The Electrical Trap That Costs Homeowners Thousands in Change Orders

William Reid: [: 00:00:00

We're going to continue on with the World of Design Series in The Awakened Homeowner podcast episode here, and we're going to be talking about how an electrical engineer could be used for a project. You don't necessarily have to use an electrical engineer on your project, but the larger and more complex a project is, the more you may want to consider using an electrical engineer. Otherwise, you would depend on your architectural designer to do all of your electrical, lighting, and power plans.

-series, The Doctors of Your [: 00:01:00

Okay, we're back up in the studio here, still in the outdoor studio. It's August of 2025 on the shores of Lake Almanor and we're in our miniseries called The Doctors of Our Home. If you went to the previous episode, I opened that up with the structural engineer. That is the bones of your home.

ook the aspect of electrical [: 00:02:00

And often this is what happens, and it goes back to that term I've used in the past episodes called the permit push, and what happens with electrical and lighting design on a custom home project or even a remodel project is a design professional often will just provide what is like the standard electrical and lighting design, for example.

e same thing can happen with [: 00:03:00

They don't really understand or realize the importance of paying attention to this. So what happens often is the plan set gets submitted for a building permit. Plans are issued to subcontractors such as an electrician to price out the project and the permit is issued. The project begins, and one day you walk into your project and start looking at your home that's being built or remodeled and see an electrician there just putting plugs in wherever they want, switches, where they want for the lighting based on the plans that you haven't really paid attention to.

o go through a whole list of [: 00:04:00

So that is one of the instigators of inadequate electrical and lighting design is the permit push. Just trying to get the permit cranked out so that we can just keep moving along. Okay.

natural gas or propane gas, [: 00:05:00

This is a pretty common problem. So where new homes are often built with a 200 amp service, for example, from your utility company. I wouldn't be surprised if you were building a three to four, 5,000 square foot custom home that your electrical service may need to be 400 amps, which can trigger upgrades that your utility company has to provide.

transformer location to your [: 00:06:00

It is not uncommon in urban environments and suburban environments that one transformer feeds more than one property owner. So as you can see, this can get quite complicated if you start to get into a home that's consuming a lot of power. Now it could be that you're going with an all electric solution for your design of your home, but not necessarily, it just could be purely the size of the home and the equipment that you want.

can eliminate some of these [: 00:07:00

Some have, even the older, real old homes haven't even have even less than that. But one thing you need to be aware of is that even if you're doing a typical interior remodel of a kitchen and a couple bathrooms, or you're expanding your home and doing a kitchen and bathrooms and doing a remodel project, it's pretty likely that you'll have to upgrade your electrical service to a 200 amp service minimum.

amp [: 00:08:00

So these are the things that have to be considered very early on. And one of the big reasons is because if you do have to upgrade your electrical service, that's an application process with the utility company. And in my experience, that can take months. Several months maybe sometimes even a year depending on the jurisdiction that you're in.

So understanding the electrical lighting design and power design early on, understanding if you're going to need to upgrade your electrical service early on, positions you best to obtain accurate prices and get your project started on time. So let's move into what we call load calculations that help you determine this.

right, so load calculations [: 00:09:00

That could be your kitchen appliances, all of your lighting, special equipment that you may desire, such as a shop environment or special heating and ventilation equipment, water heating equipment, anything that's going to be drawing power from the grid is what's analyzed by an electrical engineer or a qualified electrician.

ly, you don't care. What you [: 00:10:00

So they do an analysis and there's a discount factor. So obviously you're not going to have every single appliance turned on at the same time in a home. The likeliness of that, or very low. So they have a factor and then they determine the size of the electrical service that's needed for the home.

y on for your budget clearly [: 00:11:00

But here's a story for you. So I had a project in the Bay Area where we were doing a significant residential remodel expansion, adding a cabana out on by the pool, adding a pool, adding all kinds of elements to the project, and we were really pushing the limits of an existing 200 amp service. And then the owner decided to upgrade the pool equipment to electric heat pump system, which draws a lot more power.

truction, which is the worst [: 00:12:00

Sure enough, we did an electrical load calculation and it wasn't adequate. What that triggered was an application process with the local utility provider. In this case it's Pacific Gas and Electric, which was quite frankly, a nightmare. And it took, gosh, I think it took a year to get it all processed and through maybe even longer, we were able to continue on the project from a construction aspect, fortunately, but at one point we got to a point where we couldn't really do much more until we were able to upgrade the service further compounding, it was an underground service [00:13:00] underneath driveways and neighboring properties and streets and all kinds of things, and.

This is an example of somewhat of a nightmare case and I think it ended up costing the property owner another $50,000, if I remember right, by the time everything was said and done. Landscaping, ripping up, brand new landscaping, putting it back in, things like that. So you can see not thinking about all of this stuff ahead of time and not planning properly is really detrimental to a project.

Now this is that old hindsight's 20/20, but in this case, it's possible that we could have caught some of these things. The load calculation is really important so that you can then go back and check your existing service, make sure it's adequate.

design process or a thorough [: 00:14:00

And then, is my existing service adequate for my new design? Related to that, where are the power utilities located, is that indicated on the plan somewhere so that everybody can have a reference point of how far they're going to have to trench or draw a new line. Will the existing power company equipment service my needs?

is to try to make you aware, [: 00:15:00

Okay, so now that you understand that there's some moving targets, I call them with the, just the main service coming into your property, let's talk about some of the things that you're going to want to consider during the design process when the electrical and lighting and power plan stage comes up, and this is what, why we're talking about it today, is should you hire an electrical engineer for the project or should you hire your architect to do an electrical lighting design for your project?

there is, it's a large, very [: 00:16:00

There's a lot of different, very specific power requirements that the homeowner has declared they want to integrate solar, they want to integrate smart electrical panels. They have an all electric home electric water heating systems with heat pumps and it can get quite complicated, but for the most part, people use their architects for the electrical lighting and power design and often that can work out fine as long as the architect is comfortable in doing that, so in the power systems, we've already talked about what your plans and understanding what service you have to work with, which will inform your design decisions on how much you want to do for example, I had one client that had a nice two acre parcel that was going to design a 4,000 square foot home with a pool cabana [00:17:00] and a separate detached garage with an office and a full on shop with a lot of woodworking equipment in it.

That drew a lot of power. As we went through the design and got everything down on paper for him, we realized that the service to the property is not going to be adequate. And we discovered this early on. This is prudent planning, and we actually ended up having to upgrade the power to the property to a 600 amp service, which is not very common.

ral power receptacles in the [: 00:18:00

And the ceilings, things that, that you know, that you would want and locations where you want for your special needs, such as home offices and workshops and your charging stations and where you're going to plug in the curling iron and the blow dryer. All these little things that you care about.

h everything that's required [: 00:19:00

You'll also want to be picking out all of your kitchen appliances. All your bar appliances, anything that is going to be an electrical appliance for the home, because those draw power and you're going to need to indicate what make and models those are. So you'd be working with your interior designer or your architect specifying all of those appliances and getting them listed out for the architect or the electrical engineer to include so when they do the load calculations that they are accurate.

g those locations determined [: 00:20:00

If you're planning to do a solar panel system, you're going to want to declare that to your architect or your electrical engineer because that is going to require certain design aspects to include in the electrical, lighting and power plan, so understanding that backup systems, backup generators. Whether it's a natural gas or propane fire generator system, or if it's a combination of the solar and battery backup system, this is important for everyone to know early on that's what you desire, because that will directly impact the electrical and power design.

today's days, you just open [: 00:21:00

For example, one of those breakers in the panel will turn off your oven or your microwave or your bathroom outlets. Smart panels are the same concept except that you're able to operate your electrical panel from your mobile phone using an application that aligns with the product that you would use.

And the reason this is important now. It is because some of these smart panels require additional space to get all of the components into it. In some cases, they require double the space than a regular panel to get all of the components into an adequate sized panel so that you can monitor it through your phone.

le to understand where power [: 00:22:00

So from a power standpoint, so in the electrical design of your project, the e and MEP, mechanical, electrical, plumbing. There are certain components in the electrical, there is the power components, right? And that's what we just talked about is everything that you know, that you specifically would like to have, whether it's an appliance, a location of an outlet, or one other thing is anything that you think you might want in the future.

to put a pool in later. Or a [: 00:23:00

You can design the electrical service accordingly so that when you go to do that project, you're not going to have to pay double to rip all that out, put a new panel in, upgrade the service then. So be thinking about the future of what you may want to include on your property. This is a really important one because I've done this where we've completed a project and then a couple years later we go back.

ize that enough. Okay. Let's [: 00:24:00

Now we're going to move into the lighting aspect. One of the things about the lighting is this sometimes can take a special designer, depending on the level of project that you're doing, and depending on what your requirements are and how specific you are. You may want to consider just specifically a lighting designer.

So if your architect is doing your e plan, your electrical plan for the plan set, but you are really particular on your lighting and you, let's say you have a lot of artwork, you want to do a lot of exterior illumination and features and things like that. You may want to think about a specific lighting designer.

Some interior designers are qualified as lighting designers, but the higher end of the project, the more you want to consider a actual certified lighting designer for a project.

[: 00:25:00

And you as a homeowner don't really know that necessarily. So a qualified lighting designer are the people that know that, and architects know that too. So this is just one example of where lighting can really make your life miserable. Proper [00:26:00] art lighting is really important as well. The spacing off the walls, the type of devices, the type of fixtures that you use.

e, you may see on light bulbs: 2700

What are the variables out there? If you go with a 3,500 Kelvin light color, we'll call it, that's going to be neutral, maybe a little on the warmer side, three thousands, even warmer, 27 hundreds, even yellow warmer. So [00:27:00] be aware of that and understand that there are options for you. So the locations of the lighting, the type of the fixtures that'll be built into your home is really important because you could walk into your new home on Monday with the keys in your hand and everything's yellow.

And it's because you weren't made aware. You didn't know, and now you've got a whole bunch of light fixtures that are the wrong color. Now here's something that's interesting though. A lot of the recessed lighting fixtures now that you see these days have a little switch inside them and you can change the color right there, which is really cool.

be physically located in the [: 00:28:00

And then where those locations are, which one controls which because. As in a lot of homes, there's multiple devices, multiple switches, controlling different zones of lighting. And a good architect, a good lighting designer, will specify which switches do which zones, and then they will walk it through with you to make sure that works with your lifestyle.

There's a lot of different things to consider and, specialty lighting is another one that if you're not made aware you may not realize what you're missing. Under cabinet lighting, it sounds simple and almost a standard nowadays, but under cabinet lighting in the kitchen is really important for your task lighting, especially when you have the shadows from the improperly placed light fixtures. Some of the cabinetry out these days will do a nice integrated LED strip already built into the cabinet, which is the cleanest look that you can get.

f the closet and you call it [: 00:29:00

Attic and crawlspace lighting, if that's not a requirement, so therefore the minimal electrical plan that doesn't have any of that. But how much does it really cost to run lighting inside the attic? Just basic lighting so that when you go to work in your attic or a technician comes to work in your attic, they flick a switch and the whole attic space is lit up. To me, that's a really smart thing to do, but if you're not aware of that's even a possibility.

of hiring a qualified either [: 00:30:00

Or engaging with your architect to make sure that these things are really being thought of, that you can try to improve the quality of your life as much as possible with lighting. The, coordinating lighting design with everything else that goes on in a project is really important.

And this is a big part of an architect's job, and what I'm talking about is when you look up at your ceiling and you see your pendant lights hanging down over your island and you have, maybe you have speakers mounted in there and you have fire sprinkler systems, and then you have fire sprinkler heads, I should say.

s called a reflected ceiling [: 00:31:00

And they're coordinating between the plumber, sometimes the electrical engineer, the mechanical HVAC design. I didn't even mention that. Where ducts are coming through, the structural engineer where beams could be where you can't put a fixture or get through a beam with a wire. The coordination aspect of electrical and lighting design with all the other components is really important and should not be overlooked when it comes time to analyze the project.

l you be coordinating all of [: 00:32:00

There's one other element I don't want to forget to mention, and that is specifying the lighting fixtures for the project now. Often an interior designer will help you with specifying the lighting fixtures. And the reason that is, is because it's usually coordinated with some of the other finishes throughout the project, the interior style, the architectural style.

ing, any of the chandeliers, [: 00:33:00

The reason this is important is because the location of where these fixtures go. It is often relative to the shape and style the fixtures. So for example, if you have a light fixture in the vanity that comes off the wall and sticks up versus off the wall and sticks down, that could directly affect the height.

cian should put the fixture. [: 00:34:00

Now I say that, but it's not very often. I would say it's more often than not that you don't see any of that stuff. You don't see the measurements on the drawing, and that can cause a lot of aggravation for people because light fixtures often get placed in the wrong place.

So the moral, the story there and the lighting design is. Have all of your lighting fixtures specified for the project so that everybody is empowered to do a really good job and doesn't have to redo things as they work their way through installing the rough electrical on the project.

n is done, it can affect the [: 00:35:00

So if you're going to think about doing solar power integration to your home, here's a couple things that I want you to remember and to be asking your architect. Number one is solar power mandated by my project. There's a lot of jurisdictions now that are requiring a certain amount of solar power on a roof for a project. That's a first one to figure out. Okay. And does the solar power system affect the load calculations of the project? In other words, does it reduce the load calculations for a project?

at's not really how it works [: 00:36:00

A lot of people do install backup generators, especially in rural areas. And actually in suburban areas now too. Because the power grid can be somewhat undependable in certain areas, but the point is. That if you're going to be thinking about either backup generator or battery backup system, this requires design. It requires space for the battery systems. It requires future space for future expansion.

is you have to bring in, or [: 00:37:00

And between those three people there, they will design the proper system, the space for, the equipment that you'll, that you're going to be needing. Here's one interesting one is during the architectural design meaning designing the structure itself, if you know you're going to be doing solar, this could affect the actual design of the home.

at in early on in the design [: 00:38:00

It is also interesting to know if you're going to be doing a solar power system because the structural engineer may be interested in that. Although solar panels don't usually add that much of an additional load to a building, it's still important for you to understand, especially in the snow country.

If you're having solar panels up there and it's retaining even more snow than normal or whatever that nec, that may not necessarily be the case, but the structural engineer will be interested to know if you're going to be putting solar and may do something a little bit different on the roof framing structures.

ay across that plane, you've [: 00:39:00

It always tends to lead to compromises or at least thoughtful design so that you can have a skylight, every third panel or something if you get what I'm talking about.

All right, we're working our way through this. We've talked about the E of MEP, we've talked about, you thinking about it from the perspective of how you want to use your home and where you think you want special needs when it comes to the power. We've talked about the lighting and we've talked about all the intricacies there and understanding the fixtures that you need and who's going to be working with you.

Could be an electrical engineer, an architect, and maybe even an interior designer working on the project. Usually orchestrated by your architect. If you're an owner builder. And you'll be playing orchestrator through all of that. But let's talk about when to hire an electrical consultant versus letting your architect do the project.

Now, [: 00:40:00

But if you start to work your way into smart home integration all of the lighting controls, all the fancy home automation stuff now you're starting to, get outside those bounds. Now what you can do is you can still have your architect master the whole electrical lighting plan.

architect and hire somebody [: 00:41:00

And you're getting into more sophisticated equipment because it's all electric and it's a home over 4,000 square feet, you really may want to think about. Entertaining an electrical engineer as part of the MEP consultants for the project, mechanical, electrical plumbing and have them work with your architect and your other designers on the project.

n this last estate project I [: 00:42:00

So you have four actual people involved in a large size project all the way down to just one person. If it's a, say you're building a 2,500 square foot basic home where you don't have a lot of personal requirements, your architect can just crank that out for you probably and be satisfied. You can still tell them where you want plugs and outlets and switches so you don't have to go too crazy with it.

to mine? Now the reason you [: 00:43:00

And that's good for you to know because then you can ask questions like, or is that somebody that I need to be interacting with? Or will we just work on it together? Okay. And then another one is, do you work with qualified electrical contractors during design? So are we bringing in an electrical contractor to consult with on the project?

I haven't mentioned this earlier, but sometimes the people that actually install the systems have some of the best input for a project because they've seen the result. They've seen a lot of results. They've seen more results than architects have because they're just thinking about it. They're servicing multiple architects, multiple general contractors and home builders.

ly on is not a bad idea. And [: 00:44:00

Does the electrical contractor consultant. Electrical contractor, they bring in, does the electrical design, who handles that and who's thinking about that early on, especially if you're building a more complex project. And then what's your experience with solar integration. So most architects don't deal with that. They just bring somebody in., But again you're laying the groundwork. You're letting them know that you're thinking about this stuff and that you're going to want it addressed on the project.

t or do we need any of that? [: 00:45:00

And that leads me to one kind of, not warning, but just something that you should know, electrical. Engineers or agencies, we'll call them. So there's a lot of agencies that specialize in mechanical, electrical, and plumbing, MEP, and they're usually agencies and often they have dedicated people for each of those MEP trades.

You can also find individuals that just focus on electrical individuals that just focus on mechanical, but it's probably best to use an agency because they're all communicating and talking to each other. But one thing I want you to be aware of is that a lot of MEP agencies do a lot of commercial work, institutional work.

ency that is specific, or at [: 00:46:00

Sometimes using commercial oriented MEP agencies, you'll get a lot of commercially solutions, which can be expensive, unnecessary, and. Frankly not really suited best for residential construction. So I want to call that to your attention. So those are some of the things that you need to be aware of the options that you have in hiring people to get your electrical, lighting and power design done for your project.

ven if you just do a cursory [: 00:47:00

All right, here's some practical action steps based on all of this information I've just bombarded you with as you're thinking about doing your project. Or maybe you're right in the middle of design. During the design phase, existing service assessment determine current electrical service size, what is it? Just get the baseline down. Assess the condition of existing electrical infrastructure. So understanding the service size that you have now, which you can easily do by looking at your service panel. And usually there's a little main breaker that says 200, 100. And then understanding the equipment that's servicing your property now that you may have to communicate with the utility company.

you can understand what your [: 00:48:00

Where do you charge devices? How do you use each room? What appliances must you have? How do you entertain and be thinking about the future, what future plans would I like to be able to do with my home as I live in it and come up with more and more ideas? Complete design before load calculation.

So once you have the design down, specify all of the desired appliances and equipment. Include the HVAC lighting and power requirements, and don't leave anything to figure out later. The idea is to get it all down on paper within your design. Now your architect's going to be doing this for you. You are just going to be sharing what you want.

gner or electrical engineer, [: 00:49:00

And if you can't, then do you upgrade the service or you revise your design? This is all stuff done during design, by the way, not during construction, which. I think a larger percentage of people actually do, and that's when you hear people complaining all over the place, oh, I blew my budget, I blew my budget.

My electrician's charging me more and more, and more and more. I bet you it's a lot of, it's not the electrician's fault. I bet you it's the inadequate design. It's the inadequate service. There's all kinds of other variables that can be mitigated, and that's what we're talking about today.

n the first design meetings. [: 00:50:00

Consider solar for requirements, plan for smart home infrastructure. Coordinate with other mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. What that means is perhaps you're going to be doing an electric heat pump water heater system. That takes power. Perhaps you're going to be doing all electric HVAC, no gas. That takes power.

ask the questions, and your [: 00:51:00

Now, really good architects and designers will prompt you with all this stuff, but we're not going to count on that right now. We're getting you informed so that if you feel like you're not getting prompt, you're able to ask the right questions. So let's go back to questions one more time. What's our current electrical service size and condition?

How are you calculating our electrical load? What's our current utility capacity versus what we'll need? Have we include all our desired appliances in the load calculation? That's a big one because sometimes things get left off. How are electrical, lighting and other systems being coordinated? So that means with the mechanical.

we all allocating dedicated [: 00:52:00

What will utility upgrades cost if needed? Now, they may not know the exact answer to that, but it's something that people with experience, especially electrical contractors, if you've engaged one early, they're going to be able to answer that question for you. Can our existing service support our complete design, or do we need to modify our plans?

So that's just related to all the previous questions before, but these are the ones that need to be asked because guess what? Who's left holding the bag? When everybody's appeased you and given you exactly what you want and you've got this beautifully designed home and pool and spa and banya and everything, and then all of a sudden the power's not adequate, guess who's holding the bag?

electrical service, that may [: 00:53:00

Of everybody else cause you've already ordered all your refrigerators and now they're going to come knocking with a $50,000 change order. It's about empowering you, right? Remember those principles enlighten, empower, and protect you so that you can still make informed decisions by being in the driver's seat.

That's what we're trying to accomplish here. So let's keep in mind that. The electrical trade for a project is often one of the most expensive beyond, the actual construction foundation framing of the project. And it could be well into eight to 12% of the cost of a project.

to [: 00:54:00

So this is one of the cost categories that we don't really want to mess with. And then if you start having to add. Utility upgrades that can totally blow that out of the water. And then, you could spend two to 5%, maybe even more on the home automation aspect of a project. And solar systems can cost you, 15 to.

$200,000 if you're going to do a really high end solar system with the best battery backup systems in the world. For the most part, 15 to $40,000 for solar, solar systems. So let's wrap this up. Electrical design is about lifestyle optimization, not just meeting code, right?

[: 00:55:00

Coordinating between electrical, solar, and low voltage. Your home automation is critical. The right time to address electrical is during design, not construction. You'll still have changes in construction guaranteed. And your involvement in electrical planning prevents scope creep and budget disasters.

This is just one more of those things that you can do. To put yourself in the driver's seat so you're not one of those people on Facebook groups bitching and moaning about how your budget's blown because your electrician keeps charging you or more so remember, great electrical design is invisible.

never think about it because [: 00:56:00