We have recently had problems with the electricity in our 25 year home
flickering on and off. Yesterday, electricity in certain parts of the
house was completely out. I could get it to come back on by shaking
the main switch on the circuit panel. Today, an electrician inspected
the panel and says the entire panel needs to be replaced. He showed me
where the interior of some of the breakers looked burned. The quote
for the work is $1200.

Can anyone offer an opinion as to whether this all sounds reasonable?
What is the xpected life of a breaker panel? The old panel is approx.
25 years old. Also, I live in the New Orleans area and I would expect
to pay a bit more for any type of service work in the post-Katrina
world.

Any opinions would be appreciated. Thank you.

Get permission from electric company. pull the meter off the meter
socket, remove the old Circuit Panel install a new 100 amp or 200 amp
circuit breaker panel. swap one breaker for one breaker. One to One(
120 volt for 120 volt and or 240 volt for 240 volt circuit.

wrote:
We have recently had problems with the electricity in our 25 year home
flickering on and off. Yesterday, electricity in certain parts of the
house was completely out. I could get it to come back on by shaking
the main switch on the circuit panel. Today, an electrician inspected
the panel and says the entire panel needs to be replaced. He showed me
where the interior of some of the breakers looked burned. The quote
for the work is $1200.

Can anyone offer an opinion as to whether this all sounds reasonable?
What is the xpected life of a breaker panel? The old panel is approx.
25 years old. Also, I live in the New Orleans area and I would expect
to pay a bit more for any type of service work in the post-Katrina
world.

Any opinions would be appreciated. Thank you.



its possible but i dont think it would have to do with its age. that
loose main certainly could have damaged the bus bar its attached too.

--
Thank you,



"Then said I, Wisdom [is] better than strength: nevertheless the poor
man's wisdom [is] despised, and his words are not heard." Ecclesiastes 9:16

I did it myself and saved the cost of labor. just paid for the material.

wrote:

We have recently had problems with the electricity in our 25 year home
flickering on and off. Yesterday, electricity in certain parts of the
house was completely out. I could get it to come back on by shaking
the main switch on the circuit panel. Today, an electrician inspected
the panel and says the entire panel needs to be replaced. He showed me
where the interior of some of the breakers looked burned. The quote
for the work is $1200.

Can anyone offer an opinion as to whether this all sounds reasonable?
What is the xpected life of a breaker panel? The old panel is approx.
25 years old. Also, I live in the New Orleans area and I would expect
to pay a bit more for any type of service work in the post-Katrina
world.

Any opinions would be appreciated. Thank you.

The price does not sound unreasonable, particularly if you are in a high
demand area as you noted. Certainly you can do it your self for less,
but since you indicate you already had an electrician out I assume you
don't want to DIY.

Depending on what you have currently for a main panel and how full it is
an upgrade to 150A or 200A may be good to do at the same time. The cost
increase over just replacing a 100A panel is minimal.

Also note that per 1999 and newer NEC code all circuits supplying
bedrooms are required to have Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter (AFCI) type
circuit breakers. Not a bad thing to have considering you already
apparently had an arc fault condition, though the AFCI breakers won't
help if the fault is before them as in the case of the main breaker.

There is a fair amount of variation in quality among the various brands
of panels and circuit breakers. Square D QO series is pretty much the
top of the line, Square D Homeline, GE and Cuttler-Hammer are mid level
options.

Pete C.

wrote in message
oups.com...
We have recently had problems with the electricity in our 25 year home
flickering on and off. Yesterday, electricity in certain parts of the
house was completely out. I could get it to come back on by shaking
the main switch on the circuit panel. Today, an electrician inspected
the panel and says the entire panel needs to be replaced. He showed me
where the interior of some of the breakers looked burned. The quote
for the work is $1200.

Can anyone offer an opinion as to whether this all sounds reasonable?
What is the xpected life of a breaker panel? The old panel is approx.
25 years old. Also, I live in the New Orleans area and I would expect
to pay a bit more for any type of service work in the post-Katrina
world.

Any opinions would be appreciated. Thank you.


Surely your joking,

How on earth could any one know if $1200 is to much or to little?

psychic.electrical.pricing.org might help.

On 24 Mar 2006 09:00:08 -0800, wrote:

We have recently had problems with the electricity in our 25 year home
flickering on and off. Yesterday, electricity in certain parts of the
house was completely out. I could get it to come back on by shaking
the main switch on the circuit panel. Today, an electrician inspected
the panel and says the entire panel needs to be replaced. He showed me
where the interior of some of the breakers looked burned. The quote
for the work is $1200.

Can anyone offer an opinion as to whether this all sounds reasonable?
What is the xpected life of a breaker panel? The old panel is approx.
25 years old. Also, I live in the New Orleans area and I would expect
to pay a bit more for any type of service work in the post-Katrina
world.

Any opinions would be appreciated. Thank you.

I paid $2300.00 to replace a 100 amp panel with a 200 amp one.
Make sure to get 150 or 200 amp, the cost diff. is not alot.
The price also included three new ground fault circuits to my
garage for power tools. I live on Long Island, NY.

wrote in message
oups.com...
We have recently had problems with the electricity in our 25 year home
flickering on and off. Yesterday, electricity in certain parts of the
house was completely out. I could get it to come back on by shaking
the main switch on the circuit panel. Today, an electrician inspected
the panel and says the entire panel needs to be replaced. He showed me
where the interior of some of the breakers looked burned. The quote
for the work is $1200.

Can anyone offer an opinion as to whether this all sounds reasonable?
What is the xpected life of a breaker panel? The old panel is approx.
25 years old. Also, I live in the New Orleans area and I would expect
to pay a bit more for any type of service work in the post-Katrina
world.

Any opinions would be appreciated. Thank you.



What is the brand name of your electrical panel?