The breakers inside the panel are designed to guard your home against serious electrical problems by preventing circuit overload short circuits and outside power surges coming into.
Federal pacific electrical panel box.
They have design flaws that could cause a house fire.
Since these are older systems this includes some upgrades to wiring.
How to identify a federal pacific electrical service panel.
It will generally cost around 1500 2500 to upgrade your home s electrical service and get rid of the federal pacific panel.
It depends on how many circuits you have the existing conditions whether it s a single family dwelling multi family dwelling and the amperage of the panel.
The breaker box door usually says federal pacific electric or fpe once you open the door you will usually but not always see the words stab lok in the center or.
We contacted several angie s list super service award winning electricians about how much it costs to replace circuit breaker boxes.
Federal pacific electric will likely be written on the door of the breaker box.
Inside look for the name stab loc the brand name of the circuit breakers.
Other names for a federal pacific electrical panel include federal pacific electrical breaker box or fpe stab lok breaker.
A federal pacific electric fpe circuit breaker panel can appear to be working properly for years.
How federal pacific electrical panels or breaker boxes work.
Federal pacific electric panels are most common in homes built between 1950 and 1980.
A federal pacific electrical breaker box works like other home electrical panels.
If you have one you ll want to call a pro as soon as possible to upgrade.
All have experience working on potentially unsafe federal pacific breakers with stab lok panels.
The cost to replace a federal pacific or zinsco panel ranges from 1 500 to 4 000.
The panel was well known in the building community as a cheaper alternative to some of the more recognizable panel companies such as general electric i t e and square d.
But experts warn that if a federal pacific electric panel experiences an overcurrent or short circuit it may not keep the electrical circuits from overheating and could possibly pose a fire hazard.
If your home was built between 1950 and 1990 and is equipped with a federal pacific electric fpe circuit breaker panel with stab lok circuit breakers you run a significant risk of breaker malfunction and fire.
Federal pacific zinsco panel replacement costs.