Electrical panel upgrade.

Why River Forest panels are full

Most houses here were wired between 1905 and 1940, when a house needed lights, a radio, and eventually a refrigerator. Sixty amps was generous. Many were upgraded once, in the 1960s or 1970s, to 100 amps and circuit breakers, and that is where a great many of them still sit.

A 100-amp service was fine for a house with a gas furnace, a gas range, a gas dryer and a window air conditioner. Add central air in the 1990s and the panel filled up. Add a heat pump, an EV charger or an induction range now and there is nowhere to put the breaker, and sometimes not enough total capacity even if there were.

This is why the panel is the first question in our heat pump guide. It is also why an electrician looking at a Prairie-style house near Dominican will often quote a full service upgrade when the homeowner asked about one new circuit.

What the panel does

Power arrives from ComEd's wire, through the meter, into the main panel. A main breaker at the top sets the maximum the whole house can draw. Below it, individual breakers protect each circuit: the kitchen counters, the bedrooms, the furnace, the dryer. A breaker trips when a circuit draws more than it is rated for, which is the panel doing its job.

The panel also holds the house's grounding and bonding connections: the wire to a ground rod or water pipe that gives fault current somewhere safe to go. In older houses this is frequently incomplete, and a panel upgrade is when it gets fixed.

Amperage, and how much you actually need

The amperage on the main breaker is the house's ceiling. 100 amps at 240 volts is 24,000 watts available at once. 200 amps is 48,000. A modern electric load calculation adds up your fixed appliances, applies demand factors, and produces the number the house actually needs.

For a River Forest house with gas heat, gas water and gas cooking, 100 amps can genuinely be enough today. Add a heat pump with electric backup, or an EV charger drawing 40 amps for six hours every night, and 200 becomes the honest answer. Some houses that plan to go fully electric end up at 200 with a load-management device, or occasionally at 320 or 400.

Ask for the load calculation. A good electrician will produce one and it will show you why the number is what it is. "Everyone goes to 200" is a habit, not a calculation, though it is usually the right habit.

Panel change versus service upgrade

These two phrases get used interchangeably and describe very different amounts of work.

A panel change replaces the breaker box with a new one of the same amperage. You do it when the old panel is full, failing, or one of the problem brands, and the service coming into the house is adequate. Typically a day, with the power off for most of it.

A service upgrade increases the amperage. That means a new panel, a new meter socket, new service entrance cable from the meter to the panel, often a new mast or weatherhead where ComEd's wire attaches, and ComEd replacing their drop from the pole or their underground lateral. Two parties, a coordination window, and a permit that includes a ComEd inspection release.

The estimate should say which one it is in the first line.

Reading the estimate, row by row

Line these rows up across every estimate you collect. Where two of them differ, that is where the price difference usually lives.

Panel and amperage. Brand, amperage, and the number of spaces. Forty spaces at 200 amps leaves room for the next twenty years. Thirty fills faster than you expect.

Service entrance and meter. New or reused, item by item. Reusing a 1970s meter socket on a 200-amp upgrade is sometimes allowed and often not; "if approved" means the price is not set.

Grounding and bonding. Ground rods, the water pipe bond, and bonding to gas piping and communications. This is the safety half of the job and it should be spelled out, not "as needed."

ComEd coordination. Who calls, who waits for them, who is responsible if they do not show. A good electrician handles this; you should not be on hold with ComEd on the day.

ComEd's part and your electrician's part

ComEd owns everything up to and including the meter. That is the wire from the pole or the underground lateral, the connection at the weatherhead, and the meter itself. Your electrician owns the mast, the meter socket, the service entrance cable and the panel.

On a service upgrade, the electrician does their work, the Village inspects it, and then ComEd comes to reconnect at the new capacity. The sequence matters: power is typically off from the morning the electrician starts until ComEd reconnects, which is usually the same day if scheduled well and not if it is not. Ask how long the house will be dark.

On the blocks with underground service, ComEd's part can take longer, because the lateral may need replacing. Ask whether your service is overhead or underground and whether that affects the schedule.

Knob and tube, fuses and the problem brands

Three discoveries change a panel estimate, and an electrician should look for all three before writing a number.

Knob and tube. The original 1905 to 1940 wiring: individual conductors on ceramic knobs, no ground, cloth insulation. Plenty of River Forest houses still have some, usually in walls and ceilings that were never opened. It is not automatically dangerous, but it cannot be buried in insulation, it cannot be extended, and many insurers will not write a policy with it live. A panel upgrade does not fix knob and tube; it just gives you a better panel to feed it. Ask whether any was found and what the plan is.

Fuse boxes. Still in service in some houses. Replacing one with breakers is a panel change and a good idea, mostly because a fuse box invites the wrong-size fuse.

Problem brands. Certain panels installed from the 1950s through the 1980s have documented failure rates in their breakers. If your panel is one of them, replacement is usually recommended on that basis alone, regardless of capacity. An electrician will know the names.

What drives the price

The panel itself is a few hundred dollars. The rest is labor, the service entrance components, ComEd coordination, the permit, and whatever the old wiring turns out to require. A straightforward 200-amp service upgrade on an overhead service in a house with a clean basement wall often lands in the $3,000 to $5,000 range. Underground service, a panel that has to move, a stucco or brick exterior that has to be opened for the mast, or knob and tube that has to be addressed all push it up.

Where the panel lives matters too. Code requires clearance in front of it, and a panel behind the water heater or inside a finished closet may have to be relocated, which means every circuit gets extended.

Grounding, bonding and surge

The upgrade is the moment the grounding gets brought to current standards: two ground rods, a bond to the water service where it enters, a bond to the gas piping, and an intersystem bonding bar for cable and phone. Ask that it be listed. It is a small part of the price and a large part of what makes the new panel safer than the old one.

A whole-house surge protector at the panel is a modest add and is now required by code on new panel installations in most jurisdictions. With a heat pump, an induction range and a house full of electronics, it is worth confirming it is included.

Red flags

• "Panel upgrade" with no statement of whether the service amperage changes.
• No load calculation and no interest in what you plan to add.
• "Homeowner to coordinate with ComEd."
• Grounding and bonding "as needed."
• No permit line. Panel and service work always require one here.
• Nobody opened the old panel or looked in the attic before quoting.

Questions to ask

• Is this a panel change or a service upgrade, and what amperage will I have when you leave?
• Can I see the load calculation?
• What is new and what is reused between the weatherhead and the panel?
• Who schedules ComEd, and how long will the power be off?
• Did you find knob and tube, and does this estimate address it?
• Is grounding, bonding and a surge protector included and listed?
• What is the labor warranty, in years?

The short list

Panel change or service upgrade. Amperage and spaces. What is new from the weatherhead in. Who handles ComEd. Whether knob and tube was found. Grounding listed. Permit included. Seven items, and you can compare two panel estimates over coffee on the platform at the River Forest Metra station.

Permits, programs and the Village