electrical service
Electrical Panel Upgrades
Tripping breakers, a full panel, or plans for EV charging? We evaluate your service and panel honestly — upgrade when needed, not by default.
Why Valley panels run out of room
A large share of San Fernando Valley housing went up between the 1940s and 1970s, when a 100-amp service — sometimes 60 — covered a house with one air conditioner and a few appliances. Add modern HVAC, a kitchen’s worth of appliances, and now EV charging, and the math changes. The symptoms usually arrive before the math does:
- Breakers that trip when two big loads run together
- No open spaces in the panel — or tandem breakers stacked everywhere
- Lights that dip when the AC compressor kicks on
- A panel that’s warm, buzzing, or showing rust or scorch at the bus
Evaluation before recommendation
The honest sequence is: load calculation first, then the recommendation. We inventory what the property actually runs, calculate demand against the existing service per code, and inspect the panel’s physical condition — bus, connections, grounding, and clearances. Sometimes the answer is an upgrade. Sometimes it’s a subpanel, load management, or repairing a deteriorating connection. You get the calculation’s answer, not a reflex.
What an upgrade project includes
When an upgrade is the answer, the scope covers the parts people don’t see on the estimate they got over the phone: coordination with the utility to disconnect and re-energize service, a new panel and breakers sized for calculated demand with room to grow, grounding and bonding brought to current code, the permit, and the inspection that closes it. In the City of Los Angeles that means LADBS; Burbank and other independent cities run their own building departments. Planned power-down time is scheduled with you, not sprung on you.
Commercial panels and distribution
Commercial upgrades add coordination layers — three-phase service, tenant metering, and work that has to happen around business hours. Describe the building, the equipment being added, and your operating constraints, and the scoping conversation starts from reality.
Questions about this service
Does every new electrical load require a panel upgrade?
No — and be wary of anyone who says yes before doing math. A load calculation against your existing service decides it. Load-management devices and circuit reallocation solve some capacity problems at a fraction of an upgrade's cost.
What's actually involved in a panel upgrade?
More than swapping a box — utility coordination for the service disconnect and reconnect, the new panel and grounding brought to current code, a permit, and inspection sign-off. Power is down for part of the work, which is planned with you in advance.
I've heard certain old panel brands are a problem. Is mine one of them?
Some panels common in mid-century homes — Zinsco and Federal Pacific among them — have documented failure histories and are routinely flagged by home inspectors and insurers. If your panel carries one of those names, an evaluation is worth scheduling even if nothing seems wrong.
