ceiling fan priceing

[macmikeman]

I recently got called about a fan install. Question: Is there a fan in that location allready? No. Is there an attic I can go up into? No. Can you accept a molding running across the ceiling and down to a switch? (brick walls). Yes. Phone quote- $375.00 . Lady-" wait a minute, I've had fans installed before, and I know it only costs $120.00 dollars for a fan to get installed." Me - Thanks for considering us M'aam, and in the future please call us again when you need further electrical quotes done...

 

[FrancisDoody]

Now Mac don't go to crazy on the $120.00 figure. That would be the basic time required to install a complete fan in a new constuction job. What I see as an hour and a half is where the 14/3 has been run on initial construction and all that is required is to unpack the fan and install the product balance the blades and out the door. Everything else would be extra. Sure you can easily run the price up to 375.00 or what ever. But how often would that be the typical installation($375.00)? A brick wall? Finished ceiling? no switch? No power?

 

[cowboyjwc]

Around here they get about $150 for a fan install which is about right if you're charging $50+ an hour. Even if you fish it it shouldn't take you more than 2 or 3 hours to install a fan.

 

[bradleyelectric]

Around here they get about $150 for a fan install which is about right if you're charging $50+ an hour. Even if you fish it it shouldn't take you more than 2 or 3 hours to install a fan.

At that rate, there would be no reason for me to be in business, unless I wanted to take time off without having anyone except my girlfriend and bill collectors bugging me about it. $250 for an easy fish from attic, mount box, hang fan, collect check. 1.5-2 hours. $600. for 3 in the same house. 4.5 hours and out the door.

 

[emahler]

What's sad about that?

If these guys want to "compete" with HD - let 'em....soon enough, they won't be anyone's "competetion"

cause everytime one goes out of business, 2 more take his place...they are like cockroaches...

 

[emahler]

Around here they get about $150 for a fan install which is about right if you're charging $50+ an hour. Even if you fish it it shouldn't take you more than 2 or 3 hours to install a fan.

my technicians cost me almost $50/hr with burden....

 

[celtic]

cause everytime one goes out of business, 2 more take his place...they are like cockroaches...

..and that's just two more bodies out the way. You know as well as I do, the EC's and the wanna-be's are two seperate animals. The trunk-slammers will always be there charging a nickel for a dollar job. When they fall down, you and I (and those like us) are always available to pick up the pieces and make it work...for an appropiate price. The last CF I installed - which included running a switch leg and installing a ceiling box - came in at $650 w/o the price of the fan itself. That's the sizzle.

 

[jeff43222]

I've found the actual fan unit makes a big difference, too. I've had fans that required 25 screws just for the blades (two each to connect the five support arms to the motor, plus three each to secure the blade to the support arm). Then I've had others where the support arms came pre-installed and the blades snapped into place without requiring screws. Made a huge difference in installation time.

 

[allenwayne]

Has anyone seen the fan that has to be assembled from the box down?? Great big thing that has vertical blades on each end and a bazillion parts.
I did a warranty call for a guy that installed his own like this one, told me it took better part of a day for him to install.He was so proud he saved all that money !!!!!!

Well the call was for the switch not working for this fan.Sure enough it didn`t work the fan would not shut off.I asked him what wires did he hook up to.The black he answers (wired in 3 wire with the red switched)Reply was well you hooked it up wrong you needed to use the red wire.He looked at me and then the fan then at me then the fan.You mean I have to take it down and reconnect it the put it back up ???? (The canopy doesn`t drop on this fan) Yup !!!!!

Or you can pay me to fix it from down here.Pay you he answers,I`m not going to pay you.This is part of my warranty.Reply,you not knowing what you are doing is not part of your warranty.You hooked it up wrong not me.OK how much will it cost me he askes? Write me a check for $150.00 and I`ll fix it.So he writes me a check and hands it to me.

Open the single gang box,swap red and black from the 3 way on the switch close it up.Less than 5 minutes.Now he can`t see what I am doing. flip the switch works fine now.He gets irate and says no way am I going to pay you $150.00 for 5 min I`m stopping the check.Open the box back up swap them back closed it up and left him with a running fan.Wonder how long it took him to take that fan down and put it back up

 

[tmbrk]

I did a warranty call for a guy that installed his own like this one

I did a warranty call for a guy that installed his own like this one

How was that a warranty call if the guy installed the fan himself?

 

[allenwayne]

How was that a warranty call if the guy installed the fan himself?

The call he made to the shop was that the switch for his ceiling fan was not working.So he made a call for warranty.He was only in the house a month or so.That was my point it wasn`t a warranty call and I told him that.I didn`t want to argue so I put it back the way it was and left him with his attitude.

 

[JohnJ0906]

Good for you. It's not our job to fix a HO's screwup for free. And, yes, those fans are FUN to install! (No "better part of day" though)

 

[celtic]

I didn`t want to argue so I put it back the way it was and left him with his attitude.

LMAO. You left him with his attitude....funny.

 

[cowboyjwc]

Aww the difference in price is that you have guys working for you. No Thanks. Just a one man shop working most stuff T & M doing a lot of service work. Fan at $50 an hour times 3 hours, $150 dollars plus parts, reset a tripped breaker, free, amount of work I get in the future for resetting a breaker for free, priceless.

 

[emahler]

Aww the difference in price is that you have guys working for you. No Thanks. Just a one man shop working most stuff T & M doing a lot of service work. Fan at $50 an hour times 3 hours, $150 dollars plus parts, reset a tripped breaker, free, amount of work I get in the future for resetting a breaker for free, priceless.

if it were possible to actually quantify the amount of work that came from that free breaker reset, I would be interested...even if I was a one man operation, in this great state of New Jersey, I couldn't do it for $50/hr legitimately billed.

because in all honesty, it would cost me about $200 just to get out of bed in the morning if I were a 1 man operation. That's before I even saw a dime...

 

[cowboyjwc]

In a town of 100,000 I would guess that we have at least 30 electrical contractors and 10 times that many within a 30 minute drive.

You could probably have someone killed here for $200.

I'm always amazed that a guy will work for someone for someone for $600 a week, but as soon as they have their own business they've got to be making a $1000 a day or it's not worth the effort.

I can't tell you the thousands of dollars I've made by tripping a breaker for free. There are 100's of guys that will do it for a $50 service call.

 

[growler]

You could probably have someone killed here for $200.

I'm sure you could ( one of those sloppy drive-by killings ). If you want quality work it will still cost you real money.

 

[emahler]

In a town of 100,000 I would guess that we have at least 30 electrical contractors and 10 times that many within a 30 minute drive.

You could probably have someone killed here for $200.

I'm always amazed that a guy will work for someone for someone for $600 a week, but as soon as they have their own business they've got to be making a $1000 a day or it's not worth the effort.

I can't tell you the thousands of dollars I've made by tripping a breaker for free. There are 100's of guys that will do it for a $50 service call.

different markets...in a 15 sq mile area, we have about 500,000 people. it could easily take me 25 mins to get from one side to the other, and we are in the suburbs.

I think if you are working 40 for $600, then should at least take home $1200 for the 80 you work when you are the owner/installer/billkeeper/etc....

 

[cowboyjwc]

And that's fair. I figured the $600 @ $15 per hour and as an EC you should be making $50-60 an hour.

But we all moan about the handymen running around and doing work, but they're there because nobody wants to do the small jobs. I did a job for a local contractor one time then asked him to come over and hang a front door that I had bought. He flat told me that he wouldn't come over unless he was making at least $500. Want to guess how many people I recommended him to vs the guy who came over and hung the door?

How about the guys charging a $200 truck charge? Yes you've used some gas, but your insurance was going to be the same whether you drive it or it sits in the driveway.

 

[growler]

How about the guys charging a $200 truck charge? Yes you've used some gas, but your insurance was going to be the same whether you drive it or it sits in the driveway.

John, from public records I can see that you were in business from 1990 until 1992 ( California Contractors State License Board ).

If you made all that money flipping breakers for free and not charging a standard service call fee then why give it up to become an electrical inspector?

I see a lot of people that are not in the business talking about how high service rates are but I don't see a lot of really rich electrical contractors. What I have seen are legitimate and established companies going out of business because of unfair competition.

At least 4 out of 5 of the young electricains that try to start legitimate contracting businesses will fail in the first 10 years ( I'm being conservative ).

Sure rates appears high but I remember when you could get a new car for three thousand dollars. I had a dentist tell me the other days that he is paying $2500 a month just for health insurance ( only 60 years young ).

Count up your benefits & salary and see what you are really being paid.
( health insurance, social security/half, workman comp., unemployment insurance, sick days and holidays, any retirement programs, and through in your vacation ).. This is what you need to make plus overhead just to break even. See how far a $50 sevice call gets you. You haven't broke even.

I have respect for electrical inspectors ( they are needed) but they are not contractors. They are government employees and the government is not operating in the black these days. I don't like paying 50% of everything I make to the government ( add up all the taxes ).

Handymen don't pay your salary, legitimate, tax paying citizens do. These include contractors. They get that money by charging customers ( can't print it like the government). When you cash your paycheck just remember who's pocket it came out of.

( I'm in a bad mood I just got a check retured from a customer, darned realtor ).