If you have not dealt with an electrical service upgrade before you probably don’t know the costs, and that’s totally ok. We get lots of questions about what’s involved with an electrical panel and service upgrade and thought it would be useful to write up a guide.
That’s quite a range in price so here are some of the variables that can affect the price for your home. The truth is, electrical companies vary in price so significantly it would be impossible to give a reasonable range for the price on each item. So we contacted 10 of the highest reviewed electrical companies from various cities throughout BC, Alberta, and the USA to give you a range of prices from companies that will also provide you with excellent customer service.
Electrical service upgrade costs for your home can range significantly, there’s just so many factors and no two homes are the same. But generally speaking the costs can range from $5,000-$20,000 or more.
Your home electrical service consists of 4 main parts:
- Overhead/Underground service entrance
- Meter socket
- Panel and breakers
- Service cable
The cost of upgrading your home service will depend on how these parts fit into your home and what might need to be changed to make your home electrical to code. Some of the components you have in your home may meet requirements and not cost you any additional money. A great electrician should be able to recognize these things and offer you the savings by keeping them the same.
Overhead or Underground Service
There are two main ways the electrical service wires get to your home from the grid.
- Overhead service: a rigid steel pipe will extend from your meter to above your roof. Your connection to the electrical grid will be with wires strung overhead to power poles.
- Underground service: your connection to the electrical grid will be through an underground pvc conduit. In some cases the wire connection will be directly buried underground.
It’s easy to tell what kind of service you have on your home. Just look for your electric meter outside and you will see the overhead service or the underground pvc connecting to your meter.
Why does this matter? The type of service you have will affect the cost of your service upgrade.
Overhead service costs: In Kelowna and most of BC to upgrade your service you need to upgrade your overhead service to fit the larger wires. The overhead service also needs to be relocated to the outside of the home and mounted on the exterior wall.
Overhead service upgrade costs: $4,500-$6,000
This is for all new wiring, new rigid steel pipe (mast), custom mounting brackets, drilling new holes through soffit and roof, installing a new roof seal, assembling the service mast head and attachment points for the overhead wiring.
Underground service costs: Changes to the underground service conduit are not that common, however an upgrade to the conduit and wiring can be a complicated process. In some cases the wiring or conduit will need to be dug up with machinery and re-installed. Coordination with the hydro electric company is also required.
Underground service upgrade costs: $0-$20,000*
This is for hydro company fees, engineering, excavation, new conduit installation, and the co-ordination of all those components.
*Although we have seen costs for this up to $20,000, it is highly uncommon. In the interest of fully educating our readers we thought it was worth putting in to show what a worst case scenario would be.
Meter socket
A large portion of houses in Kelowna and most of BC no longer meet the installation requirements of the Hydro Authority. Their updates now state that all homes have to have the electric meter box and service entrance on the exterior of the home. This affects a large portion of homes because installing a recessed metre box and service was common practice.
This affects the installation cost for the overhead/underground service and meter socket Because in most cases we need to build it all brand new and abandon the existing parts. If you do currently have a meter installed that meets requirements there would be no additional cost. The price for installing a new meter is $0-$1500.
Size of panel and number of breakers
Panel sizes for home electrical service range from 100 amp 20-40 circuit to 200 amp 40-80 circuit. The size of the panel and how many circuits it has will generally range in price $150-$300.
Every home has its unique arrangement of circuit breakers so we have to account for that. Installing each circuit breaker in the electrical service upgrade also includes the labour for installing the wire connector, installing the home run wiring, terminating the wiring to its connection points, installing the circuit breaker, testing the circuit, and labelling the panel schedule. The common range in price for the circuit in home panel upgrades can be $800-$3500.
Here are the panels that Home Depot has for an idea of the range of options out there.
Panel location
Your panels distance from the electrical meter and how to get the service wiring in between them can be relatively simple if the panel and the meter are close, but it quickly becomes more complicated as that distance between the meter and the panel increases. Here are some of the most common price variables we see on homes.
- Drywall removal and repair ($200-$1000)
- Special meter with breaker if needed ($1200-$1500)
- Length of service wiring and installation method ($500-$3500)
Hydro authority costs
Now that the electrician costs are considered you will need to call your local utility company. For us here in Kelowna BC there is Fortis BC and BC Hydro. You’ll know what company you have from your bills.
Call your local utility company and tell them you are interested in doing a service upgrade. The utility company will then take their steps to quote you. Utility company costs range $300-$1500.
Utility company cost considerations include:
- Connection method of the overhead wiring
- Load capacity of the local transformer
- Overhead limits of approach (wire going through private property, roadways, etc)
- Upgrading the wiring size
- Disconnection/Connection costs
Click here to download our free service upgrade checklist. It has all the steps and information in one place to help you get an accurate quote for upgrading your electrical panel and service.
Contact Fortis BC here.
Contact BC Hydro here.
More Info
If you want to see more about electrical services:
See what the differences between a service upgrade and panel upgrade are here.
And as always, if you have any more questions feel free to contact us directly here.
