Electrical Panel Upgrade
There are lots of reasons why you might want to upgrade your electrical panel and its associated systems and unless your panel is bang up to date we would seriously advise considering it. If you're not sure about how old your panel is, what its operating capacity is, or whether it is genuinely up to the job of dealing with the demands your modern appliances are making of it then we would recommend that you speak to us about it now. We may be able to tell you straight away over the phone whether you would benefit from an electrical panel upgrade and if not then we will be happy to arrange a visit to examine your systems and explain whether an upgrade will bring increased performance and safety. Everything electrical in your home ultimately hinges on the performance of that panel and if things are going wrong or the panel isn't up to the job then the safety of your house and home or your work space are definitely at risk. So get in touch today and let us put your mind at rest.
Outdated Systems – Fuse Boxes Just to be clear when we talk about an electrical panel we mean a modern board of circuit breakers. You know; a row of switches that each control a certain circuit and which, when all is well, are standing pointing up like soldiers on duty. If your panel is over 50 years old then it is possible that you won't be looking at that and may be looking at a fuse box instead. Circuit breakers are reset simply by flipping the switch back to the up position. Fuses work by a thin wire designed to be the weak point that burns out first and the only way to reset a fuse is to replace it. Modern appliances are designed around circuit breaker panels so if you only have a fuse box then don't panic, but do call us in to update your system. Older Panels Older panels may have circuit breakers instead of fuses but if they were installed over 20 years ago then there is a very big difference in the load they were designed to handle. Back then panels were designed to handle either up to 60 amps or 100 amps which was considered sufficient for the demands of appliances of that time. Modern appliances are a very different proposition altogether and a typical modern panel is deigned to reach its maximum at 200 amps. If you're running high-definition TVs and smart fridges on an older panel something will eventually have to give. Reasons to Upgrade an Existing Panel There are some very straight forward reasons to upgrade a panel that is struggling to keep up. If the panel is warm, for example, it is often a clue of overloading or a developing fault that will have safety implications in time. Clearly any hint of smoking from the panel is an immediate red light. If the panel trips frequently then that too is a sure sign that the system isn't functioning properly and you should get us in to check it out. Also inquire if you don't know already, if your house or commercial building has aluminum wiring. This type of wiring has been know to cause electrical fires and should be changed out to copper wiring as soon as possible. Aluminum wire is much cheaper that copper, so that's why it was frequently used before it was well known to cause issues down the road. We can help you quickly identify this for you along with providing an estimate on changing this out. Appliances It's not just your safety at stake here, but also your appliances. Do your lights ever flicker, or do appliances just not seem to run at full gas? Then it could well be your panel that's the problem. Call us now and save yourself a lot of trouble further down the line. |
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