Licensed & insured

AL #06957

Mon–Sat 8am–5pm

Electrical Panel Upgrades

And fuse box replacement.

If your house still has a fuse box, a 100-amp panel from the seventies, or a brand that insurers now refuse to cover, this is the job that fixes several problems at once.

Before-and-after view of electrical panels: tangled, worn breakers on the left versus a cleaner, newly wired panel on the right; JB Electric.

Licensed & Insured

AL #06957

No Deposit Ever

You pay when the job is done.

2-Hour Window

Late? The $95 diagnostic fee is on us.

32 Years Experience

Master Electrician

When a panel actually needs replacing

Not every old panel is dangerous, and we’ll tell you if yours is fine. The ones that genuinely need to go:

  • Fuse boxes — still common in Midtown and older Saraland houses. Not inherently unsafe, but unexpandable, and most insurers now price against them
  • Federal Pacific Stab-Lok and Zinsco panels — documented failure to trip under fault. Insurers and home inspectors both flag these on sight
  • 100-amp service feeding a modern house — add central air, a range, a dryer and a car charger and you’re past what the service can carry
  • Panels that are physically full — including any with tandem breakers stuffed into slots not rated for them
  • Corrosion — we’re eight miles from salt water and it shows inside meter bases and panel enclosures

What the job involves

A panel change is a permitted job and it means a power cut for most of a day. We pull the permit, coordinate the disconnect and reconnect with Alabama Power, replace the panel and usually the service entrance conductors and meter base, install a proper grounding electrode system, label every circuit legibly, and meet the inspector ourselves. You get the permit paperwork and the inspection sign-off.

What we charge

  • Inside sub-panel replacement — $1,500
  • 200-amp outside service, rebuilt completely — $3,500
  • Power pole — $3,500

Anything outside those is quoted after a load calculation. Either way the number is written down and agreed before we start.

The permit fee is inside those prices, and so is coordinating the disconnect and reconnect with Alabama Power. We don’t take a deposit — you pay when the work is done.

Why the labeling matters

Most panels we open have a directory card that’s either blank or forty years out of date. Every circuit gets tested and hand-labelled on the way out, which is the difference between finding the right breaker in ten seconds during an emergency and pulling the whole house down to find it.

Quoted

After a load calculation

Panel work is priced per house service size, meter base condition and circuit count all move the number. The written price comes before any work.

FAQ's About Panel Upgrades

How long does the power stay off?

Plan on most of a working day for a straight panel change. If the service entrance and meter base are being replaced too, it’s a full day, and the utility’s reconnect timing is the part we don’t fully control. We’ll give you a realistic window before we book it.

Different jobs. A panel swap replaces the box and breakers on the same service size. A service upgrade increases the amperage, which means new conductors, new meter base and utility involvement. We’ll do a load calculation and tell you which one your house actually needs.

Often, yes particularly with Federal Pacific, Zinsco and fuse boxes. Several carriers writing in Mobile County either surcharge or decline these. Worth a call to your agent before you decide, since the premium change sometimes covers a chunk of the job.

Yes, through Affirm, subject to their approval. See our financing page for how it works.

No. We don’t take deposits on any job, including panel and service work. You pay when it’s finished.

Other Services We Provide

Breakers that trip, outlets that quit, lights that flicker.

100-amp panels, fuse boxes and recalled brands replaced properly.

Aluminum branch wiring, knob-and-tube and two-prong outlets.

Dedicated circuits, dryer and range outlets, hot tub circuits.

Panel-mounted protection against storm and grid surges.

Sizing, permitting, transfer switch and start-up.

Level 2 chargers on a properly sized dedicated circuit.

Swapped out for $150, fixture supplied by you or by us.

Swapped out for $150, fixture supplied by you or by us.

If it is not on this list, call and we will tell you straight, or point you to someone who does it.