Electrical upgrades can take several forms, depending on your needs, and the age of the equipment. If your home is more than 25 years old and the electrical panel is original, your electrical panel may need to be replaced. Typically, a panel’s estimated lifetime is 25-40 years1. If you are planning an addition, or increased electrical load because of new equipment such as a pool, you may require a capacity upgrade.
Capacity Upgrades
If you home or business needs to expand electrical usage, ask your electrician to perform a load calculation. A load calculation can determine if your current system can safely handle increased load. Common sources of increased electrical load include adding a heat pump or central air conditioning, an Electric Vehicle Charger, arc welder, a garage, outbuildings, pool or spa. We enjoy solving problems, and will work with you to develop creative solutions to expand capacity without unnecessary equipment replacement. When needed, we can install a new service entrance or upgrade your existing service by working with your utility provider to secure permission for upgraded capacity to your home or business.
Safety Upgrades via Breaker Replacement
If your home doesn’t have Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupts (or AFCI), you may consider an upgrade to improve safety. If your home doesn’t have circuits with Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (or GFCI), you may consider replacing breakers with GFCI breakers. “Dual-function” breakers that combine both AFCI and GFCI protection are also available. These technologies can trip the breaker to stop some types of electrical faults from occurring, reducing fire risk, such as:
- a short between the hot and ground wire (GFCI)
- an arc between a wire and a connector (serial arc)
- an arc between two conductors (for example, an arc between the hot and neutral wire that isn’t enough of a short to trigger the breaker’s standard trip, or a so-called “parallel arc”).
You may have heard the complaints about “nuisance tripping” of AFCIs; in an upcoming blog, we will share our experience of extensively updating a 1980’s home with AFCIs beyond code requirements.
Concerning Panels that Warrant Further Investigation
| Panel & Model | Reason(s) for Concern |
| Zinsco (various models) | Zinsco breaker may fail to trip on overloads, and the bus bars (parts of the electrical panel that distributes electricity to the breakers) aren’t always securely connected to the breakers, causing arcing and damage over time that will weld the breaker to the bus bar2. |
| ITE or Bulldog Pushmatic | While considered the highest quality panel of their time, they are outdated because the breakers didn’t include magnetic trip (modern residential breakers have thermal and magnetic trip capabilities), increasing the risk that they will not trip on an overload, risking a potential fire. Their status is also difficult to read, and the mechanism indicating whether the breaker is “on” or “off” can break, resulting in a dangerous shock hazard if the user thinks that the circuit is de-energized when it is not. The last Pushmatic replacement we performed on a 100-amp panel from the late 50’s had multiple double-tapped breakers, and 4 circuits that had a common neutral (multi-wire branch circuit) not controlled via common-trip breaker, which is far below today’s standards. Replacement breakers are available that can improve safety if the panel is in good condition, but for most situations, panel replacement will make the most sense to gain more space, and correct any other deficiencies, like the issues noted above. Additionally, some insurance companies reportedly refuse to insure homes with Pushmatic panels. |
| Federal Pacific/various brands Stab-Lok | These breakers are known to have a high failure rate, with the independent testing showing that they can fail to trip at a high rate3. UL revoked the product listing for most of Federal Pacific’s product line, which legally prevented their products from being installed. A New Jersey court found that Federal Pacific committed fraud by falsifying test results to qualify for UL listing4. |
- https://www.ny-engineers.com/blog/how-do-i-know-its-time-to-replace-my-electrical-panel ↩︎
- https://nonprofithomeinspections.org/what-are-zinsco-electrical-panels/ ↩︎
- https://inspectapedia.com/fpe/FPE_Hazards_121220.pdf ↩︎
- Partial Summary Judgement decision dated 8/15/02 by Judge Bryan D. Garruto, J.S.C., Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division: Middlesex County, Docket No. L-2904-97 ↩︎