Service Panel Upgrades

Upgrading Your Electrical Service & Panel

Your electrical service is where the power enters your home and goes to the meter base where BC Hydro records your power usage. From there, the power goes to your main electrical panel. It is then distributed out to smaller breakers and branch circuits throughout your home.

Old main panels have limitations on available space to add circuits, or they have fuses (some insurance carriers will not insure a property that has fuses). Some old panels have had circuits added and have maxed out (most old panels are maxed out when the original construction was completed). Many old panels are of inferior quality and simply stop working and need to be replaced.

Often the heat from overloaded circuits can damage the plastic that the circuit breakers are made of, they become brittle and break, which can be a major fire hazard. An electric service upgrade is often recommended or required to increase the capacity of the existing electrical service.

Why Upgrade Your Electrical Panel?

With all the new appliances and technical devices we now have in our homes, we find that older homes just don’t have sufficient power available to handle the increased demand. Therefore, a “service change” is required. 

This may include not only upgrading your electric panel, but upgrading your meter socket, the wire between the meter and panel, the wire between the utility and the meter and the grounding system as well. A panel upgrade or replacement is usually required to alleviate a problem with the existing panel.

Sometimes a breaker might overheat to the point that the buss bar in a panel gets burned. The conductors between the meter and panel may become loose and burn out the main lugs, especially common when aluminum conductors were used. Panels that were manufactured by CEB or FPE are now discontinued and have many issues. Ask the professional electricians at TDR Electric about upgrading your electrical service or electrical panel in North and West Vancouver.

How Are Electrical Panels Upgraded?

We only use the highest quality brands such as Square D, Siemens and Cutler Hammer. We offer a one-year warranty on everything we install. This is the heart of you electrical system, so we make sure it will last for years to come! Why should you upgrade from a fuse panel? Insurance companies have issues with insuring homes with fuse panels sometimes they will recommend that the panel be changed out for a breaker panel system. A large problem with fuse panels is that when a 15A fuse blows, most people will put a 20A or even 25A to replace it and stop it from blowing. This is very dangerous because the wires are not rated for this amperage and could cause a fire! The professional Electricians in Vancouver at TDR Electric can replace your fuse panel with a breaker panel. Let us educate you on the costs and procedures.

Call us at TDR Electric and set up an appointment for a free onsite consultation. One of our estimators will come out to look at the project and provide you with and free estimate. Once you have accepted the estimate, we will file all paperwork to open permits with the local city inspection authority, then we will contact BC Hydro prior to the upgrade. We will then schedule a day where the power will be disconnected and reconnected to your new electrical service with minimal disruption to the incoming power to your home.

Some of our services include: Panel upgrades in Vancouver, BCSub Panels in Vancouver, BCRelabelling Electrical Panel Schedules in Vancouver, BCService Upgrades in Vancouver, BCNew Grounding Systems in Vancouver, BCBreaker Replacements in Vancouver, BCNew Electrical Panel Inserts in Vancouver, BCMeter Base Replacements in Vancouver, BCUnderground Electrical Services in Vancouver, BCOverhead Electrical Services in Vancouver, BC

Testimonials

The team at TDR has been amazing to work with - I can’t say enough good things about them. When you hire any trade to help you there’s a lot of trust put in them to do what they are asked to do but my experience with them is they go above and beyond and they think outside the box to make the job the best it could possibly be, make it workable for the business and they really take pride in their work. Liam and his team have been professional, helpful, and accommodating, and brought ideas for my business I hadn’t even thought about to improve it and I’m so grateful for that! Continue Reading Franny Roberts

Franny Roberts

We have used TDR's services for home improvements (light installation) and they were prompt and professional. More recently, TDR has been working with our strata to identify options for Electric Vehicle charging in our complex. They provided our council with an EV Ready Plan which was approved and reimbursed by BC Hydro, and Taylor has helped us immensely in understanding not only the technical aspects of an EV charging system installation but also the requirements under the ever-changing rebate system. Continue Reading Jacqueline Shaben

Jacqueline Shaben

It was a pleasure to work with TDR from the friendliness of the office personnel to the consultant who came out to do up a work order and cost, to the electrician who came and did the work. I highly recommend this company. Very easy to work with and I couldn't be happier with the quality of work from new plug outlets, to lighting installations, and wiring the ceiling for a fan and installation. Continue Reading Toni Stovel

Toni Stovel

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