How Often Should You Replace or Upgrade Your Electrical Panel?

Your electrical panel is the heart of your home or business’s electrical system. It distributes electricity to every part of your property, ensuring your lights, appliances, and devices function properly. But like any essential component, electrical panels don’t last forever, and keeping them up to date is crucial for both safety and performance.

At Hoffer Electric, we’ve been helping homeowners and businesses in Los Angeles upgrade and replace their electrical panels for decades. In this guide, we’ll walk you through how often you should consider replacing your electrical panel and the signs that indicate it’s time for an upgrade.

The Typical Lifespan of an Electrical Panel

Most electrical panels have a lifespan of 25 to 40 years, depending on their quality and the demands placed on them. However, many older homes and buildings in Los Angeles still have panels that are well past their prime, putting them at risk for electrical issues.

If your property’s electrical panel is approaching 30 years old, or if you’re unsure how old it is, it’s worth having a licensed electrician inspect it to assess its condition and determine whether it’s time for an upgrade.

Signs It’s Time to Replace or Upgrade Your Electrical Panel

Several warning signs can indicate that your electrical panel is outdated, overworked, or malfunctioning. If you notice any of these issues, it may be time to replace or upgrade your panel:

Frequent Circuit Breaker Trips: If your breakers trip regularly, it’s a sign that your panel is struggling to handle the load. This could be due to outdated wiring or too many appliances drawing power from the same circuit.
Flickering or Dimming Lights: Flickering or dimming lights, especially when using certain appliances, can indicate an overloaded electrical system or a panel that’s not distributing power effectively.
Burning Smells or Scorch Marks: Any signs of burning smells, heat, or scorch marks around the panel or outlets are serious red flags. These could be signs of faulty wiring or an electrical overload that could lead to a fire.
Rust or Corrosion: If there’s visible rust or corrosion on your electrical panel, it’s likely compromised and could fail. Moisture exposure is dangerous for electrical components and increases the risk of electrical failure or fire.
Outdated Fuse Boxes: If your home or building still uses a fuse box rather than a circuit breaker panel, it’s long overdue for an upgrade. Fuse boxes are no longer considered safe or sufficient for modern electrical needs.
Insufficient Power for Modern Appliances: Older electrical panels were not designed to handle the power demands of today’s homes and commercial buildings. If you’ve recently added high-power appliances (such as electric car chargers, HVAC systems, or new kitchen appliances), your panel may not have the capacity to support them.

Upgrading Your Electrical Panel: Benefits and Considerations

Upgrading or replacing your electrical panel is a significant investment, but it brings several important benefits that enhance the safety, performance, and efficiency of your property:

Enhanced Safety: Modern electrical panels come with improved safety features that reduce the risk of electrical fires and shocks. Upgrading ensures your system meets current safety codes.
Increased Capacity: Upgrading to a higher-capacity panel allows you to add new appliances and devices without overloading your system. This is especially important if you’re planning a home or office renovation, adding new rooms, or installing high-energy-demand appliances like electric vehicles or central air conditioning.
Improved Energy Efficiency: A new electrical panel can improve the efficiency of your electrical system, leading to lower energy consumption and utility bills. It ensures that power is distributed more effectively throughout your property.
Higher Property Value: An updated electrical panel increases the value of your property. Potential buyers are more likely to purchase a home or commercial building with a modern, safe electrical system that can handle future power needs.
replace electrical panel

How Often Should You Schedule Inspections?

Even if you don’t think it’s time for an upgrade yet, regular electrical inspections are crucial for maintaining the health of your panel and overall electrical system. Hoffer Electric recommends scheduling an inspection every 3 to 5 years for residential properties and more frequently for commercial buildings with higher electrical loads.

Inspections help catch early signs of wear and tear, allowing for preventive maintenance before bigger problems arise.

Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late

Upgrading your electrical panel before it becomes a serious hazard is key to avoiding costly repairs or dangerous situations. Whether you’re experiencing frequent electrical issues, planning a renovation, or simply have an older panel, it’s worth consulting a professional electrician to assess your needs.

At Hoffer Electric, we specialize in panel upgrades and replacements for homes and businesses throughout Los Angeles. We’re here to provide expert guidance and ensure your electrical system is safe, efficient, and up to date.

Concerned about the condition of your electrical panel? Contact Hoffer Electric today for a consultation and ensure your home or business is protected with a modern, reliable electrical system.

Hoffer Electric: Install Landscape Lighting and Increase Home Value

There are several ways you can increase the value of your property and adding landscape lighting is one of them. In addition, doing so not only makes your home beautiful, but it also creates a sight that your neighbors will admire. As a result, a home with a well-planned and executed landscape design can increase the value by up to 20%. Hiring a Los Angeles Hoffer electric electrician to install your landscape lighting makes your home safer, cozier, and more appealing. Here are some tips from professionals:

Plan your landscape lighting

Firstly, the first thing to do is to create a landscape lighting plan by creating an illustration of your own yard or garden. To make things easier, use a DIY landscape design template.

Next, identify which locations where you want lighting based on your outdoor activities. Then, mark the locations where you need lighting after dark. Next is to determine the type of lighting you need.

For focal points, you may need spotlights or maybe lights with special architectural features for an aesthetic appeal. You can also use ambiance lighting for sitting areas or hardscape lights for structures like pools or pergola; then classify these lighting fixtures into categories.

Consider using multiple layers

Instead of grouping a lot of fixtures to create a bright spotlight, a professional electrician from Los Angeles recommend that you position a number of spotlights with varying angles towards the object you want to illuminate. This creates layers and silhouettes for a more dramatic effect.

Layout the components that you need

For light fixtures on your pathways light fixtures that you install on the ground, set them between 8 and 10 feet apart. Layout a low voltage cable along your concrete walkway making sure that you follow the line of the light fixtures.

If your lighting system consumes a total of 200-watt or less, use a 14-gauge cable or a 12-gauge cable for systems that use over 200 watts. If you encounter an obstacle in laying out the cable, string the cable around or under it.

Test the lighting

Finally, test each fixture for the voltage level using a digital voltage meter. An extremely low reading is an indication of a poor connection somewhere in your system or that there are too many lights in the circuit. You can do small voltage adjustments by using a transformer’s voltage controls.

Once you have tested all the lights and are all at proper readings, it’s time to clean up the area around each of the fixtures. Your job is now complete. For any issues you cannot resolve, it’s recommended to consult an professional electrician in Los Angeles to help you out.

We have what you need

Landscape lighting will instantly add to your home’s curb appeal. A few lights that are well-placed transforms a dark backyard into an inviting entertainment area. Additionally, landscape lighting accents the features in your garden or yard. As important, provide safety lighting around stairs, sitting areas, and paths.

To ensure that the installation of the lightings is both safe and professionally done, you need the services of our experts at Hoffer Electric. Call us now at (818) 999-4190 if you’re from Culver City, Encino, Sherman Oaks, Bel Air, Pasadena, Santa Monica, Woodland Hills, Tarzana or Manhattan Beach to discuss your lighting needs.

Solution on Circuit Breaker by Dale Hoffer, Electrician in Los Angeles

It could be quite annoying when your circuit breaker keeps tripping; leaving you to always having to go back to the panel to reset it. A circuit breaker is an essential safety mechanism that shuts off the electric current when there is an electrical problem. It is the safest way to protect your property from electrical fires. When your circuit breaker trips too often, it’s recommended to call an electrician in Los Angeles to find out the causes of the problem; but you can also do a little investigating to see if it’s something you can take care of.

For overloaded circuit breakers

When too many devices are plugged in, circuit breakers shut off the main panel box’s circuit. This prevents overheating; thus, reducing the risk of fire. You can avoid overloading by simply turning off some devices connected to the overloaded circuit. This eases the load.

You can also unplug electrical appliances that you’re not using to get rid of phantom loads. When using extension cords, never add the number of electrical devices you plug in.

The best way to deal with too many devices is to install new outlets in your home or add another circuit. You can have this solution handled by a licensed an electrician in Los Angeles.

Problem with short circuits?

If you observe that using a particular appliance causes your circuit breaker to trip, try plugging this into an outlet in another room. If the circuit breaker for that rooms still trips, then the problem lies in the device as it could have a short.

Have a repairman fix the appliance to avoid the risk of getting an electrical shock. A short circuit might also occur in an outlet or a wall switch. For instance, if the circuit breaker trips each time you turn on a certain light or plug a device into a specific outlet, this indicates where the issue is.

For your own safety, call a professional to inspect the problem and repair it. In the meantime, discontinue using the outlet or switch until you have resolved the problem.

Ground faults or outdated electrical systems

A short circuit also happens when a hot wire comes in contact with a grounding wire. This time, however, faulty or damaged equipment results in ground faults. If you think that there is a ground fault, call a professional electrician in Los Angeles to deal with the problem.

Professionals handle the inspection of the wirings and make the necessary repairs. It’s almost a certainty that the electrical wirings in older homes cannot handle the demands of modern conveniences. The most practical solution to circuit breakers that trip is to update the whole electrical system.

We have what you need

If you can’t pinpoint what is the problem, let one of our experts at Hoffer Electric deal with it. When it comes to electrical issues, it is recommended to not DIY; as the handling of electrical components in your home could be very dangerous.

We handle different kinds of electrical problems, especially the ones that cause tripping in your circuit breakers. Call us at (323) 922-5205 Our electrician in Los Angeles help clients from Culver City, Encino, Sherman Oaks, Bel Air, Pasadena, Santa Monica, Woodland Hills, Tarzana, and Manhattan Beach fix electrical issues.

Hoffer Electric’s Residential Electrician for Setting Up Your Home Office

Tired of hiring office space or working for the company you’re employed in? Would like to start working remotely? There are many benefits to this such as growth potential and cost savings but before starting working at home, ensure that your office is adequately set up. Doing so will improve productivity and help cultivate office ethics, here is what Hoffer Electric’s residential electrician can do for you to help with this:

Installing wireless internet CPE

One of the most important electrical components for working remotely at home is the fast internet to meet the demanding needs of doing work online. Apart from that, you also need large amounts of data bundles so it only makes sense to get an affordable home wireless internet provider.

Some of these ISPs cost an arm and a leg to install their CPE; you can try to minimize costs by buying the needed material yourself. Once you have done that, ask a residential electrician to mount it.

Adding power sockets for office equipment

There is a lot of office equipment you might need including printers, shredders, computer, the Wi-Fi router, and so forth. All of this equipment requires additional power sockets and instead of using extension cords that create safety hazards, find an electrician to add the number of sockets.

A qualified electrician can add power sockets wherever you need them where the office equipment will be placed. If you are using cable internet, an electrician can mount the relevant sockets where they need to be.

Back-up power supply

You might experience power cuts at any given moment due to faulty electrical wiring on a citywide scale. Alternatively, your own electrical distribution board might have faulty wiring and cause the main switch to trip.

When the power goes off before saving the work, that can be a problem. You can solve this problem by getting a back-up power supply unit such as a generator or UPS. An residential electrician in Simi Valley can figure out the best solution tailor-made for you.

Making the working space conducive

There are certain elements that contribute to a conducive working environment including the temperature and lighting. These elements have a direct impact on productivity and retaining concentration when working.

You can ask a professional residential electrician to install recessed lighting in Simi Valley to get enough light to work. Work without getting distracted by getting an AC unit where you can set the temperature to the perfect one.

Reach out to Hoffer Electric to get the necessary electrical wiring done

Call us on (323) 922-5205 or (818) 999-4190 to get your home office set up according to the specific requirements you request by a residential electrician. We can handle any electrical requirements that may arise when migrating to working at home. Our skills range over a variety of electrical trades; the job you need? We can get it done.

Get Computer Wiring Done from Hoffer Electric Residential Electrician

Have you just opened your business and would like to start working at home before moving to hired or purchased office space? Taking that route can be very cost-effective. It has the potential of increasing the business’s profit margins until it finds its feet in the respective industry. There is one big problem with working from home and it is setting up the computing systems for the best efficacy. In that case, you might be compelled with bringing in specialized residential electricians to install the wiring needed for the business’s success:

Computer network wiring

To improve efficiency and productivity, you might need to administrate your own computer network. Connecting the different devices used for business purposes; that might include laptops and desktop computers used by other partners in the business or the small staff you’re managing at home.

You can choose to get a professional technician to outfit any network wiring such as RJ45 and RJ11 cables. Doing so can ensure that you get optimum quality service; without any interference from other cables or electrical units installed around the house. Users can get their network cabinet fully wired and operational by asking a residential electricians to do it.

Wiring multiple monitors

Depending on the industry you are in, there might be a need for more than just one monitor. Perhaps you might like to monitor certain aspects of your workflow in different rooms in the house. Alternatively, you might just like to set up a monitor tree at the workstation used for daily tasks.

If the monitors you require are more than one and are spaced apart, then it might be challenging connecting them all in an efficient manner. For example, connecting monitors with more than 50 feet distance using an HDMI can be unreliable. In those cases, you need a residential electrician in Simi Valley to devise the perfect system such as using SDI cables and relevant converters to connect the monitors.

Connecting CCTV feed

Having CCTV feed connected to the administrator’s computer when you have a few employees working at your residential place would be beneficial. You will have the ability to monitor and ensure they do not access restricted places; used for personal purposes with friends and family.

It is essential to ask electrical experts to install the system at the home office efficiently. You can also use the CCTV feed to add a level of security to the equipment at the home office. You can ask an electrical contractor in Simi Valley to install the required wiring, mount the cameras at crucial points, and loop the feed back to the main computer.

Ask our professional experts for your computer wiring needs

You can come to us for any of the above mentioned technical requirements. Even if your needs fall outside of these criteria we can come up with the most practical and efficient solution. We are one of the residential electricians service providers and we’ll be happy to hear from you, call us on (323) 922-5205 or (818) 999-4190.

Call Dale Hoffer, The Residential Electrician Expert

With the abundance of information due to websites and YouTube video tutorials, many people might lead people to believe they should do everything themselves. In electrical systems, one mistake can result in catastrophe and this is why you should try by all means to avoid DIY activities of this trade. Call the residential electrician at Hoffer Electric because there are other reasons that make DIY electrical troubleshooting dangerous and end up being more expensive. Here are a few of them:

Buying and using the wrong equipment

A misdiagnosis of the actual problem can lead to buying and installing the wrong components. You can also make a mistake on the specifications of the components and cause the supply to be too weak to power your system.

Some of these parts and equipment are not refundable so buying the wrong components can lead to a lot of wasted money. Using the wrong equipment might also compromise the quality of the system exponentially.

Risk of starting an electrical fire

Individuals that are inexperienced in electrical system troubleshooting will be doing more of trial and error. The only problem is that it is the lives of the occupants living in the house that is on the balance.

By misdiagnosing a problem, you might even start an electrical that might burn the whole house down. To avoid all of this risk, get a 24/7 electrician that will respond at any time of day and even at midnight to diagnose and fix the problem.

Wiring the circuit wrongly

If troubleshooting your own electrical problems requires unwiring the circuit or taking some systems apart, it might be hard putting them back the way they were. When rewiring the circuit, it is easy to make a mistake; putting the lives of you and your family at risk.

To troubleshoot the electrical problems you’re facing, find an electrician to do it for you. Professional electricians will not make that mistake of wiring the circuit wrongly, making the system safe to use.

Exacerbating the problems by producing inaccurate troubleshooting result

When an unqualified individual attempts electrical troubleshooting, he might make a minor a major issue before he even notices. Reaching inaccurate conclusions can make the problem worse; requiring even more funds because of the further damage done to the equipment.

Instead of attempting DIY electrical troubleshooting as an electrical repair company to do it for you. Choosing to do this will save considerable amounts of money in the long run; the electrical system will last longer.

Call Dale Hoffer to troubleshoot your electrical problems

You can count on us to get your electrical systems checked out to determine its safety. We promise to deliver quality service and very accurate troubleshooting results. All you have to do is pick up the phone and call us on (323) 922-5205 or (818) 999-4190 to get a residential electrician in Simi Valley. We will troubleshoot your whole systems and render them safe again.

How Often Should You Replace or Upgrade Your Electrical Panel?