When You Need a Service Panel Upgrade…
You take off your shoes after a long day of work and head to the kitchen to heat something up for dinner. After emptying a container of leftovers into a bowl, you stick them in the microwave and set it to run for a few minutes. But as soon as you press the power button, everything goes dark.
WARNING: This is a serious project, not meant for DIY’ers. To avoid great risk of injury, severe property damage, and even death, call a professional licensed electrician. They will get to the root of your problem, recommend the proper upgrades, give you a fair estimate, and complete the project according to your local building codes.
Call Conductive Electrical Contracting: 302-319-4061
That’s when you realize that the coffee machine is on from hours ago and the dishwasher is still running its cleaning cycle. Fuse and breaker overloads are a common occurrence, but they are an inconvenience and can represent hazardous conditions in the circuitry if they happen frequently.
An electrical service panel upgrade is often the only way to remedy this problem. You may simply know it as the fuse or breaker box, but this panel is the heart of your home’s electrical system. Every circuit in your house connects to it. It’s also where power from the street wires enters your home and is distributed out to the different rooms.
Look around your kitchen or bedroom and count the number of electrical outlets you see. If the home was built or renovated in the last decade, it probably has at least one outlet on every wall and maybe even more than that. We are surrounded by televisions, computers, appliances and other electrical devices that place an ever-increasing demand on your home’s electrical system.
You’ve probably bought a few extra electronic devices since the last time you upgraded the electrical panel. Many of the electronics we have now are also more powerful and power hungry then they ever have been before. As the center of all of the circuits running through the floors and walls, the service panel should be updated regularly to keep up with everything else in the home.
We know that you’d get a lot more enjoyment out of spending your hard-earned money on something fun for yourself your family rather than using it to pay for electrical panel replacement. That’s why Conductive Electric offers affordable service panel upgrades and other kinds of electrical services. We are a local business that wants to help you live safely and conveniently without using up your entire budget on repair work.
Reasons for upgrading your main panel
There are two basic reasons that motivate a circuit panel upgrade: the old panel breaks, or it can’t keep up with the demand placed on it.
The main service panel needs to be replaced to keep up with the demand that your appliances and other electrical devices place on the system. Every single active outlet puts more pressure on the panel, so it’s no surprise that they don’t last forever.
Your breakers shouldn’t be flipping several times a day. Consider replacing your panel if the circuits in your home can’t handle a few of your devices running simultaneously. If the demand of just a few of your electronics is enough to overload it and trip the breaker, then it could also be a fire hazard that threatens the entire building. A newer box that can readily handle the load placed on it greatly reduces the risk.
Some manufacturers actually require a minimum capacity on your home’s electrical circuit for their products to work at all. You may notice that some powerful appliances need a 200 amp panel to operate. Even if they don’t explicitly require it, many devices run better and safer with a newer panel.
A panel replacement is often the only option when your current one breaks. it handles a very strong electrical current constantly. The only time it gets to rest is during city-wide power outages from a strong thunderstorm or similar prolonged grid disruption. It’s active the rest of the time, even when the lights are off and you are fast asleep.
The constant stress eventually wears on the hardware and burns out some of the components. Repair is not recommended unless the damage is minor or occurs outside the box. Repairing a panel can be very dangerous and decreases the system’s efficiency. This is why replacing the whole thing is often the only choice when it becomes faulty.
Why use a professional electrician from Conductive Electric?
We know how stressful it is when your panel suddenly stops working and leaves your home without power. That’s why we respond to service calls quickly. Our experienced technicians are familiar with all sorts of residential electrical systems and fixtures, so we can calculate the demand placed on your circuits and figure out what type of panel you need to live with another disruption like this for a while.
While you may be tempted to use a “handyman” or even attempt a do-it-yourself repair of the panel, we cannot stress enough how dangerous that is. Electricians know that mishandling a panel is a deadly mistake. That’s why the services of a trained professional are invaluable when you need to upgrade your service panel.
We are licensed contractors, so your home will be in full compliance with local laws when you allow us to perform your electrical work for you. We know what we are doing, so you can rest easy knowing your circuits are in good hands!
Here you will get inspection passing service panel upgrades in the Wilmington area. Or, if you are in lower Delaware, see our electrical services page for Dover DE.
