← All use cases · Plumbing, HVAC & trades
Send AI the photos, videos and wire-run lengths from a walkthrough and get a draft estimate to paste into your system
Ryan, owner of Nexus Electrical Services, a one-man electrical company in California, on The Electrician Growth Podcast
When he estimates a job, he takes pictures or videos and notes how long the run is going to be and what it's for. He gives the AI those photos and videos, says he needs an estimate and where the job is, asks what the competitive price is for the area, and the AI drafts an estimate that he copies into his system and sends to the customer. He also asks it code questions on the job, such as how close to a box EMT has to be strapped. The podcast doesn't name the AI tool.
ChatGPT Free $0; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo · Claude $17/mo billed annually ($20 monthly); free plan available (his tool isn't named; photo and video upload limits are lower on free plans)
Medium · or we do it from $149/mo
Varies
The problem
Writing up every estimate by hand after a site visit takes time a solo electrician doesn't have.
What happened
He says it saves a ton of time compared with writing up an estimate on his own. No time or price-accuracy figures are given. Self-reported.
Quoted in the source: Ryan, owner, Nexus Electrical Services. Source: The Electrician Growth Podcast EP 10: How I Went From Washing Dishes to Owning an Electrical Business (2026-09-09) · Added 2026-10-18.
How to set it up yourself
- What Nexus Electrical Services does: after a walkthrough, the owner gives an AI tool his photos, videos, the run lengths and what the circuit is for, asks for an estimate for that location, and pastes the draft into his estimating system before sending it. The podcast doesn't name the tool; ChatGPT and Claude both take photos.
- Write your own price list first: your hourly rate, minimum charge, markup on materials and your standard prices for common jobs (EV charger, panel swap, circuit add). Paste it into a ChatGPT or Claude project's instructions so the draft uses your numbers.
- On site, take photos of the panel, the route and the end point, and note run length, wire size and anything unusual. In the truck, upload them with the prompt below.
- Check every quantity and line item against what you saw before it goes into your system. Don't take the AI's 'area price' as fact: it has no live market data, so treat it as a sanity check against your own price list, never as the price.
Copy-paste prompt
Draft an estimate for {COMPANY NAME}, an electrical contractor in {CITY}. Attached: photos of the panel, route and location. Job: {WHAT THE CUSTOMER WANTS, e.g. 240V circuit for an EV charger in the garage}. Run length: {FEET}. My price list, rate and markup are in the project instructions; use only those. Give: scope of work in plain words, a materials list with quantities, labor hours, line-item prices, total, what's excluded, and anything I should check on site before I send it (permits, panel capacity, access).The $39 Plumbing & HVAC AI Starter Kit has ready-to-use call scripts, missed-call texts, estimate follow-ups and review templates, built from 18 real, sourced setups. Instant download, 30-day refund.
One short email a day: 3 new AI use cases from real small businesses, each with its source and setup steps, plus a Tool of the Day. Free, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Rather not do it yourself?
We'll set this up in your tools, in your voice, tested. $149/mo with setup included (6-month minimum), or $497 pay-once. Satisfaction guarantee: we'll fix it until it works. Pay-once setups: or we refund your setup fee. $149/mo plan: cancel in the first 30 days and we refund your first month. Terms. We reply within 1 business day.
Get this set upRelated for Plumbing, HVAC & trades
Use an AI assistant for a landscaping company's estimates, messages and marketing
The owner uses an AI assistant he calls 'Willy' to plan routes and track projects, write and translate client messages and estimates, ske…
ChatGPTAnswer client texts in your own voice, just faster, with AI
He pastes a client's text and his own rough reply into AI and asks for a tighter, clearer version; he also used AI to structure maintenan…
ChatGPTBuild siding and window estimates with ChatGPT before buying estimating software
He used ChatGPT to build estimates, then turned that workflow into his own web app that reads measurement files and generates estimates.
ChatGPTRunning something like this in your business? Submit your use case and we'll credit you with a link.
Get 3 new AI use cases every morning
One email every morning: 3 new AI use cases from real small businesses, each linked to its source, plus a Tool of the Day. Free. No spam, unsubscribe anytime. Privacy