Electrical panel upgrade and replacement means swapping out your home's breaker box for a new one with greater capacity, updated safety features, or both. Older panels – especially those rated for 60 or 100 amps – often can't handle the electrical demand of a modern household running multiple large appliances, HVAC systems, and increasingly, EV chargers, and some older panel brands have known safety issues that make replacement a priority regardless of capacity.
Signs you need a panel upgrade include breakers that trip repeatedly, especially when running multiple appliances at once, a panel that's still using fuses instead of breakers, visible rust, scorch marks, or a burning smell near the panel, a panel brand known for safety recalls or issues, like certain older Federal Pacific or Zinsco panels, or simply planning a major addition like a new HVAC system, hot tub, or EV charger that your current panel wasn't sized to support.
We start by assessing your current panel's condition, amperage rating, and any code deficiencies, along with your household's actual and anticipated power demand. Replacement means safely disconnecting power, removing the old panel, and installing a new one properly sized for your home – commonly upgrading to 200 amps for most modern households, sometimes more for larger homes or those planning significant future electrical loads. We handle the permit and inspection process, since panel work always requires this, and we make sure every existing circuit is properly connected and labeled in the new panel before restoring power and testing the full system.
Cost depends on the amperage upgrade you need, whether your electrical meter or service entrance also needs updating to support the new panel, and any code-related work uncovered during the upgrade. Homes in Bigfork, MT with older electrical services sometimes need utility company coordination as part of the upgrade, which we'll walk you through.
An outdated or undersized panel limits what you can safely run in your home. Call (818) 276-9035 for an assessment.
