Hi,
I am buying a new home (being built) and the house comes with 100 amps electrical circuit, I want to put in a hot tub once the house is done but I read online and on this site that 100 amps might not be enough, is there a way to upgrade later on or should I ask the builder if they can do 200 amps right off the bat (not sure if they can since every single other builder is 100 amps as well)

Thanks

Hi,
I am buying a new home (being built) and the house comes with 100 amps electrical circuit, I want to put in a hot tub once the house is done but I read online and on this site that 100 amps might not be enough, is there a way to upgrade later on or should I ask the builder if they can do 200 amps right off the bat (not sure if they can since every single other builder is 100 amps as well)

Thanks
Most permanently installed hot tubs require a 30-60 amp 240 volt breaker for their electrical connection. Since you have 100 amps available on 100 amp service, a tub that requires a 50 amp breaker will use half of your available electric capacity. If your house is relatively small, has gas heat, hot water, and cooking, you may be able to squeeze a hot tub onto 100 amp service without causing the main breaker to shut off power, but if you have large electric appliances or a big house, the capacity certainly won't be enough.

Upgrading to 200 amp service requires the wire from the utility transformer (overhead line or underground line) to be increased in size, the electric meter to be replaced, and the main circuit panel to be upgraded. Doing these upgrades in an existing home could easily cost thousands of dollars (costs vary greatly based on location).

If you have a hot tub picked out, let us know its electrical requirements. If you let us know all the big electric appliances in your house (dryer, central a/c, electric stove, etc), there are members who can do service size calculations. I would be surprised if it came out that 100 amps is adequate though.

If you don't know what hot tub you're going to put in, I'd definitely go to 200 amp service. It gives you more options in the future and it will be much cheaper to have it done once than to have it upgraded.

It's going to be a townhouse with gas heating and gas kitchen stove I believe, the water heater is gas as well.
I am not sure of the hot tub but the ones I was looking at were 40-50a, when you said they need to change the underground wires, would that even be possible for me since it's a townhouse?

Need to know the total square foot of livable space, include any space that can be finished later,and a list of any major electric appliances and size of any air conditioning to size the service.

Since this is just in the building stage, the electrical contractor or builder should be consulted with the size of the hot tub so they dcan do the service rating calculations soon enough to be sure the incoming line is large enough to handle the added load or a larger service.

Whatever you decide, NOW is the time to do the upgrades. It could possibly save you thousands. I wouldn't consider a home these days with less than 200A service.

If you let the builder know that you're planning to install a hot tub, maybe you can even pay a little more and have the disconnect already wired and installed for where the tub will go. It doesn't hurt to ask how much they'd want to do that because it's a lot easier to put it in now than it is to put it in once all the walls are closed up.

That way, the builder would also need to be responsible for making sure that the incoming service with hot tub is adequate. I'd still verify that these calculations had been done though, because you never know when a builder is cutting corners.