You may need more breaker space if you have an older home in the greater Seattle area or are adding large electronic items. Fischer Electric's journeyman electricians can upgrade your electrical panel to increase circuit capacity while maximizing safety, ensuring your home complies with code requirements and enjoys uninterrupted power.
Contact us to discuss electrical panel installations, upgrades, and repairs, or schedule your service appointment with one of our Seattle electricians.
Electrical Panel Upgrades, Repairs & Installations
If your current electrical panel is outdated in an older home, it's time for an upgrade to meet modern safety standards. With the installation of new appliances, the demand for additional circuits becomes essential, ensuring your electrical system can support the latest technologies. Upgrading not only enhances safety by addressing cramped and loose wire connections but also leads to potential savings on homeowners insurance and reduced electrical bills. Moreover, boosting the re-sale value of your home becomes a compelling reason to make this strategic improvement. Invest in the future of your home by upgrading your electrical panel today.
Signs It's Time to Upgrade Your Electrical Panel
Your electrical service panel links your home's electrical components and ties them together to run efficiently. If the circuit breakers trip frequently or your panel is more than 20 years old, consider an upgrade.
Keep an eye out for a few specific service panels that have safety issues. An FPE panel, or Federal Pacific Electric panel, has a safety defect and should be replaced. Another defective panel is called a Zinsco panel. Their breakers can actually melt! A Pushmatic panel is known to have a breaker switch that can be more difficult to reset as it ages. Finally, a fuse box is the oldest category and can only handle up to 60 amps. Fuse boxes present a risk of electrical fire and electrocution and must be replaced.
How much does it cost to upgrade your electrical panel?
This varies depending upon the amps. For example, 100 amps would be a cheaper electrical panel upgrade than a 400 amp upgrade, potentially by as much as 25%. Fischer's experienced electricians can inspect your current electrical setup and advise on the need for an upgrade. For some homes in the greater Seattle, WA area, our electricians can do virtual assessments. Our estimates are always free.
Primary Electrical Panel Types
The most common. This panel controls the electricity to different rooms and areas in your home. This can be used to cut electrical power to your house. Main breaker panels are categorized based on different amperages and capacities for the number of circuits.
A fuse box prevents circuits from overloading. Fuses will short out when an excess amount of electrical current flows through them. Fuse boxes are a type of electrical panel that are found in older homes, typically those built up to the end of the 1970s.
A specific type of sub-electrical panel that transfers power from a generator into the breaker panel. This provides a home to have backup electrical power wired into the home's main electrical panel, thus creating a seamless transition from utilizing utility service electrical power to a backup generator power source. This setup is helpful in the event of a power outage.
A type of electrical panel that takes power from a main panel through a circuit. These panels do not have a dedicated disconnect, but they allow a home to modify the distribution of electrical currents through the home.
This type is primarily used as a distribution panel in a system that includes a main breaker.
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What Our Customers Have To Say ...
"Waleed did extensive electrical work for our basement remodel. He reduced the number of junction boxes in the ceiling, solving a problem that would have been unsightly. He found problems with old electrical and helped us bring it up to code. Great work! We appreciate that he identifies problems and finds solutions. He demonstrates a commitment to the final product. He is thoughtful and takes initiative." - Danesh M.
"We had great experience! Hired Fischer Electric on multiple jobs and they have always been helpful. Trust them with any Commercial or Residential projects." - Ben G.
"Fischer Electric was very professional and great to work with. Their rates are very competitive with other services in the area but don’t skip on quality.
Our technician Waleed was extremely friendly and a pleasure to work with. He quickly understood what work we wanted to have done and offered several options to best meet our goals. He worked all day and was very courteous to us and conscious of working around our 1 year old son. We would use Fischer Electric and Waleed again." - Alex H.
"Very appreciative to Dave and Ben for the work they performed on the property I manage. They were very diligent in providing the necessary lighting and additional circuits needed that allowed us to plug in block heaters for our trucks." - Garry B.