100 → 200 amp upgrade
$1,800 – $3,200
Standard residential upgrade. Existing service drop stays. Includes new panel, breakers, labor, and permit fees. One day on-site, power off 3-6 hours.
Electrical service · Asheville, NC
Panel Upgrade in Asheville, NC
200-amp and 400-amp panel replacements. Federal Pacific and Zinsco panel removals. Real Asheville cost ranges. Duke Energy coordination on us. Lifetime workmanship warranty.
★ 4.8 stars · 163 Google reviews · NCBELC #33298 · Insured · Lifetime workmanship warranty · No trip fee · No minimum job
Electrical panel replacement or upgrading
Real cost. Plain English. Permits pulled.
100 → 400 amp service upgrade
$4,500 – $8,500
For homes adding EV chargers, electric heat, or whole-home backup. Includes new service drop, Duke Energy coordination, panel, breakers, permits. 1-2 days on-site after Duke schedule confirms.
Panel repair
From $300
Replace a damaged breaker, fix a loose connection, address a burnt bus bar. When the panel itself doesn't need to go but a specific issue does. Most service calls done same-day.
Got a Federal Pacific or Zinsco panel?
If your home has a Federal Pacific Electric (FPE) Stab-Lok or Zinsco panel, replacement is a safety priority — not a maintenance item.
- FPE Stab-Lok breakers are known to fail to trip during overcurrent events. Real, documented fire hazard. Insurance companies often won't cover homes that still have them.
- Zinsco panels develop bus-bar arcing as they age. Same fire risk, same insurance issue.
- Both get flagged by home inspectors on nearly every Asheville sale. If you're planning to sell, this comes up.
If you've got either, give us a call. We'll come look, confirm what's there, and quote the swap in plain English.
What's included
Soup to nuts.
- Permit pulled. Buncombe County requires a permit for any panel work. We handle it. Fee is in the quote.
- Duke Energy coordination. Service upgrades require Duke to do the new service drop. We schedule and coordinate it for you.
- New panel + breakers. Square D, Eaton, or comparable code-compliant equipment. Right-sized for your loads.
- Grounding + bonding. Brought up to current NEC. New ground rods if your existing one is non-compliant.
- Inspection scheduled. Job isn't done until it passes inspection. Documented for your records and any future sale.
- Lifetime workmanship warranty. If anything we installed fails because of how we did the work, we come back and fix it free.
Common questions
Panel upgrade questions, answered.
A 100→200 amp panel swap on an existing service typically runs $1,800–$3,200. A 100→400 amp upgrade with a new service drop and Duke Energy coordination runs $4,500–$8,500. We pull permits and coordinate with Duke directly. Both ranges include the panel, breakers, labor, and permit fees.
Yes — and don't wait on it. Federal Pacific Electric (FPE) Stab-Lok panels and Zinsco panels are both documented fire hazards. FPE breakers are known to fail to trip during overcurrent events; Zinsco panels have bus-bar arcing problems. Most home inspectors flag both on sale, and many insurance companies refuse to cover homes with them. If you've got either, replacement is a safety priority, not a maintenance item.
Most 100→200 amp swaps take a single day on-site. 100→400 amp service upgrades that involve Duke Energy coordination typically take 1-2 days plus the lead time to schedule the Duke service drop (usually 1-3 weeks ahead). We coordinate the Duke piece for you. Power is off for 3-6 hours during the swap; the rest of the time everything is live.
Yes. Buncombe County requires a permit and inspection for any panel replacement or service upgrade. We pull the permit, schedule the inspection, and don't call the job complete until it passes. The permit fee is included in our quote.
A few common triggers: breakers that keep tripping (panel is overloaded), you're planning to add a major load like an EV charger or whole-home generator (need capacity), you've got a Federal Pacific or Zinsco panel (safety), the panel is full (no spare slots), you're renovating and adding circuits, or a home inspector flagged it on a recent sale. We'll inspect first and tell you straight whether a swap is needed or if a panel repair would do.
A panel repair fixes a specific issue on your existing panel — a damaged breaker, a loose connection, a burnt bus bar — without replacing the whole panel. A panel upgrade replaces the entire panel, usually to add capacity (100→200 amp) or to swap out an unsafe panel (FPE/Zinsco). We do both. Repair starts around $300; upgrade starts at $1,800.