How To Replace A Fuse Box System With A New Electrical Panel

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electrical panel upgradeIt’s no surprise that you would want to change your fuse box into an electrical panel. After all, the fuse box is mostly common in older houses. The fuse box and the electrical panel both have their pros and cons although switching from a fuse box to an electric panel may prove to be a better option.

Most people like to keep up with the latest upgrades, improvements, and additions while others like to stick with the old fashioned way.

Advantages of fuse box over electrical panel

  • A fuse box is very easy to maintain compared to an electric panel.
  • A fuse box has a faster reaction to overcurrent

Disadvantages of a fuse box 

  • You need to always have fuse replacements in case of blown up fuses.
  • Replacing a blown fuse requires great expertise and can take a lot of time

Advantages of an electric panel 

  • It provides more power to run modern-day appliances, gadgets, and others
  • You can add more dedicated circuits to power more electrical appliances
  • In cases of an overload, you only need to reset the tripped circuit breaker

Disadvantages of electrical panel

  • They are more expensive to install
  • They are sensitive and can trip for reasons unrelated to current overload

How to replace a fuse box system with a new electrical panel 

It is highly recommended to call a professional electrician before attempting this process. Not just because the electrician is more experienced but for safety as well.

  1. Switch off all power leading to the fuse box
  2. Remove all the circuit wires in the fuse box
  3. Identify the neutral wire (white wire) and the hot wires(larger wires), disconnect the neutral wire, and wrap the bare portion of the wire with an electrical tape
  4. Carefully detach one of the hot wires, tape the end of the wire, and repeat the same for the second hot wire
  5. Disconnect the ground wire in the box leading to the rod driven underground
  6. Carefully put out the wires while removing the fuse box from the wall
  7. Carefully remove the appropriate knockouts
  8. Correctly place the electric panel on the wall
  9. Link the disconnected wires into the box and reconnect cable clamps and connection
  10. Loosen the screw on one of the connections on the neutral bus bar, put the ground wire into it, and tighten the screw
  11. Remove the tape from one of the black wires at the top of the breaker box and connect it to one of the connectors. Do the same for the other black wire.
  12. Join the white wires from the circuits to the ground bus bar
  13. Connect all the black wires to a different breaker and put the breaker into one of the hot bus bars
  14. Switch on all of the breakers one after the other.

Ensure to Contact a professional electrician if you encounter any difficulties. Or gladly skip taking the risk and call us from the start.