Your household electrical system is among the most important components of your home, yet it’s likely you rarely think about it. If the lights are on, and your devices are working, you trust your electric panel is doing fine. However, there are several reasons you should consider upgrading your panel, and it’s a smart investment for your family too. Find out how upgrading your residential electric panel can help your family conserve energy and save on utility bills. Then, get in touch with us at Mister Sparky in Birmingham to schedule a consultation.
Reasons For an Electrical Upgrade
- Your home electric panel is more than 25 years old.
- Your electric box no longer meets local codes.
- Your panel is warm when you touch it, indicating it is stressed.
- Your circuit breakers flip frequently, causing a loss of power in a sector of your home.
- Using multiple outlets at once causes a power outage, sparking at the outlet and/or dangerous power arcs.
- You want to add a new circuit, but all the slots in the breaker box are full.
- Loose wires in the breaker box prevent the efficient delivery of power throughout your home.
- Your house is still using old-fashioned electric fuses, which are unsafe and hard to replace.
Benefits of Upgrading Your Electrical Panel
A new panel is more efficient because it routes power where needed with minimal energy loss. Aging wires in your existing breaker box may loosen and/or become corroded. Damaged wires can be the source of sparks and electric arcs, putting your home at risk for fires.
Circuit breakers that frequently flip become degraded over time. Overtaxed wiring can heat up to dangerous temperatures. Rather than suffer through a power interruption, your best strategy is to upgrade to a new system. Your electrician will replace old or damaged wiring during your upgrade. A new panel will deliver power safely while avoiding electrical overload.
Will a New Panel Help Save Money?
Although you must pay the upfront costs for the new panel and installation by a licensed electrician, you will also realize significant savings now and in the future. The federal government offers an Energy Efficient Home Tax Credit of up to one-third of your upgrade expense.
Also, a new panel designed to handle higher capacity electric loads routes power smoothly and more efficiently than an outdated box. This reduces your energy consumption and utility bill on an ongoing basis.
Installation of a new panel opens up more opportunities for utility savings, too. For example, many models have the capacity to power a charging station for your electric vehicles, which save a significant amount of money compared to gas-powered cars. Also, if you select a panel that can connect your renewable energy system to the power grid, you can sell the excess alternative energy to your local power provider.
How Else Can a New Power Panel Help Your Household Save Energy?
The new smart electric panels have features that help maximize your home’s energy efficiency. Rather than working behind the scenes like traditional panels, the smart technology keeps you updated and informed about your electric usage.
The smart panel communicates energy use data to help you make decisions that improve efficiency. For example, when you see how much energy your dishwasher consumes, you may want to take energy-saving measures like turning off the heat dry cycle. You might even decide to run the appliance less often, which also translates to savings.
Smart panels offer a phone app that allows you to check your energy usage remotely. That way, if you notice you are using a lot of electricity even though no one is home, you can connect with your smart appliances to turn them off or put them in sleep mode.
Smart panels are especially useful during power outages. When you program your smart panel to prioritize backup generator power for critical household systems, such as heating or air conditioning, your family will stay comfortable despite the power interruption. It can also route electricity to your refrigerator/freezer, so you don’t have to spend money on food replacement later. In addition, features like self-maintenance and fault detection protect your family’s well-being while avoiding downtime and repair costs.
How to Decide Which Panel Upgrade is Right for You
At Mister Sparky, our customer service experts can help you choose a panel upgrade with the features that are most important to you. Whether you are looking for energy efficiency, energy savings or both, we have the professional knowledge and upgrade options to enhance the comfort and safety of your household.