Electrical Panel Upgrade

Yes. A 200-amp panel is expected in modern homes and is often required for insurance purposes. It removes a common red flag in home inspections and makes your home ready for future electrical needs.

Signs include frequently tripping breakers, flickering lights, a panel that’s warm to the touch, or a home still running on a 100-amp panel. If you’re adding major appliances like an EV charger or pool equipment, you’ll likely need a 200-amp upgrade.

Federal Pacific and Zinsco panels are known for breakers that fail to trip during overloads, creating serious fire hazards. If your North Texas home has one of these panels, replacement is strongly recommended regardless of whether you need more capacity.

A 100-amp panel was standard in older homes but often can’t handle modern electrical demands. A 200-amp panel provides enough capacity for today’s appliances, HVAC systems, EV chargers, and home additions. Most new North Texas homes are built with 200-amp service.

A sub panel is a smaller breaker panel that feeds off your main panel. It’s useful when you need additional circuits in a specific area like a garage, workshop, or home addition without running long wire runs back to the main panel.

Check the Fair Price Guide on HomeRepairRates.com

A standard panel upgrade takes 4-8 hours. Your power will be off for most of the work. Upgrades that require coordination with the utility company for meter base changes may take a full day.

Yes. Electrical panel upgrades require a permit and inspection in virtually all North Texas cities including Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, and Frisco. Your electrician should handle the permit process and coordinate with Oncor for meter disconnection and reconnection.