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Old Electrical Panel Replacement
Breaker brands matter here, because some are no longer made and some were never good. A panel is the one part of a house every other circuit depends on, so it is the part worth measuring before anyone touches it.
Old Electrical Panel Replacement in O’Fallon and across St. Charles, St. Louis, Lincoln and Warren counties.
Clint Ehman does the work himself. Seventeen years in the trade, Infinity Electric since June 2022.
5.0 from 94 Google reviews · BBB A+ since 2022
What this work actually involves
Every circuit is identified and labeled on the directory before the cover goes back on, because the next person in that panel needs to read it.
First the reading, then the explanation, then the repair scoped to what was actually found. If that turns out smaller than the job you called about, that is what you are charged for.
Work needing a permit gets one and work needing an inspection is left ready for it. There is no handoff between whoever quotes and whoever fixes, because they are the same person.
When people call about this
- Lights that dim when a large appliance starts
- Breakers that trip under normal load
- A panel brand an inspector flags on sight
- Scorch marks, heat or a smell at the cover
Why people choose Clint for it
A one-person shop cannot be in two places at once, so you get a real date instead of a window. What you also get is the same person every time.
Seventeen years in the trade, four of them on his own, 5.0 from 94 Google reviews and an A+ BBB accreditation since 2022.
Where this is done
A roughly fifty mile working radius from O’Fallon, covering thirty municipalities across five jurisdictions in the St. Louis metro.
See the full service area, or the rest of our panels & service work.
How the load actually gets calculated
A load calculation is arithmetic, not a guess. Square footage sets a baseline, then the fixed appliances get added at their nameplate ratings: the range, the dryer, the water heater if it is electric, the air conditioning, and anything else with its own circuit. The largest of the heating or cooling loads counts, not both.
What comes out is a number in amps. Compare it to the service rating and you know whether the house is near its limit or nowhere close. That is the whole decision, and it is why the measurement happens before anyone quotes a panel.
What the utility controls and what you do
Everything from the transformer to the meter belongs to Ameren. The meter base, the service entrance conductors, the mast and everything inside belong to the house. The split matters because it decides who pays and who schedules.
Work crossing that line needs a utility disconnect on a scheduled day, which is the single biggest factor in how long a panel job takes. That date gets established before the work is booked, not discovered on the morning.
Panels: full, overloaded, or obsolete
Three different problems get called the same thing. A full panel has no space left but adequate service. An overloaded service cannot carry the house. An obsolete panel has a known defect or no available parts. Each has a different and very differently priced answer.
The load calculation and a look at the bus with the cover off decide which one you have. A sub-panel solves the first for a fraction of the third.
Why two panels of the same age differ
Two houses built the same year can have panels in completely different condition, because what matters is what has been done to them since. A panel that has been added to carefully is sound at thirty years. One that has had tandem breakers forced into a bus not rated for them is not sound at fifteen.
So age is a weak signal and the cover being off is a strong one. What gets looked at is the bus, the lugs, the breaker fit and the grounding, and those four tell you more than the date on the label.
What the price actually depends on
Three things move the number on almost every job: how far the run has to travel and what it passes through, whether the existing panel has space and the service has capacity, and whether the municipality wants a permit and an inspection. None of those is visible from the phone call, which is why the measurement comes before the quote.
What does not move it is urgency theatre. There is no inflated figure waiting to be discounted, and no bundle built so the thing you called about cannot be bought on its own.
“Clint came out installed me a large 200 amp panel put some new dedicated lines in my basement and garage he did great clean work all inspections passed he was thorough and knowledgeable. I will have him back out again.”
Jason Holtzman · Google review
How the visit goes
- The call
You describe what the house is doing and what prompted it: a tripping breaker, an inspector’s note, a planned addition. That shapes what gets measured first.
- The measurement
Load across the service under real conditions, voltage at the main, the condition of every lug and the bus. On an older panel, the breaker brand gets identified, because some have no listed replacement still made.
- The finding
You get the number and what it means. If the service carries what the house asks of it, you hear that, and the conversation becomes a sub-panel or a single circuit instead of a service upgrade.
- The work
Permit where required, utility coordinated for the disconnect, new equipment installed, every circuit identified and labeled, and the site left ready for the inspector.
What the job includes
- A load calculation against what the house actually runs, given to you as a number
- Permit application where the municipality requires one
- New panel, breakers and a legible circuit directory
- Utility coordination for the disconnect and reconnect
- Grounding and bonding brought to current requirements
- The site left ready for inspection, and the inspection attended
What it does not
- Drywall repair beyond the panel opening
- Appliance repair, which is a different trade
- Work on the utility side of the meter, which is the utility’s own
Plumbing, HVAC and structural work get a pointer to someone who does them properly. Finished work is in the gallery. To book, pick a day.
Related panels & service work
Old Electrical Panel Replacement across the metro
Five jurisdictions, five different sets of conditions. The housing stock changes as you cross this metro, and so does what the job involves.
St. Louis County
Dozens of municipalities, each with its own occupancy inspection and its own thresholds. Knowing which authority has the address matters as much as knowing the house.
St. Louis City
St. Louis City is century brick with shared walls and basement panels that have been added to five times. Code corrections and occupancy inspections are the common call.
Lincoln County
Distance is the design factor out here. A run to a shop or a well house is often hundreds of feet, which makes voltage drop a real calculation rather than a textbook one.
Every municipality covered is listed on the service areas page.
Questions worth asking first.
How do I know if my panel brand is a problem?
Federal Pacific Stab-Lok and Zinsco both have documented failure-to-trip histories and no current listed replacement breaker, so the panel gets replaced rather than repaired. The label on the door identifies it in seconds.
Do I need a permit for panel work?
In every municipality in this footprint, yes, plus an inspection and a scheduled utility disconnect. That is why a panel change is a planned day rather than a same-day call.
Do I need a bigger service, or just more space in the panel?
Those are different problems. A full panel with spare capacity takes a sub-panel or tandem breakers. A panel that is out of capacity takes a service upgrade, and the load calculation tells us which one you have before anything is ordered.
How long have you been doing this?
Clint has seventeen years in the trade and has been running his own shop out of O’Fallon since 2022.
What do your reviews say?
5.0 from 94 Google reviews, and A+ accreditation with the BBB held since 2022. The reviews are on the reviews page with links to where each was posted.
Tell him what the house is doing.
You will get a reading and a straight answer about what it means, including the answer where the fix is small. Old Electrical Panel Replacement in O’Fallon and across the metro.
Hours are Mon-Thu 8-5, Fri 8-4, Sat 10-3 · or type it out.