Electric Panel Upgrades

Electric Panel Upgrades for Dallas and Surrounding Areas

Allstars Electric HVAC has been serving the electrical needs of the Wylie and Dallas area for over 28 years and we’ve seen our fair share of electric panels. Many are not made to last, and the burgeoning electricity needs of modern homes are often too much for these older models. When it comes to electric panel replacements, trust the best electricians in Texas!

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When Should I Upgrade My Electrical Panel?

If you have heard about electric panel upgrades and are wondering whether or not you need one, this information will help you make a decision.

There are 4 main reasons you should upgrade your panel:

The panel is too small and not keeping up with your electrical needs.
The panel is unsafe and is at risk of causing a fire or causing an electrical shock.
The panel is outdated and/or has lost its UL listing due to fire or safety hazards.
You Want A Panel That Can Support Solar Power.

What is an Electric Panel?

The best way to explain an electric panel is to compare it to a tree. Your panel is the trunk and the breakers are the branches. The electricity from the power company flows into the electric panel, which distributes the electricity to the various breakers much like the roots of a tree gather nutrients and water and go through the trunk and throughout the branches all the way to the smallest twigs. The electric panel moderates how much electricity flows to each branch. If too much power were to go through, wires would melt and it could possibly start a fire.

If you happened to touch a melted or damaged wire, you could receive an electric shock. The electric panel is designed to control the electricity flow to prevent such things from happening. One of the methods of stopping the excess electric flow is to trip a breaker or blow a fuse. It is absolutely essential to your safety that you have a properly functioning electric panel and circuit breakers that will trip should too much electricity start flowing.

It is important that your electric panel is big enough to handle the amount of electricity you need in the house. If you add a large appliance or something like an air conditioner, you may need a panel upgrade. The bigger panel is necessary to handle the extra electricity demand.

An electric panel may be called many different things. Below are the terms that are associated with electric panel:

Breaker box
Circuit breaker panel or box
Power breaker
Fuse box
Fuse board
Load center
Panel board
Electrical service
Residential service
Service panel
Main panel
Distribution board

Is My Panel too Small?

The best way to explain an electric panel is to compare it to a tree. Your panel is the trunk and the breakers are the branches. The electricity from the power company flows into the electric panel, which distributes the electricity to the various breakers much like the roots of a tree gather nutrients and water and go through the trunk and throughout the branches all the way to the smallest twigs. The electric panel moderates how much electricity flows to each branch. If too much power goes through, wires melt, sparks fly, and it could possibly start a fire.

It is important that your electric panel is big enough to handle the amount of electricity you need in the house. If you add a large appliance or something like an air conditioner, you may need an electrical panel upgrade. A bigger panel is necessary to handle the extra electricity demand.

An electric panel may be called many different things. Below are the terms that are associated with electric panels:

Breaker box
Circuit breaker panel or box
Power breaker
Fuse box
Fuse board
Load center
Panel board
Electrical service
Residential service
Service panel
Main panel
Distribution board

Is My Electrical Panel too Small?

There are a couple of things that will likely require you to upgrade your electric panel, or what is sometimes referred to as your service panel:

Adding an air conditioner
Adding a hot tub, spa, or pool
Renovating the kitchen with new appliances
Adding on additional rooms
Adding a home office
Putting in a new refrigerator
More people living in your home (ie, consuming more energy at once)
Breakers frequently tripping when you turn on an appliance
Panel sparking or smoking

Some older electric panels that were installed several decades ago have since been determined to be inadequate or unsafe. The following list includes some of the older panels that are known to be problematic.

Zinsco Electric Panels

Zinsco panels stopped being manufactured in the 1970s due to design flaws that resulted in circuit breakers melting and posing fire hazards. In some cases, the circuit breakers looked like they flipped, but were in fact still allowing power to flow.

Fuse Boxes

Fuse boxes are very outdated. In a fuse box, the electricity flowed through fuses. Unfortunately, fuses were only designed to handle 30 to 60 amps of power. In today’s world, our appliances require anywhere from 100 to 200 amps of electricity or more. Fuse boxes are likely to be overloaded often, and you may discover you are replacing fuses regularly.

Some may assume they can just use bigger fuses to compensate, but this is a dangerous choice. Using bigger fuses when the box was designed for smaller fuses can result in overloading and overheating. This can spark a fire. Another major risk with fuse boxes is that, while changing a fuse, you could accidentally stick your finger in the slot where the fuse goes and end up with a life-threatening electric shock.

Pushmatic Electric Panels

Pushmatic panels are known to be lacking a main breaker that allows you to cut power by flipping a single switch. The panels also have a problem with breakers tripping and not wanting to be reset. The breakers are likely weak and will not stay on.

Federal Pacific Electric Company Electric Panels

This is an extremely common electric panel, and millions were installed throughout the 1950s through the 1980s. The “Stab-Lok” panels have been proven to be flawed and can cause electrical shock or fire. According to the consulting engineer, Dr. Jesse Aronstein, “The presence of a Federal Pacific panel in a home should be classified as a ‘Safety Defect.’…There is no question but that the Federal Pacific Stab-Lok® panels should be replaced. There is no practical and safe alternative.”

Because the issue is so serious, the state of New Jersey brought a lawsuit against the company due to the lack of testing and safety violations in relation to the manufacture of these electric panels.

If you know you have one of these panels, give us a call to get an estimate to replace it. If you are not sure, call us and schedule a home safety inspection where we can tell you what kind of panel you have and if you need to upgrade or modify it for safety.

Electric Panel Upgrades