Electrical panel upgrades in the Phoenix Valley

Most panels give warning before they fail. The trouble is that the warnings look like small annoyances, so people live with them for years.

In the Valley the most common one is a breaker that trips when the AC, dryer and oven run at the same time on a 112-degree afternoon. That can mean a circuit is overloaded, a breaker is worn out, or the whole service is too small for how the house is used now.

A lot of Valley homes built in the 1960s and 1970s still have Federal Pacific Stab-Lok or Zinsco panels. Both brands have a long record of breakers that may not trip when they should, and many home inspectors and insurance companies flag them on sight.

We do not use scare tactics about it. If you have one of these panels, we will open it, show you what we find with photos, and give you our recommendation. Sometimes that means replacing it soon. Sometimes it means planning for it next year.

Many Phoenix-area homes have a meter-main: the utility meter and the main panel in one cabinet on an outside wall. When that wall faces west or south, the equipment bakes all summer. Heat is hard on breakers, and older cabinets can rust out at the bottom from years of monsoon rain.

Replacing a meter-main is utility work as well as electrical work. APS or SRP has to cut power at the transformer, approve the new equipment, and set a new meter. We schedule that for you so the house is not without power any longer than it has to be.

A 200-amp service is the right answer for most homes. We size the upgrade with a load calculation that counts your AC, pool equipment, cooking, laundry and anything you plan to add in the next few years.

If you are adding rooftop solar, the panel rating and the main breaker affect how much solar the utility will let you connect. If you are adding an EV charger, a load management device can sometimes avoid a full service upgrade. We will tell you when the smaller job does the trick.

Most panel and meter-main swaps take one working day. Plan on the power being off for several hours in the middle of it.

We start early, protect the area, and confirm the utility disconnect. Then we remove the old equipment, set the new panel, move and label every circuit, and update the grounding. Many slab homes in Arizona use a concrete-encased electrode, often called a Ufer ground, which was first developed here in the state. We check it and add to it if needed. After the city or county inspection passes, the utility reconnects and we test every circuit with you.

Spring and fall are the easiest times. Utility scheduling is smoother, and losing power for a few hours is no big deal when it is 80 degrees outside.

If your panel is failing in July, do not wait for October. We can do summer upgrades with an early start so the AC is back on before the worst of the afternoon heat.