60AMP
Obsolete
- Basic lighting & outlets
- No central air conditioning
- No EV charger or heat pump
Electrical Service
Electrical Panel Upgrades
Outgrown your old fuse box or tripping breakers constantly? Precision Power upgrades NYC homes and businesses to safe, modern 200-amp service — permit, inspection and clean install included.
What a Panel Upgrade Actually Does
Your Panel Sets the Ceiling on Everything Electrical
Every circuit in your home runs through one place: the electrical service panel. Its rating — 60, 100, 150 or 200 amps — is the hard ceiling on how much power your home can safely draw at once. Most NYC homes wired before the 1990s were built for a different era: no central AC, no EV in the driveway, no induction range, no home office full of electronics. Push a 100-amp panel past its limit and breakers trip, connections heat up, and the risk of an electrical fire climbs.
A service upgrade replaces that undersized or aging panel — and often the meter pan, service-entrance cable and grounding — with modern 200-amp equipment sized by a proper load calculation. You get headroom to add circuits without overloading, the AFCI/GFCI breaker protection older panels never had, and equipment that insurers and home buyers actually want to see. We file the DOB permit, coordinate the Con Edison disconnect and reconnect, and book the inspection so the work is legal, safe and documented.
- Fuse boxes & hazard panels (Federal Pacific, Zinsco) replaced
- 100A/150A → 200A+ upgrades, sized by load calculation
- Meter pan, service entrance & grounding brought to code
- DOB permit, Con Edison coordination & inspection handled
200ASERVICE READY
100A vs 200A
How Much Power Do You Actually Have?
Your service amperage is a hard limit. Here's roughly what each size runs in a typical NYC home — and why 200A is the modern standard.
100AMP
Tight Today
- Lights, outlets & central AC
- Gas heat & cooking
- Little room for an EV or heat pump
200AMP
Modern Standard
- EV charger + heat pump + central AC
- Induction range & modern loads
- Headroom to add circuits later
Warning Signs
Is Your Electrical Panel a Hidden Hazard?
Some of these are just inconvenient. Others are genuine fire risks. Here's how to read what your panel is telling you.
Breakers Trip Repeatedly
A breaker that trips often isn't being annoying — it's doing its job, warning you a circuit is drawing more current than it's rated for. Constant trips mean your panel or circuits are undersized for your real-world load, and that's how connections start to overheat.
You Have a Fuse Box
Screw-in fuse boxes usually top out near 60 amps and have no room for modern circuits. Worse, they're easily "over-fused" — a 30A fuse dropped into a 15A slot — which quietly defeats the protection entirely. Most insurers surcharge or decline homes that still have one.
Power Strips on Every Outlet
If your home runs on a web of power strips and extension cords, you don't have enough circuits — and the panel feeding them is likely full. It's the everyday symptom of a service that can't expand to match how you actually live.
Lights Dim When Things Switch On
Lights that dim or flicker when the AC, microwave or vacuum kicks on point to voltage drop from an overtaxed service or loose connections. It's an early warning that your panel can't deliver steady power under load.
Warmth, Buzzing or a Burning Smell
A panel that's warm to the touch, buzzing, or giving off an acrid burning smell has loose or arcing connections behind the cover. This is the urgent one — switch off the main if you safely can and call an electrician the same day.
Adding an EV Charger, Heat Pump or Reno
Level 2 EV chargers, heat pumps, induction ranges and hot tubs each pull serious continuous load. Before adding them, an electrician runs a load calculation — and an older 100A panel usually has to be upgraded first to carry it safely and to code.
Stop — Check Your Brand
Some Panels Can't Be Repaired, Only Replaced
A few older panel brands are documented to fail to trip during a fault — leaving a circuit live when it should shut off. If you have one of these, no repair makes it safe. Replacement is the fix.
Federal Pacific
Stab-Lok
The most notorious — independent testing links Stab-Lok breakers to high failure-to-trip rates and thousands of fires.
Zinsco
/ Sylvania
Breakers can melt to the bus bar and still read "on," appearing fine while failing to protect the circuit behind them.
Pushmatic
/ Bulldog
Aging mechanisms stiffen and lose reliable trip function, and no modern replacement breakers are made for them.
Not sure what you have? Call (332) 290-3178 or send a photo of your panel — we'll identify it for free.
NYC Specifics
What a Panel Upgrade Involves in New York City
Electrical work in NYC isn't a handshake job. A service or panel change is filed with the Department of Buildings (DOB) Bureau of Electrical Control and must be performed by a New York City–licensed electrician. Skipping the permit doesn't just risk a violation — unpermitted electrical work can void your homeowner's insurance and stall a future sale or refinance the moment it surfaces in an inspection.
Con Edison coordination
Any change to your service size touches Con Edison's equipment. We coordinate the meter pull and the service disconnect/reconnect, and where the existing service lateral or meter can't support the new amperage, we handle the utility-side paperwork to upgrade it. Getting this sequence right is what keeps a one-day job from turning into a week without power.
Inspection & your Certificate
When the work is finished, a NYC-authorized electrical inspection agency inspects it. On passing, you receive a Certificate of Electrical Inspection — the document that proves your panel is legal and code-compliant. We schedule it, meet the inspector, and hand you the paperwork.
Co-ops, condos & pre-war buildings
In a co-op or condo, panel work usually needs board approval and an alteration agreement, and pre-war buildings often hide cloth-insulated or knob-and-tube wiring that has to be addressed at the same time. We've worked across NYC's housing stock and plan for it up front instead of discovering it mid-job.
Honest Pricing
What Drives the Cost of a Panel Upgrade
We quote a flat rate after an assessment. These are the factors that move the number up or down.
New Service Size
Going to 200A costs more than staying at 100A — but it's the size most NYC homes should land on to carry future EV, heat-pump and AC loads.
Service Entrance & Meter
If the meter pan, service-entrance cable, riser or mast also need replacing — common on older homes — that adds labor and Con Edison coordination.
Overhead vs. Underground
Underground service feeds and tight NYC service closets take longer to work in than a simple overhead drop, which affects labor time.
Panel Location & Access
A panel buried behind finished walls, in a cramped basement or several floors up takes more time to reroute and reconnect cleanly.
Wiring Remediation
Aluminum branch wiring, knob-and-tube or ungrounded circuits found during the work must be made safe — sometimes required to pass inspection.
Permits & Inspection
DOB filing and the electrical inspection carry fixed fees. We roll these into your quote so there's no surprise line item at the end.
The honest version: there's no flat price for a panel upgrade — the service-entrance work, the panel's location and any wiring that has to be brought up to code all move the number. That's why we don't quote sight-unseen. We assess your panel on-site, explain exactly what your job needs, and give you a clear flat-rate price before any work begins — and the assessment is free.
Our Process
How a Panel Upgrade Works
Clear, permitted and clean from first call to final inspection.
1
Assessment & Load Calc
We inspect your panel, meter and wiring and run a load calculation to size the right service — then hand you a clear flat-rate quote.
2
Permit & Con Ed Filing
We file the DOB electrical permit and coordinate the Con Edison disconnect/reconnect and any service-side upgrade.
3
Professional Install
We set the new panel, meter pan and grounding, label every circuit, and add code-required AFCI/GFCI protection — clean and tidy.
4
Inspection & Certificate
A NYC inspection agency signs off, you receive your Certificate of Electrical Inspection, and we back the work with our guarantee.
Precision Power
Power Built for the Way You Live
From EV chargers to home offices, we upgrade New York panels to handle it all — safely and to code.
Call (332) 290-3178Where We Work
Panel Upgrades Across New York
Licensed electricians serving every borough and the surrounding counties.
Questions
Panel Upgrade FAQs
Straight answers to the questions we hear most.
Do I need a permit to replace an electrical panel in NYC?
Yes. A panel or service change must be filed with the NYC Department of Buildings, performed by a licensed electrician, and inspected. Unpermitted panel work can void your insurance and create problems when you sell or refinance. We file the permit and handle the inspection as part of the job.
How much does a 200-amp panel upgrade cost in NYC?
It varies with your existing setup. The biggest cost drivers are whether the meter pan, service-entrance cable and riser also need replacing, the panel's location and access, and any wiring that has to be made safe to pass inspection. We quote a clear flat rate after a free on-site assessment — no hourly surprises.
How long does it take, and how long is the power off?
Most residential upgrades are a single day. Your power is off only for the portion when we swap the panel and Con Edison disconnects/reconnects the meter — usually a few hours. We schedule the utility coordination in advance to keep that window short.
Is a Federal Pacific or Zinsco panel really dangerous?
Yes. Federal Pacific (Stab-Lok), Zinsco and similar panels are documented to fail to trip during a fault, leaving a circuit live when it should shut off. They're a known fire risk and can't be made safe with a repair — replacement is the fix. Many insurers won't cover a home that still has one.
Can I add an EV charger to my existing panel?
Sometimes — it depends on your panel's amperage and spare capacity, which we confirm with a load calculation. If your service is already near its limit, you'll need a panel upgrade (or a load-management device) before adding a Level 2 charger safely and to code.
Do I need 200 amps, or is 100 enough?
100 amps can be fine for a small home with gas heat and cooking and no EV. But if you have or plan central AC, an EV charger, a heat pump, induction cooking or an addition, 200 amps gives you headroom to run them without overloading. A load calculation answers it precisely for your home.
What's the difference between a panel upgrade and adding a sub-panel?
A sub-panel adds more circuit slots but draws from your existing main service — it doesn't increase your total amperage. If you're out of breaker space but still have capacity, a sub-panel works. If you're out of capacity, you need a service upgrade. We'll tell you which your situation actually calls for.
Will you handle the Con Edison side?
Yes. Any service-size change involves Con Edison's meter and service connection. We coordinate the disconnect and reconnect and, when needed, file to upgrade the utility-side service so the whole job stays on schedule.