Panels and service upgrades

Panel replacements, service upgrades, subpanels and surge protection in Edmonton, with utility coordination, permits and inspections handled by licensed electricians.

What your panel does

Your electrical panel takes the power coming into the building and splits it into individual circuits, each protected by a breaker or fuse. When a circuit is overloaded or faulted, the breaker trips to stop wires from overheating. If the panel is old, damaged, undersized or full, everything downstream is affected.

Our panel and service work

• Panel replacement: swapping out old, unsafe, discontinued or full panels for new ones.
• Service upgrades: increasing the size of your electrical service, for example from 100 A to 200 A, including the meter base and utility coordination.
• Subpanels: adding a second panel in a garage, basement suite, shop or addition.
• Surge protection: whole-building surge protective devices that help protect electronics and appliances.

These often go together. A homeowner adding an EV charger might need a load calculation, a service upgrade, a new panel and a subpanel in the garage. We plan it as one project.

Is your service big enough?

Many Edmonton homes built before the 1980s have 60 or 100 amp services. That was plenty for gas heat and a few appliances. Today, EV chargers, heat pumps, air conditioning, hot tubs, basement suites and electric cooking can push past what an older service can supply.

A bigger service is not always the answer. Load management devices can sometimes let you add an EV charger without an upgrade. A load calculation tells you which way to go.

The same question comes up for businesses. A shop or restaurant that has grown into its space may find the service is now the limit, not the panel. A load calculation sorts out which is which, and a subpanel may be enough when the issue is only space for breakers.

Signs your panel needs attention

• Breakers that trip often, or will not stay reset.
• A panel that is warm, buzzing or smells of burning.
• Scorch marks, rust or water staining on or around the panel.
• A fuse panel, or an old panel with breakers that are hard to find.
• No empty spaces for new circuits.
• Your insurer or a home inspector has flagged the panel.

If you notice heat, burning smells or scorch marks, call our 24/7 line at 1 (800) 716-8955. If there is smoke or fire, call 911 first.

It also helps to keep the space in front of your panel clear. In a lot of Edmonton basements the panel ends up behind shelving or storage boxes, which slows down anyone who needs to reach it in a hurry.

Permits, utility and cost

Panel and service work needs an electrical permit. In Edmonton the City issues it and inspects the work; elsewhere it depends on your municipality. Service upgrades also involve your utility, typically EPCOR within Edmonton and FortisAlberta in many surrounding areas, to disconnect and reconnect power. We coordinate all of it.

Cost depends on the panel and service size, whether the meter base and mast need replacing, the distance from the utility connection, the number of circuits to move, and any changes the utility requires. Every job carries our 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Questions we hear