What to charge to install whole-house surge protector at panel
This is a wiring job priced by the run: distance, access and what the walls are hiding. Figure about 1.25 hours on a Normal run, with roughly $160 of material at contractor cost before markup. At a $120/hour shop rate - the worked example we use across this site - the flat-rate math for "install whole-house surge protector at panel" comes out like this:
| Easy | everything cooperates: good access, sound wiring, no surprises | $320 |
| Normal | the typical version of this job in an occupied home | $350 |
| Hard | poor access, aged or altered wiring, extra protection or staging | $405 |
Same math: hours x grade x your rate, plus material at 25% markup, rounded up to $5. Don't know your rate? Find it free in two minutes.
What makes this job Easy or Hard
Circuit work is priced by the path. Easy is an open path: unfinished basement or attic, joists you can see, a straight shot from the panel. Normal adds some finished space, a few penetrations and ordinary drilling. Hard is fished runs through insulated walls, two-story pulls, masonry, or a panel at the far corner of the house from the load. The amperage matters less than people think - a 50A range circuit is mostly the same labor as a 20A circuit plus heavier cable that fights you in every hole. Add time for crowded panels where making up the home run neatly takes care, and for houses where every stud bay has blocking. Patching drywall is its own trade: price wiring with small, neat access holes and put patch and paint in writing as excluded or as a separate line. When the run is longer than you can verify, quote the accessible version and grade up on site with the customer watching.
Don't forget
State whether drywall patching is included. The cheapest way to lose the profit on a fished run is to silently absorb the patching and painting.
Questions
Why is there a price range instead of one number?
The run sets the price. Fifty feet across an open basement is Easy; the same fifty feet fished through insulated finished walls on two floors is Hard, at the same hourly rate.
Does a bigger breaker mean a much bigger price?
Not proportionally. Heavier cable costs more and is slower to pull, which the material line and grade reflect, but the labor is priced by the path, not the amps.
Related circuits & wiring prices
- What to charge to add 20a dedicated circuit (up to 50 ft accessible run) - $500 Normal
- What to charge to add 20a dedicated circuit (fished through finished walls) - $715 Normal
- What to charge to add 240v 30a circuit for dryer or shop tool - $660 Normal
- All 75 flat-rate task prices
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