Home 3 Signs You Need A Panel Upgrade For Your San Mateo Home

Electricity has a fairly long journey before it finds its way into your home, and when it does, your electrical panel serves as the gateway into your San Mateo home. Your electrical panel is responsible for taking the power from the line outside your home and distributing it throughout your house to where it is needed, but if your electrical panel is a bit older, it might not be able to distribute the kind of power your home needs, or might not be able to do so safely.

When this is the case, one of the best things you can do for your home is make the call to our professional San Mateo electricians, and let us provide you with a high quality panel upgrade. In an effort to help you know when the time is right to do so, our team of skilled professionals have taken the time to put together this short list highlighting just a few of the more common signs that you are in need of an upgrade. We hope you will read through and give our team of professionals a call to schedule your electrical panel upgrade today.

You Have A Fuse Panel

Fuse panels were the predecessors to the modern circuit breaker panels that are used in most homes today, and while a home that runs on fuses isn’t inherently dangerous, they are more likely to present you with a fire hazard as they are somewhat outdated. In fact, there are even some insurance companies that will refuse to cover a home with a fuse box in place. If your home is one of the few still using an outdated fuse box, it is likely time to call in the pros and have them replace your old electrical panel with an updated circuit breaker panel that is both safer and more convenient.

Dimming Lights & Tripping Breakers

If you have noticed that the lights around your home tend to flicker or dim from time to time, especially anytime a computer or other electrical appliance flips on, it could be a sign that your current electrical panel isn’t equipped to distribute the amount of power your home requires to operate effectively. Electrical needs in homes have changed a great deal in recent years, with modern homes requiring a great deal more energy than they used to even 10 to 15 years ago, and if your old electrical panel isn’t able to properly distribute the kind of power your home needs, you could find yourself with dimming and flickering lights, as well as constantly tripping breakers.

Dependence On Power Strips

While using power strips isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and can actually be beneficial in some circumstances, it is important to make sure that you are using them for the right reasons. If you are using power strips as an in-home form of surge protection, there likely isn’t an issue, but if you find yourself using power strips all throughout your home because you don’t have the number of outlets you need, you could be putting your older electrical panel under a serious amount of strain. If you find yourself using a large number of power strips around your home, it might be a good idea to go ahead and upgrade your electrical panel to ensure you aren’t putting your system at risk of overloading and leading to an electrical fire.