Electrical Services
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Electrical Panel Upgrade Services

The electrical panel in your home is the hub from which electricity flows throughout the building. As technology advances and we buy new devices and gadgets, the home’s ability to keep up will wane and warrant an electrical panel upgrade. Toronto Electrical Experts understands the importance of this mechanism and offers upgrade services to keep your electrical panel up-to-date and safe.

Why Upgrade?

The first reason why you may want to upgrade your electrical panel is that you might have an outdated, dangerous model. Older buildings in Toronto and elsewhere, especially those built over 20 years ago, are most likely have a fuse box. While fuse boxes are a type of electrical panel and do the same thing as a more modern circuit breaker, they have a tendency to be overly sensitive and fuses must be replaced each time one blows.  In contrast, circuit breakers, simply need to have a switch reset upon being tripped.

If the wrong type of fuse is used for a replacement, the circuit itself can become damaged. Due to safety concerns surrounding fuse boxes, like their tendency to have more exposed wiring and the risks of a wrong-sized fuse, some home insurers won’t write a policy for a house that uses a fuse box.

Even if you already have a circuit breaker, you can still benefit from an electrical panel upgrade. Upgrading a panel gives it more circuits and a higher amperage capacity, allowing for both a stronger, more consistent power flow and for the installation of new outlets in the house.

Signs that you may need to upgrade your electrical panel include the constant tripping of circuit breakers, appliances not running at full power, flickering lights, and the panel being older than 10 years. Situations that might warrant an upgrade could include getting a power-intensive addition like a hot tub, having non-grounded outlets, loose or burnt connections, or wanting to improve the strength of the circuit.

Panel Upgrades and Service Upgrades

Don’t compromise on safety. Have your electrical panel assessed by one of our licensed electricians. We use our industry’s best practices to ensure we carry out the electrical panel upgrade on your Toronto home in a safe and efficient manner. Toronto Electrical Experts will also take care of scheduling with the city to ensure the power is disconnected while work is in progress if necessary. A panel upgrade will usually involve replacing the entire breaker box, but individual breakers can be reused depending on the circumstances.

Improving the house’s power capacity is normally done by adding new wiring and circuits and by upgrading existing wires. Older elements such as knobs and tubes or aluminum wiring will be replaced with safer and more up-to-date systems. If wires are upgraded, the associated circuit breaker will be checked to ensure it can support the connection; if not, then the breaker will be upgraded too. Outlets near water sources, like sinks, will be given GFCI breakers if they don’t already have them. GFCI breakers are important safety devices that will trip the breaker in the presence of even minute amounts of water.

Contact us to get a panel estimate and see how Toronto Electrical Experts can help improve the power and safety of your home, such as through electrical panel upgrades, in Toronto.

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