Home electrical panel upgrade

When I moved into my house(built in 71) almost 12 years ago they informed me during the inspection that my panel was double tapped and needed to be upgraded. With the recent weather events and my desire for a generator and transfer switch I figure it is time to go ahead and replace the panel.

Any recommendations on brands or type of breakers? I have a friend who is a very good electrician but he has been out of the residential field for several years now maintaining equipment at a manufacturing facility. So if anything new or better has come on the market he hasn't seen it.

I need to get a larger panel, to remove the double tapped connections and I need to add some stuff to my garage I have been slumming it with two outlets for way too long lol.

So I want a transfer switch, whole home surge protection and to add a larger panel to cover extra garage outlets and add a 220V in the garage.

Any recommendations or advice? Like anything else I don't want to buy the cheapest crap but want a good value.

One of the things that makes me most excited for this is to be able to put the proper labels on everything. I swear they marked this panel then went and switched it with the neighbors or something. The only things labeled right are the 220V breakers. Everything else involves me and the wife yelling back and forth if things turned off or not

Im not an electrician but I did just wire my garage and it passed the township inspection. Square D is a band that's been around a long time. They have 2 lines. The very affordable "Homeline" is their residential line up. The "QO" is their commercial grade line and does cost more. You will find all the home improvement stores carry these lines along with the other brands. The brands offer a great deal on a box with several breakers included to get you started. I went with this unit in my new detached garage.
https://www.farmandfleet.com/products/g--7899-square-d-load-center-circuit-breaker.html

I used the same box as 2boltmain did also in a detached garage, at a rental property. Seems to be a quality box at an affordable price.

When wiring the shop the best way (in my opinion) is to run a large (#6) cable into the shop to a seperate smaller panel. Then run all your shop wiring off of that.
This has a lot of advamtages. This will save you a lot of wire going from the house panel to the shop. It makes adding shop circuits easier in the future. It puts a main shutoff in the shop and It puts all the breakers closer should you blow one while working. And don't think you need big amps in the shop either. A 60 amp panel is plenty to run a decent size shop with compressor, welder, etc.. Keep in mind you'l never have everything running at once. I have a 60amp panel in my shop - I've run my 220v welder, my 5 horse compressor and had the a/c running all at the same time and never blew a breaker. Of course all the big stuff is on its own circuit. And those three things have the biggest draw. A lot of people go crazy on house panels too. A 200amp panel is a waste of money. A 100amp panel is fine for pretty much any home, just buy a panel with a sufficient number of breaker slots. GFI protection ... personally I'd rather have GFI receptacles instead of breakers. This way you don't have to go to the panel to reset them.

The determining factor is the utility service. You can't safely replace a 100 amp service with a 200 amp service if the utility feed is sized for 100 amps. I have a 200 amp service in our house and frankly I'm glad we do. When I built our home garage I installed a 60 amp subpanel in the garage fed from the main panel. When I added our addition, I installed another 60 amp subpanel for it fed again from the main panel. As to brands, You have Siemens that services legacy brands like ITE, Sylvania, Murray, and Gould to name a few along with their current products. Then there is Square D. These are probably the top two. Square D is probably more available from a number of sources and would be my pick.

There aren't that many panel manufacturers. Square D and Cutler Hammer/Eaton are the two big ones and worth getting. I never liked Siemens panels.
You should figure out how many circuits you need before you replace it. I'd get an electrician to do it since it wouldn't cost too much and they might have their own preferences based on what they've seen and used. The extra expense of a commercial panel isn't worth it for residential.

I've always spent the modest extra money for Square D's QO commercial line It's small compared to the overall cost of the shop and contents!

I put a 100 amp panel in my shop building... plenty of power-hungry accessories besides the lighting, including a big 240 volt air compressor, welder (Lincoln stick, and Hobart MIG), and now a 4-post lift. Maybe overkill but I don't want nuisance tripping in hot weather, or wondering if I have the capacity to install something else.

Just because you're running a couple 60 amp subpanels does not mean you need a larger main panel. To run a 60 amp sub you need a 60 amp breaker in the main. In the average. I the current 100 amp panel I have I could potentially install twelve 60 amp subpanels. As long as the total draw on any of those subs doesn't exceed 60 amps the breaker won't blow and subsequently as long as the total draw of all circuits doesn't exceed 100 amps the main will never blow. In general, a 200 amp service is pissing money away.

If your going "by the book," (permits/inspection) a 200 amp panel is the requirement in some State codes

This is one of those things that just because you can doesn't mean you should. If you go through the procedures in Article 220 of the NEC rigorously, you'll find out if you need a 100, 200, 225, or larger service entrance to meet code. So yes, if the calculations support installing twelve 60 amp branch circuits in a 100 amp service panel, you are golden. If not, at least around here, the electrical inspector will not sign off on the installation.

That was hypothetical ! My point being don't just go for a 200 amp panel "'cause bigger must be better".

Oh, I absolutely agree. Margin is a good thing if not taken to excess. If you need a 20 ton press, you don't go out and buy a 100 ton version on the basis that "I might need it some day"!

I have 200 amp service already I believe.

I will just do an interlock for the generator circuit. It makes sure you turn off the main to turn on the generator breaker. My Dad just had his panel replaced and went that route.

Get the QO. It’s a nicer panel with real copper etc. really doesn’t cost much more.

Do 200 amps. No question. The morons that put the old panel in my house had a 125 when the house had 200 delivered. So I could watch the lights dim big time when the ac kicked. It’s not even very old hvac. Went to 200 and you barely notice. Plus I can do much more now and have added about four breakers already. Too boot, they are on the way to banning gas and you’ll be ready to charge something when they take away your choice.

What's the size and condition of the meter base?..and also the entrance cable size/condition??
If an inside panel is upgraded in size, then a higher amperage meter base and larger entrance cable may be required depending on local code.
Since a generator and transfer switch are in the plans then you may as well upgrade the meter base too (depending on size and condition of what you have now), and install a 200 amp panel. Replacing the base and entrance cable isn't a difficult job to do if an electrician's cost is out of the price range
Don't skimp on the electric stuff. Go Square D...all the way. As stated already, they have been around for a long time. Any other brand...buy extra circuit breakers just in case they go out of business. A lot of panels have been replaced because breakers were no longer available. My 95 yr old house had one of those old "push-o-matic" panels.



A 200 amp base does not cost much more than a 100, plus there's room for expansion (seen many meter bases burnt up because of people running space heaters and whatever else on way overloaded circuits), and it's a bonus for when you sell the home...but then again, if it's a rickety 5 room shack with few circuits then a 200 amp would be a waste of money.

And QO has a cheaper version that sells at improvement stores and a commercial one that sells for electric contractors. They are interchangeable but are different quality. The expensive one is the main in this picture and as you can see is all black. The ones with the size in white and yellow D on them are the cheaper breakers.

The max main panel (typ w/meter) amperage will be dictated by the capacity (ampacity) of the Electric Companies service wire (OH) or cable (UG) that directly feeds that panel

There may be minimum panel amps installed per AHJ (authority having jurisdiction).

Even though a 200 amp cost the same, it may be larger than the electric companies feeding wire or cable can handle.

Sometimes changing the feeding wire or cable is a easy change. Sometimes it’s a lot of added expense for customer. And if the customer doesn’t want to do what’s necessary, but still installs the overly large amp panel... the electric company will make you rip the panel out and put the properly sized panel in. (If you don’t we’ll cut your power as it’s a danger to yourself and community).

Uh, maybe. My utility would just have you replace the main breaker in the panel and life is good.

Sometimes. Depends on situation

First statement not always true. The electric service wire that feeds the house will be capable of meeting the capacity of the meter base that is there. If the meter base is upgraded the service wire will (or should) be changed out to a larger size...that's if it isn't already large enough.

As for the second statement...maybe that's because the utility is correct about larger panels potentially being loaded way past the capacity of the small meter base and entrance cable. Owners may want be be cheap and skimp on doing it right, but the utility doesn't want to be responsible the the half @$$ upgrade to possibly cause a house fire. And it can...it has. Liability is on the utility if they allow that to pass inspection.