Panel & Service Upgrades
Replace an undersized or outdated electrical panel so your home can safely carry the loads you actually use today.
When a panel upgrade is the right call
A panel upgrade replaces your existing electrical panel, and usually the service entrance feeding it, with equipment sized for how the house is actually used. The most common trigger is capacity: a 100-amp service that was generous in 1975 runs out of room once you add central air, a hot tub, a finished basement, a heat pump, or an EV charger. The second most common trigger is safety, because some panels made decades ago are known to fail in ways modern equipment does not.
Robb's Electric runs a load calculation first, so the recommendation rests on numbers instead of a guess. From there we handle the utility coordination, the permit, the meter and service entrance work, the new panel and breakers, and grounding and bonding brought up to current code. Most residential upgrades are a one-day job with a planned outage during the changeover, and we tell you the window in advance so you can plan around it.
Who this is for
If your panel is full, has double-tapped breakers, is labeled Federal Pacific Stab-Lok or Zinsco, shows rust or scorching, or is still a fuse box, it is worth having looked at. The same is true if you are planning anything that adds a large dedicated load, because the panel decision is much cheaper to make before that project than in the middle of it.
Builders and property managers use us for the same work at a different scale: service upgrades during a remodel, subpanels for additions and detached structures, and commercial and industrial panel and gear replacement. Residential upgrades are the bulk of what we do.
What's included
A panel upgrade is really four jobs at once: the calculation, the equipment, the utility, and the inspection. We do all four.
Load calculation
We calculate your actual demand before recommending a size, so you are not paying for capacity you will never use or repeating the job in five years.
Panel and breaker replacement
New panel, new breakers, and a legible circuit directory, with AFCI and GFCI protection where current code calls for it.
Service entrance and meter
Mast, service conductors, and meter socket replaced as needed, coordinated with the utility so the reconnect happens on schedule.
Grounding and bonding
Grounding electrode system, water and gas bonding, and neutral separation corrected to current code, which is where a lot of older homes fall short.
Subpanels
Subpanels for additions, finished basements, detached garages, and outbuildings, fed properly rather than tapped off whatever circuit was closest.
Permit and inspection
We pull the permit, meet the inspector, and hand you work that passes, documented for insurance and for resale.
Why Robb's for panel work
Panels are the part of the system everything else depends on, so this is not the place for shortcuts.
- Load calculations rather than guesses, so the size we install matches the house.
- Free estimates, including the load calculation that tells you whether you need the upgrade at all.
- We coordinate the utility disconnect and reconnect, so you are not chasing it.
- The same electricians install EV chargers and generators, so we size for what you are planning next, not only for today.
- Licensed, bonded, insured, and permitted, with a one-year warranty on labor and materials.
FAQ
Panel & Service Upgrades questions
Still have a question? Call us at (952) 448-4030 and we'll walk you through it.
The price depends on the service size, the condition of the service entrance, whether the meter and mast need replacement, and how much grounding and bonding correction the house needs. A 200-amp upgrade on a straightforward install is a very different job from one that also needs a new mast and a rebuilt grounding system. We look at the panel, run the load calculation, and give you a firm written price before scheduling. That visit and that estimate are free.
A load calculation answers it properly, but several signs point that direction: a full panel with no open slots, double-tapped breakers, a 100-amp or smaller service in a home with central air and electric appliances, or plans for an EV charger, hot tub, heat pump, or basement finish. Many Twin Cities homes built before the mid-1980s were built with less service than a modern household actually uses.
Most residential panel swaps are a single day, with power off for several hours during the changeover while the utility disconnects and reconnects the service. We schedule it so you know the window in advance and can plan around refrigeration, sump pumps, and anyone working from home.
Both have a documented history of breakers that fail to trip under fault conditions, which defeats the entire purpose of a breaker. Home inspectors flag them routinely and many insurers ask about them. If you have one, replacement is the standard recommendation, and it is usually the right moment to right-size the service while the panel is open anyway.
Yes. We pull the electrical permit, coordinate the disconnect and reconnect with the utility, and meet the inspector. That is part of the job rather than something you have to chase down separately.
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Let's get your project done right.
Tell us what you need and someone from Robb's Electric will follow up. Prefer to talk it through? Call the office. Estimates are free either way.
- Free estimates on every job
- Licensed, bonded & insured · EA001548
- Serving the Twin Cities metro since 1964
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- Free estimates, priced before any work starts
- One-year warranty on labor and materials