Your home's electrical panel is the true heart of your home. You are providing and directing the energy and electricity in your home to power all the utilities and electrical outlets throughout it to make it a home.
With your home's utilities providing climate control or the electrical outlets allowing for entertainment and comfort, you would have the cozy and efficient home you do. However, electrical panels can begin to show signs of wear over time and not only be due for service and repairs but could need an upgrade for a full electrical panel change.
Signs That You Need an Upgrade
So how do you know if you need an upgrade for your electrical panel? There are a few simple ways to know if it's time to start looking into upgrading your panel. Even if you are maintaining basic electrical safety and staying up to date with your services and repairs, panels will eventually need help with day-to-day demands for electricity.
The biggest concern with a malfunctioning panel is safety, with the extreme being a fire hazard, but there are early warning signs that you can look for to keep your home running efficiently and safely.
The Panel is Original to the Home
If your panel is original to your home, that's your first sign to start looking into an electrical power upgrade. Do you ever find that you need more outlets and flipping breakers frequently? This is another sign that your panel could need an upgrade to keep up with the demands of modern electricity.
The average lifespan of an electrical panel is about 30 years, and even if you don't notice your panel struggling to keep up with current electrical demands, it's worth having one of our technicians come out and inspect it to be sure. An outdated panel will eventually fail with modern demands, and a breaker could only trip when it should.
Sparks Smells or Sounds
One of the obvious and scarier signs comes from panels that are about to malfunction or are malfunctioning already. You should locate it immediately if you ever smell burning or smoke in your home. If there is a burning smell coming from your electrical panel, it could just be the panel overheating, or it could be a larger fire.
Another thing to be aware of is any cracking noises or sparks coming from your electrical panel or outlets. The panel needs immediate attention and electrical repairs. Electrical panels don't just break down and stop working.
Instead, they show signs of struggle for several months before inevitably failing, and that failure has the potential for serious home damage and safety. Of course, it's best not to wait to upgrade your panel until these warning signs show. If you wait until it's too late, you could face an avoidable emergency.
Benefits of an Upgrade
Who doesn't like upgrades? Upgrades in anything make for smoother running equipment and technology, making our lives easier and bringing us peace of mind. Upgrading your panel makes your home safer, but it also ensures you're not tripping and flipping breakers over appliances you need and use every day.
With this upgrade, your panel will also have fewer maintenance costs. Using a reputable electric company that maintains electrical responsibilities by providing follow-ups and maintenance to install your upgrades will keep you from having them out in the case of an emergency or repairs to an old panel that needed the upgrade in the first place. Upgrading your electrical panel is more than just about safety and efficiency.
Home Value
Did you know upgrading your electrical panel can greatly increase your home's value? Installing an updated panel that keeps up with modern appliances and electricity demand is an easy way to bring value to your home and increase the ease of resale. Plus, if you're already in the middle of a remodel, this is a great time to upgrade the system and increase the value even further.
It should take a few hours to do the project and should be easily accomplished in a day. With this upgrade, you'll also get more electrical outlets, so you can plan for those outlets to be positioned in functional places. Bringing this convenience to your home makes it easier for your family to have reliable electricity in reliable places but also ensures that your remodel plans are thoroughly and consciously designed.
Electrical Performance
Upgrading your electrical panel will also increase your home's electrical performance. Upgrades are all about ease of functionality. Upgrading the electrical panel will keep the lights from flickering when the air conditioner turns on, or frequent breakers are tripping.
Upgrading the panel will not only improve this performance immediately, but it can also extend the life of your appliances. Frequent breaker tripping can damage your appliances by burning them out. Not to mention saving on your monthly expenses, your new electrical panel will be able to send the power efficiently throughout your home where it needs to go without tripping breakers or wasting it.
Energy efficiency will save you money on your monthly electric bill but can also lower your homeowner's insurance. Mitigating the safety risks of an older electrical outlet can lower your insurance by informing the insurance company of your home upgrades.
Make that Upgrade
When it's time to upgrade or change out your electrical panel, you need to ensure that you are working with licensed electricians and technicians to ensure installation is done correctly.
The expectations that you should have for your electrical panel should be extremely high as it is the heart of your home and should run efficiently and be treated with knowledge, experience, and care.
Whether it's providing electrical installation during a build or maintenance services and follow-ups, you can be sure that our electricians have the skills, experience, and tools to provide the services your home needs.
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