How to Perform Upgrades to Your Electric Panels

If you have decided to remodel your home, it may be necessary to upgrade the electric panels that you have. The same may be said if you are thinking about adding onto your current residence. Upgrading the system will make it possible to have more electrical lines throughout the house. If you are building a new section onto the dwelling, putting in a panel to provide electricity to it is essential.

You may wish to hire someone to do the upgrading project for you, or if you feel that you have the skills to do so, you can do the job yourself. Make sure that you get organized before you tackle the project. If you do not feel that you have the ability to do a good job, find someone more qualified than yourself to do it.

To start, label all of the supply lines that enter into the electric panels that you have. Every breaker connection will have three lines that must be labeled. The black wire is the hot connection. It is called this because it is the wire that transmits the power from one place to another. The white wire is the neutral connection. It is the return line. Finally, there should also be a green wire. This wire on the electric panel is the ground line.

Once the labeling is all done, remove the breakers from inside of the panel. Now disconnect the green wire from the ground bar. The ground bar is what connects to the house ground. It should also connect to the neutral bar. This bar should follow its way back to the utility line.

Be careful as you go about the task of changing the electric panels. Take out the main power breaker from the old one that is already in place. It is important that you secure it in such a manner that it does not touch anything in the nearby vicinity. Hot wires that are live are dangerous and must be handled with utmost caution and care. Remove the old one gingerly and install the new one in its place.

The next step is to break out the hole that will be used for the entrance for the power lines. The main power breaker must be carefully fed through this hole. From there, connect it to the power bars for the panel. The utility neutral line must then be wired to the neutral bar and the house ground must be wired to the ground bar. Check to ensure that there is a connection occurring between the ground bar and the neutral bar.

You are almost done. Now you must put everything back together again. Reinstall all of the old lines and breakers. As you work on the new electric panels, try your best to keep each area of your house together so you know which is which. You should now have cleared the way to include more breakers and circuits for the part of your home that you will be remodeling.

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