Replacing Your Electrical Panel Use A Licensed Electrician

Replacing your electrical panel is a good idea should you own or are purchasing an older home, especially in case you are planning to bring along a truckload of modern home equipment and electronics. The fuse box or circuit box that brings electricality into your own home will not be big enough to accommodate your lifestyle and will soon exhibit some telltale signs that call for a visit from a licensed electrician.

Signs You Should Consider Replacing Your Electrical Service Panel

Inadequate Power - To be able to accommodate the essential kitchen appliances, plus a home computer network, TVs, your HVAC system, and all other digital conveniences present in most fashionable properties, dwellingowners typically need about 200 amps of power servicing the home. Most electrical panels only have 100 amps, so if you wish to cost your cell phone, watch TV, and cook breakquick while you might be drying your hair, you will have a problem reminiscent of flickering lights or a tripped breaker or blown fuse.

Still have Fuses - You may still must consider replacing your electrical panel, even if you have no problems, when you still have fuses. Some older systems with fuses only have 60 amps coming to the house or could also be improperly wired. To prevent a fuse from blowing out when it is overloaded, some residenceowners put in larger fuses, which create a fire hazard. Circuit breaker systems are the safer route when replacing your electrical panel.

Age of Electrical Panel - Electrical panels are supposed to last 20 to 30 years, so an upgrade is usually necessary on a house that is older than that. It's best to have one circuit breaker or fuse for each wire or circuit to be in line with trendy building codes.

Prices of Changing Your Electrical Panel

Typically, if you upgrade service, the facility company will bring new wires from the pole, add a new meter, and run any new wires to your essential panel without cost to you; but, your electrician has to take some steps earlier than and after the upgrade. Changing your electrical panel is usually a costly endeavor for several reasons:

Relying on the area of the country, wage rates for electricians vary.
Work permits and electrician licensing charges mandated by local law also vary.
The amount of work it takes to remove the old box and put in a new one can affect costs, particularly if it is hard to access or requires demolition and replacement of partitions, floors, or baseboards.
Changing the panel can uncover other problems, comparable to obsolete wiring, that add to the cost. This can be true if the work is done in conjunction with remodeling.
When all costs are considered, the project for upgrading the panel may range from $900 to over $four,000. While there isn't a way to estimate the price of panel replacement without a licensed electrician evaluating your particular situation, you can request a number of estimates from different electricians. The estimate should be detailed sufficient for you to get an understanding of the steps mandatory in the upgrade.

Using a Licensed Electrician

Changing your electric panel isn't a job for amateurs. Once you make a choice on which electrician to use, make certain to consider workmanship, quality of materials, and the extensiveness of the job, as broken out on the estimate. The supplies alone for the job are expensive, so you don't want to waste supplies on a job that shall be unsafe or fail to pass local codes.

Changing your electrical panel can be a smart, and safe, decision based on the age of your own home and your energy consumption.