Panel Upgrades · Boise, Idaho
400A panel upgrade — Boise, Idaho
A full meter main and panel replacement on a house that had outgrown its 100A service, with the branch circuits re-terminated and labeled before the inspector arrived.
Scope
The house had a 100A service feeding an addition, a shop subpanel, and a recently added heat pump. Breakers were doubled up, the bus was full, and the owners wanted EV charging and an induction range within the year. We ran a load calculation, and the number came out well past what the existing service could carry.
Site conditions
Original panel sat on an exterior wall behind a deck rebuild, with the service drop crossing over a mature tree. Grounding was a single rod with a corroded clamp, and the shop feeder had been spliced in a buried junction box with no accessible cover.
What we installed
A 400A meter main with two 200A distribution panels — one for the house, one for the shop and future EV load. New grounding electrode conductor to two driven rods plus a water bond, new masts and weatherhead, and every branch circuit re-terminated with a printed schedule inside the door.
What we watched for
Utility coordination was the long pole. We booked the disconnect two weeks out, staged the gear on site the day before, and had the inspector scheduled for the same afternoon so nothing waited overnight. The buried splice came out entirely rather than getting a new cover.
How it holds up
The shop and the house are on separate distribution now, so a welder no longer dims the kitchen. Capacity is sitting there for the charger and the range, and the panel schedule means the next person who opens that door knows what they are looking at.
