What does upgrading an electrical panel involve?

Upgrading an electrical panel means replacing the box where your home's power is divided into circuits, and often the equipment that feeds it, with a panel big enough and safe enough for the way you use electricity now. It is a licensed electrician's job, it needs a permit in Virginia, and it involves your power company, because the meter has to come out before the old panel can be safely removed. Here is what happens, in the order it usually happens, so you can plan around it and read a quote with confidence.

What the panel does, and what an upgrade changes

A service entrance cable carries power from the meter to the panel, and the panel's fuses or circuit breakers protect each branch circuit by cutting the current when it exceeds the safe level for that circuit.^[1] Many panels also have a main fuse or breaker that can disconnect power from the entire home.^[1]

People upgrade for a few common reasons: an old fuse panel, a panel with no room for new circuits, a damaged or overheating panel, or a plan to add a heat pump, an electric range, a hot tub or an EV charger. Some jobs replace only the panel at the same amperage. Others raise the service size, which usually means a new meter base and service cable too, and work by the utility on its side of the meter. Knowing which you are buying is the first thing to settle. If you are not sure you need either, our guide to the signs a panel needs replacing covers the warning signs.

The assessment

The job starts with an electrician looking at the existing panel, the meter, the service cable and the grounding, and asking what you run now and what you plan to add. From that they decide whether the existing service is big enough, what size the new panel should be, and whether the panel can stay where it is.

A good proposal names the panel's amperage and number of spaces, whether the meter base and service cable are replaced, which circuits get new breakers, any circuits being added, who handles the permit and the utility, and who patches the wall if the panel is recessed.

Coordinating with the power company

This is the part homeowners often do not expect. Appalachian Power, part of AEP, says in its service guide that the customer must notify the company before altering the service entrance equipment, so that facilities of the proper capacity can be provided.^[2] It also says the customer may be charged for work the company has to do to meet the alteration.^[2] Its online form for changing home service lists upgrading your electrical service to provide enough power for a new heating or air conditioning system or another large appliance.^[3]

Dominion Energy's requirements are similar. Dominion seals all electric meters, needs at least 24 hours notice to remove a meter, and says no meter is to be removed or reset without its direct, specific authorization.^[4] Its Blue Book also says that before panel boards are bought, the customer should get from the company in writing the voltage characteristics and available fault current.^[4] For a service upgrade, Dominion says the meter is installed following any required electrical inspections.^[4]

In practice your electrician usually files the request and books the date, but it is your account, so ask for the utility's work request number and the reconnection plan in writing.

Permit and inspections

Virginia's Uniform Statewide Building Code says a permit is required before work starts on electric wiring or on any equipment regulated by the code.^[5] When a failed panel has to be replaced urgently, the code allows a short grace period: for emergency equipment replacement, the application can be filed by the end of the first working day after the work starts.^[5] Our answer on whether you need a permit to replace a panel goes into who pulls it and what it costs.

Under the code's inspection rules, electrical materials, equipment and systems are inspected before they are concealed, and there is a final inspection.^[6] For panel work specifically, the building official may require the electrical service to be energized before the final inspection.^[6] Local practice varies, so the electrician should know whether your county or town wants to see the work before the utility reconnects.

Newer codes can add equipment outside. Appalachian Power's guide notes that where the 2020 or later National Electrical Code is enforced, one- and two-family homes need their service conductors to end in a disconnect in a readily accessible outdoor location, marked as an emergency disconnect.^[2] Ask your electrician whether your locality requires one, because it changes the parts list and the price.

The day of the work

On the day, the utility or the electrician, with the utility's authorization, removes the meter and the house loses power. The electrician takes out the old panel, sets the new one, lands each circuit on a new breaker, and connects the grounding. If the service size is going up, the new meter base and service cable go in at the same time. When the work passes any inspection your locality requires before reconnection, the meter goes back in and power is restored.

Plan for the house to be without power for much of the day, and often longer if an inspection or a utility crew has to fit in. Plan for the refrigerator, any medical equipment, a sump pump and heating or cooling. A good electrician finishes by labeling every breaker on the panel directory.

When to call a licensed pro

Treat all of this as licensed work. Virginia defines an electrician as a tradesman who does the construction, repair, maintenance, alteration or removal of electrical systems regulated under the building code,^[7] and no individual may work as a tradesman unless licensed, although someone working under the supervision of a tradesman licensed in that specialty does not need a licence.^[8] CPSC's wiring guide tells homeowners not to remove the service-panel cover at all, and calls that a job for a qualified electrician,^[1] so leave the whole job to a licensed electrician; see whether a homeowner can do their own electrical work in Virginia.

When you hire, Virginia's Board for Contractors gives two simple rules. The contractor should apply for and obtain any necessary building permits, and the contract should say so.^[9] And: "Do not allow work to start until the contractor gives you copies of the officially issued permit(s), as required."^[9] Check the business and the electrician on DPOR's record; our guide to checking a contractor's licence shows how. For the price side, see what a panel upgrade costs in Virginia.

Get it quoted

Browse Loclis panel upgrade services, look up electricians in Blacksburg, or read more electrical answers.

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