they did was upgrade your panel and not the wiring, your breakers may be oversized. i.e. conductor is rated for 15 A and are now fed from a 20 A breaker.

Dr., they did rewire. And the cost may have been more than $2,000. It was eight or nine years ago.