One of the most common issues I see in older homes and businesses is outdated electrical systems. Whether it's an ancient fuse box, aluminum wiring, or just not enough circuits to handle modern electrical loads, these antiquated setups can be serious safety hazards. Not only that, but they are incredibly inefficient, causing you to waste money every month on higher energy bills.

If your place was built before the 1980s, it's very likely that an electrical upgrade would be hugely beneficial. Here are some of the top improvements I recommend and the advantages they provide:

Upgrade Your Electrical Panel

The Heart of Your System

Your electrical panel (also called a breaker box) is the heart of your electrical system. It's what distributes power to all the individual circuits running through your walls. Older panels like fuse boxes have a much lower capacity for circuits than modern panels. This means you likely don't have enough circuits to properly separate out your electrical loads.

Having too many appliances, electronics, and lights on a single circuit leads to:

• Frequent tripped breakers or blown fuses
• Fire hazards from overloaded circuits
• Energy waste from having to cycle loads on and off
• Increased Capacity and Safety

Upgrading to a new 200 amp electrical panel with more slots for circuit breakers. This eliminates overloaded circuits and lets everything run continuously without tripping breakers. New panels also have much improved safety features like arc fault protection to prevent electrical fires. Replacing your outdated panel is an investment in the safety of your home or business.

Upgrade Your Electrical Meter

Accurate Billing and Monitoring

That old spinning disk meter on your home is a dinosaur compared to the new smart meters utilities are installing. Smart meters use digital monitoring to precisely track your energy usage down to the hour. This ensures you are billed only for the electricity you actually use instead of estimates.

Smart meters also allow you to view your usage data through online dashboards or apps. This empowers you to identify opportunities to save by seeing your peak usage times.

Having an upgraded smart meter is a prerequisite for taking advantage of money-saving programs like time-of-use billing plans where you pay less for electricity during off-peak hours. It's a simple upgrade that can wind up saving you hundreds per year.

Rewire Your Home or Business

Eliminate Hazardous Wiring

If your place still has any of the original knob and tube, aluminum, or ungrounded wiring, it needs to be replaced ASAP. These outdated wiring methods are a leading cause of electrical fires and shocks. Not only is it incredibly unsafe, but many insurance companies will refuse to cover homes with these hazardous wiring systems.

Support Higher Electrical Loads

Along with replacing any hazardous wiring, a full rewiring allows you to upgrade to larger capacity wires on new dedicated circuits. It prevents constantly tripping breakers and lets you take full advantage of your electrical system's capacity.

Rewiring is a bigger job, but it's a worthy investment that allows you to safely meet all your modern electrical needs. It also makes your home or business far more appealing to future buyers.

Add New Circuits and Outlets

Eliminate Outlet Overload

One of the most common issues I see is a shortage of outlets and circuits in key rooms like living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens and offices. This inevitably leads to a tangle of extension cords, splitters, and power strips that create tripping hazards and put outlets under unsafe load.

By adding dedicated circuits and outlets where you need them, you can safely power all your devices and electronics without overloading outlets and creating fire risks. It's also much more convenient not having to constantly swap out what's plugged in.

Support New Electrical Needs

From home offices to home theaters to electric vehicles, our electrical needs are constantly evolving. Adding new circuits gives you the capacity to support new devices as your needs change. It future-proofs your electrical system so you don't find yourself back in an overloaded situation in a few years.

Add a Whole Home Battery Backup

When emergencies arise, it's nice to have the security of a home battery backup for all your power needs.  We can install a unit to suit your unique needs.  We like the Ecoflow system, but there are lots of options to ask us about.

The Bottom Line: Efficiency, Safety, and Savings

While upgrading your electrical system does involve upfront costs, it's an investment that pays you back every day in greater efficiency, safety, and long-term energy savings. By eliminating hazards, reducing waste, and optimizing your electrical capacity, you can actually spend less running more.

I can assess your specific situation and make recommendations on what upgrades would benefit you most. But one thing is certain - if your electrical system is operating on outdated components and wiring from decades ago, it's absolutely time for an upgrade. That old fuse box and knob and tube wiring has got to go!

Upgrade Your Electrical System for Safety, Efficiency and Savings

Featured Service: Panel Upgrades 

What to Expect When You Upgrade Your Panel and The Steps to Take:

1.  Customer needs to contact their power company for 200 amp Meter spot

SCE Contact Number: 1(800)655-4555.

LADWP Contact Number: (213)367-6937

Anaheim Power Company Contact Number: (714)765-3300

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2.  (Only if necessary) Image Electric will instruct you if need a lock ring removal

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3.  Image Electric will obtain necessary permits with city

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4.  Upgrade the Panel

Image Electric will install the 200-amp panel in accordance with the meter spot provided by the power company and per city electrical codes. (Typical time without power on day of installation is 4-6 hours)

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5.  Image Electric will provide temporary power connections

The second day of the installation will be grounding, and labeling 

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6.  Walkthrough

After the power is restored, Image Electric will perform a walkthrough to ensure everything is working properly and that you understand the new panel’s features

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7.  Inspections

Typically there are 3 inspections needed for a panel upgrade

• 1st Inspection will be the rough electrical (mounting and connections)
• 2nd inspection will be lath and plaster (weather proofing)
• 3rd inspection will be final inspection (stucco repair)

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8.  After final inspection the city will provide a meter release at which time the power company will come out to make final connections and lock meter