How a panel upgrade actually goes, and the timeline
A panel upgrade starts on paper, not with tools. A licensed electrician sizes the work with a load calculation, then pulls an electrical permit with your city or county. If you are raising the service size, the electrician also files with the utility, because the utility owns the wires feeding your home. This coordination is why the schedule spans days, even though the hands-on work is short.
On the work day, the utility cuts power to your home at the meter or the pole. The electrician removes the old panel, mounts the new panel, and moves every circuit onto new breakers. A full service upgrade also replaces the parts that carry power into the house, such as the meter base and the mast. Grounding and bonding are corrected to current code before anything is closed up.
Power stays off while the panel is open, often for much of a day. A jurisdiction inspector then checks the work before the utility restores power. On a like-for-like swap the whole job can finish in a day. A full service increase that waits on utility and inspector scheduling can stretch across a week or more.
What really moves your price
Target amperage is the first lever. A 100A panel suits older or smaller homes, 200A is the modern standard, and 400A serves large homes or heavy loads like an EV charger paired with a heat pump. A higher service size means larger conductors, a larger panel, and often utility-side changes, so the price climbs with the amps.
The bigger split is a like-for-like swap versus a full service upgrade. Swapping an old panel for a new one at the same amperage is the simpler job. Raising the service size pulls in the meter base, the mast, and the utility service drop, which adds parts, labor, and coordination. That difference moves the number more than almost anything else.
Site conditions fill in the rest. A panel in a tight closet, a finished basement, or a hard-to-reach exterior wall takes longer to work. Grounding and bonding brought up to current code can add ground rods or bonding at the water and gas lines. Old or damaged wiring found during the swap may need repair before the new panel can be energized safely.
Permits, utility coordination, and inspection
A panel upgrade is permitted, inspected work, and that is a feature, not red tape. The permit puts a jurisdiction inspector on the job to confirm the panel, breakers, grounding, and bonding meet current code. That inspection is what protects you at resale and with your insurer. Skipping it leaves unverified work behind your walls.
The utility must be involved whenever the service size changes or the meter is touched. Only the utility can safely disconnect and reconnect the wires feeding your home. The electrician schedules that shutoff and restoration, so your job moves at the pace the utility can support. This is normal and expected on a service upgrade.
Grounding and bonding are the safety core of the job. Current code often requires ground rods and bonding of metal water and gas piping to give fault current a safe path. An older home may never have had this done correctly. Bringing it up to code is a common line item, and it is one you should want done.
How to hire and vet the electrician
Hire a licensed electrician, and confirm the license number yourself. This is not handyman work. The right contractor pulls the permit in their own name and expects the inspection. If a bidder wants you to pull the permit as the homeowner, treat that as a warning, because it can shift liability onto you.
Ask for a load calculation. A proper bid is built on the real demand of your home, not a round guess. The calculation shows why the recommended amperage fits your loads today and the ones you plan to add. It also keeps you from paying for far more service than you will ever use.
Get itemized bids from more than one electrician. A clear bid separates the panel, breakers, permit, grounding, and any service-entrance work such as the meter base and mast. Line items let you compare bids honestly and spot what one contractor included that another left out. Use the calculator above to sanity-check the overall range before you sign.
Red flags and ways to avoid overpaying
No permit is the largest red flag. An electrician who offers to skip the permit is offering to skip the inspection that verifies the work. Unpermitted panel work can surface at resale, fail an appraisal, and complicate an insurance claim. The small permit cost buys real protection, so never trade it away.
Watch for oversizing sold as future-proofing. Jumping to 400A when your loads and plans fit 200A adds cost without adding value. A load calculation settles this with numbers instead of sales pressure. Pay for the service size your home needs, plus sensible headroom, not for the largest panel on the shelf.
Reject unlicensed work and vague bids. An unlicensed installer, a cash-only deal with no paperwork, or a refusal to schedule inspection all point to trouble. So does a single lump-sum price with no breakdown. Insist on a licensed electrician, an itemized bid, a pulled permit, and a passed inspection before power is restored.