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HANDMADEELECTRIC LLC
Metro Detroit

Electrical panel replacement in Metro Detroit

Handmade Electric replaces electrical panels and upgrades services across Metro Detroit. A panel replacement swaps the box that every circuit in the house terminates in. A service upgrade goes further and increases how much power the utility delivers to the house in the first place. They are related jobs and they are not the same job, and which one you need changes the scope, the cost, and the day.

An open breaker panel with a full set of labeled circuits and colored wiring running out of the top
Scope

What determines the scope

Two houses with identical panels can be very different jobs. These are the things that actually move it.

  • Replacement or upgrade

    Swapping a failing 200 amp panel for a new 200 amp panel is one job. Going from 100 amp to 200 amp service is another: it involves the utility, the meter, the service entrance conductors, and the grounding, not just the box on the wall.

  • Where the panel is and what feeds it

    A panel in an open basement next to the meter is straightforward. A panel in a finished room, on the far side of the house from the service entrance, or fed by conductors that are undersized for the new panel, adds real work.

  • The condition of what is already there

    Aluminum branch wiring, ungrounded circuits, cloth-insulated conductors, and previous work that was never done to code all surface during a panel replacement. Some of it has to be corrected as part of the job.

  • Circuit count and what the house actually runs

    A load calculation sets the panel size, not the number of breakers currently installed. Air conditioning, electric range, dryer, well pump, hot tub, and a standby generator all change the number.

  • The municipality

    Panel and service work is permitted and inspected work in most municipalities, and requirements are not identical across Metro Detroit.

Expectations

What to expect on the day

This is the part most quotes leave out, and it is usually what people actually want to know.

  • The power to the house is off for a significant part of the day. Plan for it: refrigerator, freezer, medical equipment, anyone working from home.
  • On a service upgrade the utility has to be involved to pull and reset the meter, which has to be scheduled and is not fully within any contractor's control.
  • Every circuit gets landed and labeled on a new directory, which is the first time many houses have had an accurate one.
  • Problems that were hidden behind the old panel become visible, and you should expect to hear about them rather than have them quietly closed back up.
  • An inspector looks at the finished work. That is a second set of eyes on equipment your house depends on for decades.
Process

How the work goes

  1. Step 01

    Look at it in person

    Panel type, service size, meter and service entrance, grounding, and the condition of the branch circuits. A photo of the panel with the door open is a useful start, but this job is not quoted properly from a photo.

  2. Step 02

    Load calculation and scope

    The calculation sets the service and panel size. You get told whether this is a replacement or a genuine service upgrade, and what that changes.

  3. Step 03

    Permit, and the utility if needed

    The permit is pulled before the work. On a service upgrade the meter work is coordinated with the utility.

  4. Step 04

    Replacement day

    Power off, old panel out, new panel set, every circuit landed and labeled, grounding and bonding brought up to current requirements.

  5. Step 05

    Inspection

    The municipality inspects the finished work.

Questions

Common questions

How do I know if I need a panel replacement or a service upgrade?
If the panel is failing, rusted, scorched, full, or a type with known problems, but the house has enough power for how you live, that is a replacement. If you are constantly out of capacity, adding major equipment, or still on a 100 amp service in a house running modern loads, that is a service upgrade. The load calculation is what settles it rather than a guess.
How long will the power be off?
Most of a working day for a straightforward replacement, and longer when the utility has to pull and reset the meter for a service upgrade. You will be told what to plan for on your specific job before the day, not on the morning of it. Anyone with medical equipment or a freezer full of food should plan around it.
What does a panel replacement cost?
It depends on the things listed above: whether the service is changing, where the panel sits relative to the meter, the condition of the existing conductors and grounding, how many circuits there are, and what your municipality requires. The reason nobody quotes this honestly over the phone is that half of what drives it is not visible until someone looks at the equipment.
Do I need a permit to replace an electrical panel?
In most municipalities, yes, and the work is inspected. This is worth wanting. A panel is the single point every circuit in the house passes through, it is installed once and lives for decades, and an independent inspection is cheap insurance on it.
My panel is old but nothing is wrong. Should I replace it?
Age alone is not a reason. Condition is. Rust, heat damage, breakers that trip below their rating or will not reset, a full panel with no room to add a circuit, and certain panel types with known failure patterns are all reasons. If none of that is true, an inspection tells you where you stand without spending money on a replacement you may not need.
Will you find other problems once the panel is open?
Often, yes, particularly in older houses. Ungrounded circuits, aluminum branch wiring, double-tapped breakers, and previous work that was never done correctly all live behind the panel cover. You will be told what is there and what it means before anything beyond the agreed scope happens.
Can you add a standby generator to a new panel?
Yes, and if a generator is anywhere in your plans it is worth saying so before the panel is sized and installed. A transfer switch and the circuits it will carry are much easier to account for while the panel is being replaced than to retrofit afterward.
All residential work
Serving Metro Detroit

Tell us what is going on

Describe the problem or the project and we will pick it up from there. Handmade Electric works across Metro Detroit on residential, commercial, and industrial electrical, and on Generac home standby generators.

Get a quote(248) 787-0071

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