Your electrical panel decides what your home can add next.
An older panel can quietly limit what the house is able to do, and in some cases it carries a real safety concern. It is worth understanding before you add solar, an EV charger or a heat pump.
Free to check. No calls unless you ask.
Property report. No calls unless you ask.
Why it matters
Electrical work is not a place to guess. Knowing what your panel is and how old it is lets you plan an upgrade properly rather than discovering it halfway through another project.
Home fires involving electrical distribution and lighting equipment, averaged over 2015 to 2019. They caused 430 deaths, 1,070 injuries and $1.3 billion in property damage a year.
NFPA, Home Fires Caused by Electrical Distribution and Lighting Equipment, 2022
Homes built before 1972 and wired with aluminum are 55 times more likely than copper-wired homes to have a connection reach what the CPSC calls Fire Hazard Conditions. The agency accepts only three permanent repairs, and rejects the two cheaper ones electricians often propose.
US Consumer Product Safety Commission, Repairing Aluminum Wiring, Publication 516, 2011
The share of those electrical fires that start in an attic or ceiling. The NFPA notes that faulty wiring in concealed spaces “can start fires that burn for a prolonged period before detection”.
NFPA, Home Fires Caused by Electrical Distribution and Lighting Equipment, 2022
A panel has to be opened to be read, and the CPSC is explicit that failing aluminum connections “seldom provide easily detected warning signs”. This is not a do-it-yourself check.
What to understand
A few things worth knowing before you decide.
Panel capacity
Older panels often cannot support what a modern house wants to add, and the upgrade is frequently the hidden cost in a solar or EV quote.
Safety first
Certain older panels and wiring types have known, documented concerns that are worth having checked by someone licensed.
Start with your property.
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