Electrical Panel Upgrades in Kansas City, MO

The panel is the heart of your home’s electrical system, and in Kansas City it is often the oldest part. We upgrade and replace panels across the metro — from 60 amp fuse boxes in prewar homes to 100 amp services that can no longer keep up with central air, EV charging, and finished basements.

Signs Your Panel Needs Attention

• Breakers that trip repeatedly on the same circuit, or a breaker that will not stay reset
• Flickering or dimming lights when large appliances start
• A warm panel door, buzzing from the panel, or any burning smell — call immediately, this is an emergency
• A fuse box, or a panel rated 100 amps or less in a home with modern loads
• An insurance company or home inspector flagging the panel brand

Federal Pacific and Zinsco Panels

Two panel brands come up constantly in Kansas City homes built from the 1950s through the early 1980s. Federal Pacific Stab-Lok breakers have a documented history of failing to trip under fault conditions. Zinsco panels have known issues with breakers seizing to the bus bar. Neither brand is manufactured anymore, and replacement parts are aftermarket only. If your panel door says Federal Pacific, FPE, or Zinsco, an evaluation is worth the service call — we will tell you plainly whether yours shows the failure signs or not.

How a Panel Upgrade Works

1. Load calculation. We measure what your home actually draws and what you plan to add — EV charger, hot tub, shop circuits — and size the new service accordingly. Most upgrades land at 200 amps.
2. Permit. Panel replacements require a permit in KCMO, North Kansas City, Independence, and every Johnson County municipality we work in. We pull it.
3. Utility coordination. Evergy disconnects and reconnects service. We schedule this so your power is off for hours, not days.
4. Installation. Typical residential swaps are completed in one working day. We install Square D and Eaton equipment.
5. Inspection. The city inspects; we are on site for it. The job is not done until it passes.

What Affects the Price

Panel amperage, the condition of the service entrance cable and meter socket, whether the panel is being relocated, grounding updates required by current code, and permit fees, which vary by municipality. We give you a written line-item estimate before any work starts — and if a repair will genuinely solve your problem, we quote the repair.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How long does a panel upgrade take?

A: Most residential panel replacements are completed in one working day. Power is typically off for four to eight hours while Evergy disconnects and we complete the swap.

Q: Do you handle the permit?

A: Yes, always. The permit and the inspection are included in the job. We do not perform unpermitted panel work.

Q: Can you add an EV charger circuit during the upgrade?

A: Yes — doing both at once is cheaper than doing them separately. We size the new panel for the charger load from the start.

Q: Is my Federal Pacific panel dangerous?

A: Not every FPE panel has failed, but the brand’s failure-to-trip history is well documented. We evaluate the specific panel and give you an honest answer rather than an automatic upsell.