A lot of Winnipeg homes are running on a panel that was sized for the way people lived decades ago, before central air, hot tubs, heat pumps, and EVs in the garage. When you keep tripping breakers, when you cannot add a circuit because the panel is full, or when an addition or a big appliance needs more power than the service can give, the panel is the bottleneck. A service upgrade fixes it.
The most common job we do here is taking a home from 100-amp to 200-amp service, which is the standard most modern Winnipeg homes are built around. We handle the panel, the permit, the Manitoba Hydro coordination for the service connection, and the inspection, so the whole thing is done properly and signed off.
We start by working out what you actually need, because the right answer is not always the biggest panel. We look at what is on the system now and what you are planning to add, whether that is an EV charger, a hot tub, air conditioning, or a basement development. From there we size the service and give you a clear scope.
On install day the house is without power for part of the day while we swap the panel and, on a service upgrade, while the meter base and service entrance are changed over. We coordinate the disconnect and reconnect with Manitoba Hydro, run the work to the Manitoba electrical code, and have it inspected. Older homes that need a panel upgrade quite often have knob and tube wiring or aluminum wiring as well, and it is usually more efficient to address those together than to open the same walls twice.
A 100-amp service still suits some smaller Winnipeg homes with modest loads. But once you start adding the big continuous loads that modern homes carry, 200-amp is the service that gives you headroom instead of leaving you back where you started in a few years. We see a lot of this in the post-war bungalows around East Kildonan and North Kildonan, where the original service was never meant for how the homes are used now. We will tell you honestly which one fits your house and your plans rather than upselling you into capacity you will never use.
A panel upgrade is one of those jobs where the difference between a good electrician and a cheap one shows up later, in whether the work passed cleanly and whether the system has room to grow. We have been doing service upgrades across Winnipeg since 2019.
In most cases, yes. A panel upgrade and a full rewire are separate jobs, and plenty of homes need more service capacity while their branch wiring is perfectly sound. The exception is older homes with knob and tube or deteriorated wiring, where it often makes sense to do both at once. We tell you which situation you are in after we look.
It depends on your home, because the panel itself is only part of it. Whether the meter base and service entrance cable need replacing, and whether Manitoba Hydro has to do work on their side, all move the number. We give you a firm quote after seeing the service rather than a guess over the phone.
A straightforward panel or service upgrade is usually a one-day job, and your home will be without power for part of that day while we make the changeover. Larger jobs or ones that involve additional wiring take longer, and we give you the timeline before we start.
Yes, for part of the day. Swapping a panel and changing over the service means the power comes off while we work, and Manitoba Hydro disconnects and reconnects the service as part of the process. We schedule it to get you back up the same day.
If your panel is full, dated, or just not keeping up with what you are running, get in touch for a free estimate and a straight answer on the right service for your home.
Monday – Sunday: 7:00 AM – 8:00 PM