WestPro Electrical Services

Electrical Panel Upgrades Calgary, AB

What is a Main Electrical Service Panel?

The main electrical panel is where the power source enters your home. The power source is coming from the city transformer up to your electrical meter and into your main electrical panel. The electrical panel where the where the power is distributed to the branch circuits throughout the house.

What Does the Main Electrical Panel Do?

Most homes in Calgary have a 240/120V 100-amp power supply entering the home. This large source of power needs to be distributed throughout the house. The panel is the hub center of your branch circuits distributed through the home. For example, there is a lighting circuit for the basement lights might run on one 15-amp circuit and your kitchen counter plugs maybe coming from several 120V 20-amp circuits. Basically, the panel breaks up the power supply to smaller individual circuits.

Upgrading Your Main Electrical Service and/or Panel.

Some homes require to have main electrical panel upgraded while other homes also require their main electrical service and panel to be upgraded.

Upgrading Electrical Service

An electric service upgrade is often recommended or required to increase the capacity of the existing electrical service i.e. the source of power. For example, some older homes still have 120/240 60-amp electrical service which is inadequate to todays standards. Other homes may have added additional appliance and devices and don’t have sufficient power available to handle the increased demand. In these particular scenarios an Electrical service upgrade is needed. This upgrade also involves upgrading your electric panel, your meter socket, the wire between the meter and panel, and the wire between the utility transformer and the meter socket including the grounding wire may need to be replaced.   

Upgrading Main Electrical Panel

In most cases, electrical service upgrade is not required. However, the old main electrical panel requires to be upgraded. Older panels have limitations such as not having enough available space to add more circuits. Some older electrical panels may be fuse type panels (which many insurance companies would require to have the panel upgraded).  Furthermore, many older panels are of inferior quality and simply are not as safe as the newer panels of today.

Older Electrical Panel Issues

Issues that I have come across is the breakers simply do not trip when overloaded and overheat to the point that the buss bar in a panel gets burned. The conductors between the meter and panel may become loose overtime and burn out the main lugs. This is common when aluminum conductors were used.

Other common reasons to change out an existing panel are due to outdated technology. Since arc fault breakers have been introduced in the last 17 years older panels cannot accommodate these breakers. For newer circuits this can be challenging and costly at times. Other reasons: Old Split-buss panels (these panes don’t have a single circuit breaker to shut off all of the power). Electrical panels damaged by water, corroded panels, and panels that are no longer manufactured such as Zinsco and FPE. These electrical panels have many issues and are considered a safety hazard by many in the industry.

At Westpro Electrical Services our Calgary electricians only use the highest quality panels for your panel change out or upgrade. Every panel that we install has a 2-year warranty on the equipment and labour. If you are considering upgrading your electrical service or panel, give us call.

As professionals with over twenty years in the Electrical Industry, we are happy to have a closer look around and suggest solutions for electrical upgrades that your home may need.

 

Why Choose Us

  • Licensed Residential Electrician
  • Fully Insured & Bonded
  • Flexible Hours
  • Reliable & Honest Service
  • Quick Response
  • Tidy Work
  • Reasonably Priced
  • Free Quote
  • Satisfaction Guaranteed

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