Electrical Panel Services

Electrical Panel Upgrades

Your electrical panel controls every circuit in your home. When it's outdated, undersized, or failing, you don't just lose convenience—you lose safety. CAM Electrical Services handles electrical panel upgrades, circuit breaker replacements, and full panel repairs throughout Brick Township, Toms River, Jackson, Lakewood, and the rest of Ocean County. Owner Chris Mouritzen, NJ Electrical Contractor License #34EB01136500, has spent 15+ years diagnosing and replacing panels in homes just like yours.

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Your Panel Upgrade From Start to Finish

An electrical panel upgrade is not just swapping out a box on the wall. It's a full electrical service upgrade that touches multiple components of your home's power system. Here's what the process looks like when our team handles it:

Load calculation and scope determination
Before we quote anything, we calculate your home's current electrical load and compare it against what the panel can handle. We factor in everything you're running now plus anything you plan to add. This tells us whether you need a panel replacement, a full service upgrade, or just a breaker repair.

Permitting and utility coordination
Every panel upgrade in New Jersey requires a permit from your local building department. We pull the permit, schedule the inspection, and coordinate with JCP&L or your utility provider for the temporary disconnect and reconnection. You don't have to manage any of that.

Disconnection and removal
The utility disconnects power at the meter. We remove the old panel, meter socket, and service entrance cable if they're part of the upgrade scope.

Installation
We install the new panel (typically a 200 amp main breaker panel), new meter socket if needed, upgraded service entrance cable, and a proper grounding system. Every circuit gets a new breaker, properly sized and labeled. All work follows NEC (National Electrical Code) and the NJ Uniform Construction Code.

Inspection and reconnection
The local electrical inspector verifies the installation. Once it passes, the utility reconnects your service. Most panel upgrades take one full day from start to reconnection.

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How to Tell If Your Electrical Panel Needs an Upgrade

Most homeowners don't think about their electrical panel until something goes wrong. Here are the warning signs that usually bring people to the phone:

Breakers tripping repeatedly
If you're resetting the same breaker every week, the panel is telling you something. A single trip is a safety feature working correctly. Repeated trips mean the circuit is consistently overloaded, or the breaker itself is worn out and no longer holding.

Lights dimming when appliances run
When your lights dim every time the AC kicks on or someone runs the microwave, your panel is at or near capacity. The system can't deliver consistent power to everything at once.

Warm or hot panel
This is not a "schedule it next month" situation. Heat at the panel means a connection is arcing or a breaker is failing. Call immediately—this is the kind of issue our emergency electrical team handles same-day.

Fuse box instead of breakers
Fuse boxes were standard in homes built before the 1960s, and some Ocean County homes still have them. They're not illegal, but they can't handle modern electrical loads, they don't meet current NJ code for renovations or additions, and homeowner's insurance companies increasingly flag them.

60 or 100 amp panel in a modern home
A 60 amp panel can barely run a modern kitchen. A 100 amp panel works fine until you add central air, an EV charger, a hot tub, or a home office with real equipment. If your home was built before 1990 and the panel has never been touched, it's likely undersized for how you're using the house today.

Planning to add major equipment
Adding a standby generator, EV charger, or a second HVAC zone almost always requires more panel capacity than what's already there. We check this during every estimate so you're not surprised mid-project.

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100 Amp vs. 200 Amp

The short answer for most homeowners in Ocean County is 200 amps. However, some homes may need more or less.

100 amp panels are adequate for a small home with gas heat, gas cooking, no central air, and no plans to add high-draw equipment. That description fits fewer homes every year.

200 amp panels handle central air conditioning, electric dryers, EV chargers, hot tubs, home offices, standby generators, and modern kitchen appliances without breaking a sweat. It's the current standard for residential construction in New Jersey and the minimum most electricians (including us) recommend for any home planning to stay functional for the next 20 years.