So, I ordered a central air unit from Sears for our double-wide manufactured home. The total cost was up there, but since I don’t have to make any payments or accrue any interest for 12 months, I figured, “what the hell”. And this summer has been brutal so far – like so many recent summers.

We hit a snag when the Sears guy came by and said we needed to upgrade our electrical to 200 Amps. We only have 100 Amps. The problem is, this is major work that needed to be done, so the original cost was going to go up quite a bit. However, the Sears guy admitted that they were a bit expensive on the electrical work and he also said that he himself was not an electrician so he wasn’t entirely sure if the work was needed. He told me I could hire my own electrical contractor, and they would deduct $1300 dollars from the amount I owed. Or, I could have Sears do the work and I could ADD $1300 for the electrical work.

I was sure I could get this work done for less than the $2600 they were going to charge, so I called up several contractors. The first two that got back to me got to come over and give me an estimate.

Sutherland Electric were the first ones over. They guy took one look at my setup and told me that I didn’t need to upgrade to 200 amps, unless I was getting a unit as big as the house. He said that all I needed was a bigger circuit panel, because the current one was full. I questioned him repeatedly on this — after all, the Sears guy was sure that I needed 200 Amps. The Sutherland guy basically said “No Way.” He gave me a quote of about $350. Okay. . he left, and now I’m confused.

The next contractor showed up a few hours later. They shall remain nameless. He told me basically what Sears had told me — I needed to upgrade to 200 Amps. He quoted me $3000 (aargh!). I asked him if this was absolutely necessary. He said yes. I asked him if there was any way to do it cheaper. He said that rather than upgrading to 200 amps, I could run a second 100 amp line from the street. This would only be $1500. Befuddled, I pressed him, asking if it was ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to do all this work just to get my central air installed. He assured me it was.

Now here’ the clincher. I finally came right out and said it: “The last electrician who came here said I just needed a bigger electrical panel.” He didn’t hesitate: “Yeah, we could do that, too. If you’de like, I can get you a quote to just replace the panel.”

I’m thinking: “No, what I would like is for you to quote me the biggest possible job you can so I can maximize the amount of money I’m paying you, Dick.”

So I pressed him a bit, asking if he was ABSOLUTELY SURE that I didn’t need to upgrade, and that my current 100 Amp system would handle the load. In a complete reversal of what he had just told me 2 minutes ago, he assured me that my current 100 Amp system would be sufficient.

So, needless to say, I am going with the contractor who was honest with me upfront, and quoted me the minimal amount of work needed to get the job done. Sutherland Electric. If you live in the SW New Hampshire area, give them a call for your electrical work. Tell them TJ sent you.