Electrical Panel Repair in West Lake Hills
The average electrical panel will last anywhere between 25 and 40 years, assuming it receives proper maintenance service. If you’ve ever taken a look inside your panel box, you know it has a lot of internal components. These include things like circuit breakers, bus bars, and wiring. Over time, each one of these components can experience a problem that will require professional repair service. Eventually, you will have to replace your entire panel box when it reaches the end of its lifespan.
There are various reasons that you may need electric panel replacement services.
- Not enough amperage
- Outdated panel
- Excessive corrosion
- Need more breakers
- Rewiring your home
Since the 1980s, electrical standards require homes to have 200 amps of power going to them. Unfortunately, homes before this time only have between 60 and 100 amps of power. This lower level of power typically isn’t enough to supply our modern-day electrical demands. You may find that your home is constantly tripping circuit breakers when you’re trying to use new appliances. Eventually, you’ll need to upgrade your electrical panel box to have 200 amps of power.
Around the mid-1960s, circuit breakers hit the electronic marketplace as the standard for all homes. If your home is from before the mid-1960s, you may still be dealing with a fuse box that isn’t optimal. These boxes are inefficient as they require you to replace the entire fuse when its circuit experiences an overload. Modern-day circuit breaker panels are ideal for homeowners as they’re much safer, and you can easily reset them without having to replace the entire breaker.
Another lesser-known reason to upgrade your old electrical panel box is that you’re in the process of rewiring. It doesn’t make sense to connect all your new wiring to a panel box that’s out of date. Rather, it’s best to upgrade the panel box as well so that all your electrical components can age at the exact same rate.
All panel boxes have metal exterior housing. While they’re given a corrosion-resistant finish, they will eventually corrode over time. This holds especially true when your unit is in a moist environment or is continually exposed to a water leak. If your panel box has any rust on it, it’s best to upgrade it before the rust completely eats through the entire box. You never want to have wires visible as this can be highly dangerous for those working around it.