There are many reasons why a homeowner would want to upgrade their electrical panels, typically they are looking to get more power because they have an older home with low amperage capacity, some maybe overloading their current panels and need more amperage, and others are looking to install electrical vehicle chargers. Whatever the reason for upgrading their panels, Made Electric has created a guide step by step to help homeowners navigate this specific service upgrade.
Step 1: Call Made Electric
Once you are ready to upgrade your 100A electrical panel to a 200A you can call Made Electric, and speak to one of our team members who will ask you a few questions related to the matter. Once you have hired Made Electric for your electrical panel service upgrade you will be asked to call your hydro provider to book a service disconnection. This means your hydro provider will send a team to your home who will cut off the power from the power lines to make sure the service upgrade can be done safely. Once the job is completed, they will reinstall the power into your home.
Step 2: Contact Your Hydro Provider
If you live in Toronto, your hydro provider may be Toronto Hydro or Hydro One, in this step we will be using Toronto Hydro as an example. Keep in mind that most hydro companies have very similar procedures so this will give you a good idea of what you can expect from whatever hydro company you currently have.
In order to arrange for Toronto Hydro to come to your home and cut off the power you must follow the following steps:
- Contact Toronto Hydro by calling 416-542-8000 and pressing 4 for “Electrical Connections”. When speaking to the costumer service agent let them know you want to do a service upgrade to your electrical panel and you want to order a “Service Connections Request”. Please note that you can fill out the Service Connections Request Application either by phone or online. If you want to do it online you can click here and follow the instructions from the Toronto Hydro website. If you want to do it over the phone continue to the next steps.
- The costumer service agent will ask for some basic personal information and about the work that will be done in your home, such as whether your home power lines are coming from overhead or underground. Next, they will send a locat-case e-mail to one of their electrical contractors who will determine if its okay to send a team out to your home.
Within a week Toronto Hydro will send you an e-mail advising you that it is now okay to book a disconnection and you will be asked to call Toronto Hydro to book the details of the disconnection. During this call you will provide them with your billing information to pay for the “pole cost”, which includes the disconnection and connection of power in your home. The total cost for this service is around $700 including HST. In addition, during this call you will pick a date for the disconnection to take place, keep in mind that the earliest date Toronto Hydro will give you will be 2 weeks from the day you first called to start the disconnection process.
Please note that you must also coordinate with MADE Electric to book a date with ESA to send an inspector to your home on the service upgrade day. If the ESA inspector and Toronto Hydro dates do not match, you may have to call back to rearrange the dates. If you wish to know about other power lines disconnection options please contact MADE Electric and a team member will be happy to explore those options with you.
During this call the costumer service agent at Toronto Hydro will also send you an e-mail with two forms which you must fill out and return to them. One of the forms requires you to give permission for Toronto Hydro to cut off the power in your home and the other form requires you to provide them with your online banking information in order to make the required payment.
Step 3: Day of Service Upgrade
On the service upgrade day, a MADE Electric team of electricians will arrive at your home at the coordinated time. Toronto Hydro will arrive early in the morning between 8:00am-10:00am and disconnect the power to your home and provide our team with a business card to call them back when everything is ready for the power to be back on. Right after the power is cut off our licensed electricians will upgrade your electrical service panel, and once they have finished the work an ESA inspector will arrive to inspect it. Once the work has been inspected and passed by ESA, the electricians will call Toronto Hydro to come and connect the power. Please note that you cannot have your power back until ESA has inspected the work and passed the inspection.
Step 4: Enjoy Your New Electrical Panel
Go ahead and install your new Electrical Vehicle Charger, or upgrade your home with new appliances and rest assure that your new electrical panel will be able to support your electrical needs.
When you hire MADE Electric for your electrical needs you know you will receive quality work and assurance that it will be done safely and up to par with the Ontario Electrical Safety Code. If you wish you to book an appointment with us please call us at 1-833-MADE-247 or email us at info@madeelectric.ca, we look forward to working with you.