Panel Upgrades · Edmonton · Master Electrician #13824
Panel upgrades from $2,200
A standard panel upgrade runs $2,200 to $6,500. A panel swap with no service upsize runs $2,200 to $4,000. A full overhead 100 amp to 200 amp service upgrade, with a new mast and meter base, starts at $6,500. A Leviton smart panel runs up to $10,000. You get one flat number before I start.
Same week availability on most panel upgrades. Free quote, no obligation.
Permit pulled in your name, inspection booked, and I am there when the inspector shows up. No subcontractors. That is me, Dmitry Naboka, Master Electrician #13824, 14 years on the tools.
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I call back from (780) 904-3462 the same day, or first thing next morning. No pitch.
Got it. Dmitry will call from (780) 904-3462 the same day, or first thing next morning.
Master Electrician #13824. Reply STOP to opt out anytime.What Edmonton homeowners say
Verbatim from our Google Business Profile. Click through and verify any of them yourself.
We had Dimitry to do all the electrical when we finished the basement for an in-law suite. When we had our final inspection we failed. We called Dimitry and told him and he showed up the next day to address the issues on the inspection report. He has made all the repairs required by the inspector and has offered to be here when the inspection is being done to ensure all is fine. We are very happy with the service.
Demitry provided outstanding service when I was in a difficult situation with my previous electrician. He showed up when I needed help the most and fixed an issue that my previous electrician said could not be fixed. He communicated clearly, was honest throughout the entire process, and charged a fair and reasonable price. His friendly personality and professionalism made a stressful situation much easier. Demitry is now my go-to electrician, and I highly recommend him to anyone looking for reliable, trustworthy, and professional service.
Start With What You Have
Tap the age of your house. I will show you the box I usually open in one that age, and then the one number that actually settles it.
The era is my guess. The number on your main breaker is the answer, and you can read it yourself in about ten seconds.
On a fuse box there is no toggle to read, so look for the number on the main cartridge block or on the meter base outside.
Sources, checked 20 August 2026:City of Edmonton load calculation sheet, Rule 8-200(1)(a)Single dwelling worksheet, the 24 000 W and 14 400 W minimums
The Calculation Nobody Shows You
This is the real Rule 8-200 arithmetic, running live. Tap what is in your house and watch the number that decides whether you need an upgrade at all.
Above grade living area, not counting the basement.
Gas furnace and gas hot water are assumed unless you tick otherwise, because that is most of Edmonton.
The number you just read off your main breaker.
Rule 8-106(8). When you are adding a load to a service that already exists, the code lets me calculate it a different way: your actual metered peak demand over the last twelve months, taken from the utility, plus the nameplate of the thing you are adding. Real houses almost never draw what the 8-200 calculation says they could.
So a house that fails the calculation above can still pass on demonstrated demand. I pull the data, do both, and send you whichever one is true. If that means I do not get to sell you a service upgrade, so be it.
The rule is national CEC text. Source, checked 20 August 2026:Technical Safety BC bulletin quoting Rule 8-106(8) in full
It rounds toward the safe side. Electric heat is counted at full nameplate here. Section 62 sometimes allows less, which I work out by hand. So if this tool says you are close, you may actually be fine.
What is in it: the basic load from your area, electric heat or air conditioning taking the larger of the two only where an interlock stops them running together, under Rule 8-106(3), a single electric range, tankless and hot tub water heating at 100%, and EV supply equipment at 100%. Then the floor from Rule 8-200(1)(b), which is 24,000 W at 80 m² or more and 14,400 W under that.
What is not in it: a standard electric tank water heater, a welder, a shop, a suite, and anything else I would find by walking the house. Rule 8-110 also counts part of a finished basement into your living area, which nudges the first number up. I use above grade area here to keep it honest and simple.
This is the arithmetic, not the permit. The number that goes on the permit is one I sign my licence to, and it comes off a walkthrough. Master Electrician #13824.
Sources, checked 20 August 2026:City of Edmonton load calculation sheet, Rule 8-200(1)(a)Single dwelling worksheet, the 24 000 W and 14 400 W minimumsIAEI on residential load calculations
Before you spend anything
Here is what actually means the panel is the problem.
If none of that is happening, you probably do not need one. I will say so on the phone and you will not hear from me again.
The Money
Standard or premium comes down to the panel you pick.
Bar length is the top of each band on one $10,000 scale. Underground, where the supply cable has to be upsized, gets priced after I see the run.
If I find something behind the cover that changes the number, you hear it before I touch it. Not after.
Two tiers
Standard is what I put in by default. It does the job, full stop. The Leviton is the premium option, for when you want every circuit on your phone.
Standard
$2,200 to $6,500
New panel and breakers. A full 100 to 200 amp overhead service starts at $6,500. Siemens or Square D, the regular brands.
Premium
Up to $10,000
My Leviton job, 37 smart breakers, came in around $10,000.
Neither number is a quote. Your panel gets its own number after I see it.
Panel and Service
How It Runs
Panel with the door open, meter outside. Usually enough for me to price it without coming out.
In writing, before anything is booked. No allowance that quietly grows once the cover is off.
The permit goes in your name. If power comes off at the pole, I set that date with the utility.
Power off most of a working day. New panel in, circuits labelled, inspector signs off with me on site.
One Thing Worth Saying
If solar is anywhere on your list, tell me before I order the panel. The same work costs two very different amounts depending on when you say it.
While the cover is offAlmost nothingSize the service and leave breaker space on the same visit
Coming back in two yearsReal moneyPaying a second time to open the same box
That is the only reason I am bringing it up. See what solar costs in Edmonton.
Questions
PermitIn your nameI pull it, book the inspection, and stand there for it
Power offMost of a working dayA second day only if the meter base goes too
200A for an EVNot alwaysA load calculation decides it, not a rule of thumb
Panel now, solar laterYesTell me and I leave the breaker space while it is open
A standard panel upgrade runs $2,200 to $6,500. A panel swap with no service upsize runs $2,200 to $4,000. A full overhead 100 amp to 200 amp service upgrade, with a new mast and meter base, starts at $6,500.
The premium route is a Leviton smart panel, up to $10,000, so the whole range is $2,200 to $10,000. The one I did with 37 smart breakers came in around $10,000. Underground jobs, where the supply cable has to be upsized and directional drilling is needed to reach the transformer, get priced after I see the run.
One flat number before work starts. See the three bands on one scale.
Most are a one day job. Old panel out, new one in, inspection booked around it. If the meter base or service entrance also has to go, it can run into a second day. I tell you which one you are looking at when I quote.
Yes, and it gets pulled in your name. I handle the paperwork, book the inspection, and I am on site when the inspector arrives. If someone offers to swap your panel without a permit, that becomes your problem with your insurer and when you sell.
Yes. Power is off while the panel is changed, so plan for most of a working day. If the utility has to disconnect at the pole, that window is on their schedule, so I confirm the date with them before I book you.
Not always. Plenty of Edmonton homes run a charger on 100 amp service once a load calculation is done, sometimes with a load management device instead. The calculation decides it, not a rule of thumb. I run it before I tell you to spend money.
Yes, and that is the right order if the panel is already tired. Tell me solar is coming and I will size the service and leave breaker space while the cover is off, so you are not paying twice to open the same box.
Build your job
Tick what you want done, the same way you would fill a shopping cart. Your list drops into the form below. No cart and no payment, just the list.
Your list
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No cart and no payment. Your list opens in the contact form, ready to send.
Our Work
Real job, a horse ranch
Old school farmer wiring in a panel sunk into an outside wall, with breakers that would not trip. Here is how I found it, and how I left it.
FoundDust and outside air getting in. Parts starting to rust.
FixedNew panel mounted on the face of the wall, not sunk into it.
FoundSome breakers were not tripping. A breaker that does not trip protects nothing.
FixedNew panel and new breakers, every one matched to its circuit.
FoundWire too small for its breaker in spots, and breakers too small in others.
FixedEvery circuit traced, and every breaker sized to its wire.
FoundSplices inside the panel, and the circuit list written in marker on the plywood.
FixedEvery circuit traced, sorted and landed the way an electrician wires it.
FoundNew waterers going in for the horses.
FixedPut on GFCI protection, so a fault trips the circuit fast instead of staying live around the water.
A cheap panel swap moves the old problems into a new box. I trace every circuit, match every wire to its breaker, and fix what the last person left behind. City basement, acreage or horse barn, same standard.
Dmitry Naboka, Master Electrician, 14 years in the trade
Stage 1 of 5
The plywood came off around the old panel. It was recessed into a wall it shares with the outside, an old way of doing it, and it let the outside in.
Dust packed in around the breakers, rust starting on the parts, and splices tucked inside the box.
Stage 2 of 5
Before the old panel came out, the power was shut off at the service out in the yard, locked and tagged so nobody could switch it back on while we worked.
Stage 3 of 5
With the old panel out, every circuit got traced back to what it feeds before anything new went in. That is where the farmer wiring showed up.
Stage 4 of 5
The new panel mounts on the wall instead of sinking into the outside wall. Every circuit lands on a breaker sized for its wire.
Stage 5 of 5
Switches moved into new boxes beside the panel, cover on. Farmer wiring is now electrician wiring, brought up to current code.
The new waterers are on GFCI protection, so the horses can drink safely.
Before You Pay for a Full Panel Swap
Lots of shops will quote you a full 200 amp service upgrade the second you mention an EV charger or a hot tub. Sometimes that is right. Often there is a cheaper, faster fix that does the same job. Here are the three roads, honestly laid out.
Best when: you are adding one big load and your panel is otherwise fine.
Often the cheapest route. A load management device lets a big new load, like an EV charger, share your existing service safely. It backs off the charger for a moment if the house draws hard, so you never trip the main. Many homes add an EV charger on a 100 amp panel this way, no service upgrade needed. Typically the lightest cost of the three.
Best when: you are out of breaker space but not out of service capacity.
Your main panel is full of breakers but the service itself is big enough? A subpanel adds a bank of new circuits fed off the main, perfect for a garage, a shop, a basement suite, or a row of new loads. Cleaner and cheaper than swapping the whole service, and it keeps the garage on its own tidy panel.
Best when: multiple big loads, old service, or planning solar and an EV together.
The real deal when you genuinely need it. Going from 100 to 200 amp service opens the door to an EV charger, a heat pump, solar, and a hot tub all at once, with room to spare. It is the biggest job of the three, and worth every dollar when the house is truly maxed out. We size it for where you are headed, not just today.
Rough Ballpark
Every home is different, so treat these as a starting point, not a quote. We give you a firm number after a quick look.
Load management
the lightest cost
Subpanel add
the middle road
200A service upgrade
the full job
One Master Electrician looks at your panel and tells you straight which of the three you actually need. If load management does the job, that is what we will tell you.
Worth Asking Before You Book
Most homes do fine on 100A. If solar is on your list for the next few years, 200A and a panel with real breaker space left in it is the cheaper decision, and you only get to make it once. I would rather ask you now than sell you a second upgrade later.
One 200A scale. The upgrade buys you 100 more amps to work with. A 48A charger alone wants a 60A breaker, so a load calculation is what decides whether your 100A can carry it, not a rule of thumb. How the EV load calculation works.
