What is an electrical panel?
An electrical panel (a.k.a. breaker panel) is a metal box with a door, usually built into a wall in an out-of-the-way corner of your home. Inside, you’ll find all your home’s breaker switches.
You can toggle breaker switches on and off. They’ll also shut off automatically when there’s too much electrical current running through them — that’s what they’re for.
Within the electrical panel, you’ll find a main circuit breaker that controls the power to the entire house. You’ll also see individual breakers, each responsible for providing the electricity to a specific part of your home. Each breaker should have a label that identifies the area of the house it controls.
Some older homes don’t have breakers; they have fuses instead. If you have a fuse box, you won’t see any switches on your electrical panel; you’ll see screw-in fuses. If your home still uses a fuse box, you may have difficulty getting insurance, or you may have to pay a higher rate. We’ll address fuses and home insurance further down the page.
The power to your home comes through an electrical meter outside, which routes power to your electrical panel. You can shut off this main feed of electricity using the main breaker in your electrical panel. Your main breaker also tells you the amperage of your electrical service (amperage is the strength of the electrical current).
Home electric services in Canada range from 60 to 400 amps. Most electrical codes mandate at least 100-amp service.
Home insurance providers are often interested in your home’s amperage. If it’s less than 100, you might need to update your system. Sub-100 amperage could make it difficult for you to find insurance for your home; at the very least, you’ll need to pay a higher rate.
How to locate your panel
Electrical panels are metal boxes, typically grey in colour. They’re usually embedded in a wall.
Electrical panels have doors (or at least, they should). Behind the door, you’ll find an assortment of wires and switches — those switches are your breakers.
Electrical panels are normally in an out-of-the-way part of your home. Basements, storage rooms, laundry rooms, or garages are all common places to install an electrical panel. In older homes, you might even have to look outside the house to find your panel.
If you live in an apartment, you’ll usually find your electrical panel right next to the entrance to your unit.
Most homes have just one electrical panel, though some may have subpanels, especially homes that have multiple living units. See the common questions section for more on subpanels.
How does an electrical panel work?
Circuit breakers trip (that is, shut off) when the circuit is overloaded. They’re safety devices, meant to prevent damage to electrical devices or to the home itself. If the breaker didn’t trip and shut off the power, overloaded circuits could start fires or electrocute someone.
Each breaker controls one circuit; each circuit usually corresponds to a room or an area of the house. Power-hungry devices like electric ranges or air conditioners might have their own breaker.
A breaker is designed to carry a certain electrical load; if the electrical load grows too large for the breaker, it shuts off. This happens if you have too many devices plugged into one circuit, for example.
There are assorted sizes of breakers depending on how much electricity they need to handle. Like the home’s electrical service, individual breakers are divided by what amperage they can handle. Breakers range from 15 to 200 amps; most are either 15, 20, or 30 amps, though.
Breakers also have voltage ratings; a single circuit breaker is normally provides 120 volts — the typical amount needed for lights, TVs, etc. A double circuit breaker is rated for 240 volts. This is for the big appliances that draw a lot of power, such as a stove or electric dryer.
When the breaker trips, all you need to do is flip the switch to reset it. In older homes with fuse boxes, you can’t just reset it; you need to replace the whole fuse if it blows.
How much does it cost to change or upgrade an electrical panel?
The cost to upgrade your home’s electrical panel varies widely depending on the scope of the work, but you should expect to pay (very roughly) $2,000 – $2,500. That’s for 100-amp service; the price will be higher if you need to rewire your home for 200+ amps.
The only way to be sure about the cost is to have an electrician (or better yet: 3 different electricians) give you detailed quotes.
There are two reasons you’d want to upgrade your electrical panel: your service doesn’t provide enough power for your home, or you have fuses instead of breakers.
If your home has a fuse box, or your electrical service is below 100 amps, you should upgrade. Even if you already have 100-amp service, you might need to upgrade to 200- or 400-amp service, as many homes are running at capacity on 100-amp service.
If you’re not sure your electrical panel is enough, you can have an electrician estimate your service usage and tell you if you need an upgrade or not.
Electric Code Circuit Breaker Panel Box Requirements
Building codes govern electrical panels. For safety reasons, panels need to adhere to many standard requirements.
Building codes in Canada are different in each province and municipality, but generally speaking, they dictate:
- The height at which the breaker box must be.
- The location of the breaker box within the house. For example, they can’t be in a bathroom.
- The accessibility of the breaker box. As in, the box can’t be behind a bookshelf, and always must have clear space to open the panel door.
- The breakers must be clearly labelled. That includes their amperage ratings and which parts of they house they control.
There are tons of other technical electric code requirements for breaker boxes. But, unless you’re an electrician, you don’t need to worry; work on breaker boxes and electrical wiring should always be done by a qualified person.
