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Subpanel Installation
A sub-panel solves a space problem; a service upgrade solves a capacity problem. They are not interchangeable. A service either carries what the house asks of it or it does not, and a load calculation answers that in numbers rather than opinions.
Subpanel Installation 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
The load gets calculated against what the house actually runs, not against a rule of thumb. If the existing service carries it, you hear that.
Nothing gets quoted off a description. The reading comes first, because a symptom has several possible causes at very different prices and only a measurement separates them.
Where a permit and an inspection are required they happen, and the site is left ready for them. One person carries the job from the first call to the final test.
When people call about this
- A panel brand an inspector flags on sight
- Scorch marks, heat or a smell at the cover
- No room left for a new circuit
- Fuses instead of breakers
Why people choose Clint for it
One person does the diagnosis and the repair, so nothing is lost between a salesman and a technician, and nobody is paid to sell past the finding.
Seventeen years in the trade, four of them running his own shop, 5.0 from 94 Google reviews, and an A+ BBB accreditation held since 2022.
Where this is done
Out of O’Fallon across five jurisdictions: St. Charles County, St. Louis County, St. Louis City, and Lincoln and Warren counties. About fifty miles in any direction.
See the full service area, or the rest of our panels & service work.
Why panels fail where they do
Failures happen at connections, because that is where heat cycles do their work. A lug that was never torqued to spec loosens, resistance climbs, and the heat discolours the bus.
That is why a panel inspection is partly a visual one. Discolouration, pitting on a bus bar and a smell at the cover all say the same thing, and none of them improve on their own.
Sub-panel or service upgrade
A sub-panel adds spaces. It does not add capacity. If the calculation says the service is fine and the panel is simply full, a sub-panel is the cheaper and entirely proper answer.
If the calculation says the service is undersized, a sub-panel just moves the problem. That is a service upgrade: new panel, new conductors, usually a new meter base, and coordination with the utility.
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.
What a tripping main actually means
A branch breaker trips to protect its circuit. The main trips to protect the service, which means the whole house asked for more than the service carries at that moment. Those are completely different findings.
A main that trips is a capacity conversation and it needs the load measured under real conditions rather than guessed at. It is also the one symptom where the answer genuinely is sometimes a service upgrade.
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.
“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
Anything outside electrical, you will be told who to call rather than sold it. There is a gallery of finished jobs, and a form if that is easier than calling.
Related panels & service work
Subpanel Installation across the metro
Where the house is changes what the work involves. What an inspector looks at first differs by address here, which shapes the job as much as the house does.
Lincoln County
Outbuildings count as separate structures in code terms: a disconnect at the building, a grounding electrode there, and a feeder sized for the distance.
Warren County
It is the far end of a roughly fifty mile radius, so visits get grouped rather than squeezed in. That affects the date, not the price.
St. Charles County
Twenty and thirty year old subdivisions where nothing has failed and the service is simply at its limit. That is the recurring call.
County by county coverage is on the service areas page.
Questions worth asking first.
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.
Will the power be off all day?
A panel change means the service is off while the work happens, usually most of a working day. You will be told the window before the day starts, and the utility and inspection timing are arranged around it.
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.
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.
Find out which problem you have.
Several causes, very different prices, and only a measurement separates them. Subpanel Installation in O’Fallon and across the metro.
Mon-Thu 8-5 · Fri 8-4 · Sat 10-3. If a message suits you better, there is a form.