Electrical Panel Cost Calculator – Estimate Electrical Panel Replacement Cost

Typical Cost For a 200 AMP Service Upagrade (new panel & breakers) Average: $1,330 - $2,250
See costs in your area

The average cost of upgrading an electrical panel to a 200 AMP service is $1,500 – 2,800.

An electrical panel upgrade is often necessary when homeowners find that they can no longer add a new appliance or a device that uses electricity because their current electric panel does not have enough capacity.

Today, given the growing number of computers, high def televisions, multiple appliances and electrical devices that many homes have, having at least 200 amp electrical panel is needed to support this high level of usage.

To replace your outdated electrical panel, contact your local licensed electrician for a Free Panel Upgrade Estimate.

Average Cost To Upgrade Electrical Panel

Typical Cost For a 200 AMP Service Upagrade (new panel & breakers) Average: $1,330 - $2,250
See costs in your area

Across the US, homeowners report spending $1,200-3,000 (labor and materials) on upgrading an outdated service panel to 200 amps.

Upgrading an existing panel to 200 amps (which is currently a required minimum standard) costs between $850-1,150. Many people are currently doing this improvement, because in the majority of homes, circuit breaker panels are usually 100 amp. In many cases, they are as low as 60 amps. This is simply not enough.

Upgrading a panel from 200 to 400 amps, which is typically done in luxury, very large homes, costs between $2,000-4,000

The material cost of the electric panel itself typically ranges from $300 to $500. A less expensive, popular circuit break brand is Square D by Schneider Electric. It costs $127

The electrical panel upgrade will include disconnecting and then reconnecting the power line to the home, installing a new meter socket outside and replacing the circuit breaker panel. (Note, your electric company will be the one to disconnect and reconnect the power, NOT the electrician).

It is also recommended to install a whole-house surge protector, because surges that result form lightning and from small usage fluctuations can damage wiring, appliances, and electronics. Expect to spend about $150-500

Additional Cost To Upgrade To 200 AMP Service

There may be an extra cost to upgrade your panel to 200 amps. During the installation, your electrician may discover some additional things that may need to be repaired or replaced.

These include old wiring, worn outlets, outdated fixtures and damaged circuits. Depending on what needs to be done, expect to pay anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars extra.

To budget for this project accurately, its is best to ask an electrician to come out and give you a price estimate.

Costs To Hire An Electrician

Professional electricians charge anywhere from $55-85/hr for labor. It takes an average of 8-10 hours to complete the upgrade, without any major complications.

There is such a wide range because of local price differences for contractor labor. High income suburbs, as well as very expensive cities, such as New York, San Francisco, etc., will have the highest rates. Lower income suburbs and towns, will have significantly lower pricing.

Moreover, well established, larger companies will charge you more than smaller ones. This is because in smaller companies, the owner is a licensed electrician, and he comes out to do work himself.

It is very important to only hire a LICENSED professional, because electrical work that is performed without proper knowledge and not up to code is a real fire hazard. Don’t put your family and home in danger just to save a few hundred bucks.

How Does An Electrical Panel Work?

Its important to have a basic understanding of how an electrical panel works.

This panel is the central piece of the entire electrical system of your home. It determines how much power is available for the circuits to distribute to all the appliances, devices and outlets in your house.

If you open the panel, you’ll see circuit breakers arranged in two columns. There is also a main switch above these columns that controls power to the entire house.

Each circuit breaker controls the electrical current that flows to a specific outlet. Its job is to protect your home from power surges or current overloads.

An overload occurs when more amperage travels across a circuit than it is designed to handle. In this case, a properly functioning circuit breaker will safely fail, thereby preventing a fire.

When Should I Replace An Electrical Panel?

Even if you are not noticing any signs of electrical panel failure or overload, but you know that your panel is a few decades old, it may be time to replace it.

On average, an electrical panel has a service life of 25-40 years. If you know that yours is older than 25 years, an electrician should inspect it to determine what needs to be done.

Did You Know? Very often, even when an electrical service panel is functioning ok, your breaker box may still be out of date. An electrician can perform a breaker box safety inspection and upgrade the fuse box if necessary.

Here is when you should consider upgrading your electrical service:

-You often notice that the circuit breakers are tripping
-Your house has a 60 amp service
-You need to unplug a major appliance, in order to plug in another one
-Your breaker box has many messy tangled wires
-You are starting a major house remodel

Benefits Of An Electrical Panel Upgrade

1. Avoid a fire hazard

If your electrical panel is very old and not designed to handle the electrical usage that is currently taking place, you may be facing a serious fire hazard.

There a signs that your circuit breakers are overloaded. Its very important to watch for these, and take immediate action by calling in an electrician.

– You often hear crackling sounds

– You see blown fuses inside the breaker box

– You often notice flickering lights

In this case, you need to contact an electrician immediately, so they can either repair or upgrade it. Even if the electrician finds that your current panel can be repaired, we recommend replacing and upgrading it, if you can afford it.

You will still need to eventually do this upgrade anyway. If you currently have a fuse panel its better and much safer to switch to a breaker panel.

2. Need to increase electric usage

If your electrical usage is expected to go up significantly, you will need to do this upgrade. This can happen in such cases as wanting to install an electric tankless hot water heater, which uses up about 120 amp, or needing to charge an electric car.

Alternatively, you may also find that you have acquired so many electric appliances and devices that your old panel simply can’t handle this load.

3. Boost property value

Many prospective homeowners are looking for homes that are electrically wired to handle all the newest advents in home technologies and appliances.

Upgrading your electrical panel will make your home a lot more attractive and in line with the current standards. While the cost of this upgrade is significant, it is a very smart long-term investment.

4. Obsolete or damaged panel

Some older electrical panels have outdated technology, and its best to replace them. This includes: split-buss panels, cheap builder-grade panels. Many electricians consider old panels that have been manufactured by Zinsco and FPE to be very problematic.

They are great candidates for replacement. Finally, it is a good idea to replace your electric panel if it has been in contaminated water, or corrosive environment.

Instead, you can get a quality brand, such as Siemens, or Square D by Schneider Electric.

Pro Tip: Because many homeowners don’t understand how an electrical panel works, they put themselves in grave risk of being electrocuted.

This happens when they get tired of the circuit breaker constantly tripping, and replace it with a LARGER circuit breaker.

The problem is the existing wire is not made to handle this increase. Consequently, there is now a serious danger of an overload.

You should know that if the circuit breaker is tripping, it means that the wire running from your electrical panel to your appliances or devices is overloaded. It is in danger of catching fire. In this case, an electrician needs to upgrade the panel, NOT replace the circuit breaker itself!

This should not be taken lightly, as about 200 people die from being electrocuted in their homes every year! All because they think they know what they are doing.

Sometimes this problem can go unnoticed, because the circuit breakers don’t trip even if they are overloaded. This happens because there is a loose connection somewhere within the circuit. It is common to see this hazard in very old homes.

This is why, if you live in an old house, you should get an electrician to inspect your electric panel to make sure its not overloaded. You should do this even if you have not experienced any issues.


About Leo Bender

Leo has been a contractor since 2003, specializing in: roofing, siding, general contracting (GC) and residential remodeling. Leo is also a Certified HVAC, Oil & Gas Heating Technician/Installer. In addition to roofing and remodeling, Leo is passionate about Solar, green building and energy conservation, so a lot of my time and energy goes to installing energy efficient heating and cooling systems.


See more about Remodeling Calculator team here


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


9 comments on “Electrical Panel Cost Calculator – Estimate Electrical Panel Replacement Cost

  1. Richard Hawkins

    My home was built in the 1950’s and the original fuse boxes, if considering selling, is it by law, necessary to upgrade for safety requirements?

    Reply
    1. Leo B Post author

      Richard,

      I’m not a lawyer, so cannot give you legal advise. Also, each state and even many cities have their own regulations, and you don’t even specify where you live.

      However, I believe as far a s electrical goes, you don’t need to upgrade … even Knob and Tube wiring is grand-fathered in, where as in the 50’s you already had Romex type wiring.

      The only thing I know of that is often “mandatory” before sale, is septic systems / cess pools. For example, in MA, we have “Title 5” for septics. If septic fails Title 5 inspection, seller “has to” get it compliant. This almost always means new septic. However, I sometimes see “as is homes, with failed Title 5” for sale. So even that is not 100% required.

      I think you don’t need to upgrade, but to be sure, ask your town’s building/electrical inspector. From a financial stand-point – upgrading is not worth it if you are selling. Buyers don’t appreciate such important, but invisible upgrades. All they care about is “new kitchen, new bathroom and hardwood floors throughout”. People are shallow 🙂

      Good luck.

      Reply
  2. Jim

    In your write up, you should clarify that this is “ONLY” the cost for the replacement of the circuit breaker panel, provided the 200 Amp service drop and feed are viable. Many times a replacement panel will have to accommodate outdated, if not, obsolete wiring, which exposes other potential hazards and liabilities a contractor and homeowner may not be aware of. The NFPA/NEC will soon be mandating the installation of dual function GFCI/AFCI breakers to address the inadequacies and hazards caused by DIYer’s, who with best intentions have tried to save themselves money but have created potential life threatening conditions for themselves and future owners of their homes. Currently, these dual function breakers are expensive at ~$50 each but……….how much is a life or a home worth? I install them in every panel upgrade/replacement I perform. I do it for the peace of mind for my customers and my own. This additional cost should be included in your proposed guesstimate cost. Just some friendly professional safety advice.

    Reply
    1. Leo B Post author

      Jim,

      GFCI/AFCI breakers ARE NOT required for retrofit jobs, because of potential wiring issues in the walls, that can cause ARCH FAULT breaker to trip (false positive so to say) … GFCI/AFCI breakers are only required for new construction. Therefore, we estimate this cost with regular $6 breakers. If you start putting AFCI breakers in every home, you might as well do a complete gut and rewire job… and while walls are open, do spray foam insulation, new windows, etc, etc…

      Adding GFCI breakers, may cause issues if people already have GFCI outlets (in bathrooms/kitchens or outside) where GFCI breaker will be in conflict with GFCI outlet. … each house is different, and we can’t account for every situation. Therefore we cannot include this in the “guesstiamate” …

      Also in many states, there is still no requirement to have main disconnect located outside. So in those place, average 200 amp service upgrade is $1200-1500 …

      In areas with outside main disconnect requirements, this cost goes up to about $2000-2300 … again this is priced with regular breakers…

      Reply
  3. John

    You don’t need to replace a standard breaker with an AFCI breaker unless you have to extend the wire more than 6 feet or you’re replacing existing devices.

    Reply
  4. 2202210what everit takes

    Your estimates are off, It’s a requirement in most cities to change to arc fault breakers. These cost 40 to 47 dollars a piece for 20 amp single pole breakers that used to cost 5. The NEC which is the national electrical code says it’s requirement in new house and in any new permitted jobs

    Reply
  5. Mai

    Hi there,

    I would like to upgrade Panel 200Amp, Pls kindly let me know about the price and time to set up.

    Looking forward to hearing from you
    Regards
    MAI

    Reply
  6. nadig

    However, for an actual upgrade from let’s say a 100 amp panel to a 200 amp Electrical Panel, or 200 amps to 400 amps, depending on the size of the homes, there would have to be an Electrical Permit pulled through the county where the project is located to make it Legal.

    Reply