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Comment by karaterobot | Hacker News Reader

Where are you getting the "few bucks"? Just the cost of the wire itself? Electricians cost a couple hundred bucks an hour. If the answer to that is "just learn how to wire your house yourself" then I'd say that is not a feasible solution for most people. If the answer is "no, I didn't mean rewire an existing house, I meant running wire in a new construction" then I'd say that is not a feasible solution for most people either.

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I think it's a few bucks, relative to the cost of a house. If you're paying for an electrician, you probably own the house. Compared to the cost of a house, a one-time visit by an electrician is a small amount.

And running wire in a house as it's being constructed is going to be far less expensive than doing it after the fact. I'd much rather add, for e.g., the ability to charge a car in the garage while the house is getting built, than after.

> Compared to the cost of a house, a one-time visit by an electrician is a small amount

Okay but can you fold the electrician's bill into your home loan ? No ? I thought not. It comes out of your current cash flow. Which might be hand-to-mouth for many people.

Yes. Construction loans include electrical.

Sure, the electrical that you know when you plan the house. But additional work later on too ?

Yes, you can get loans for home renovation if you so choose. Most people would just get in the attic and run the wire though, it's not actually that much work.

You need a power line to the switch and a separate power line to the fixture.

If this is rework or an addition, it's exactly as much work as just running a line between the switch and the fixture.

Perhaps. Both are more than most people want to do. I infer this from the existence of a professional class of electricians.

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