Fuse panel: should you replace it, and why your insurer asks

Fuses or breakers: the difference

What a fuse panel has against it

• Capacity. Many fuse panels are on a 60 A or 100 A service, designed for a house without a heat pump, a charger or a hot tub.
• Room. There is no free position left for a new circuit, so circuits get shared, and fuses blow.
• The wrong fuse. A 20 A or 30 A fuse screwed in instead of a 15 A lets the wire overheat without ever blowing. It is the classic cause of charred wires in old houses.
• Modern protection. Arc-fault and GFCI breakers don’t exist as fuses.
• Parts. Worn fuse holders and oxidized bases are less and less easy to replace.

A fuse blew: what to do

1. Unplug the appliances on the circuit. According to Québec.ca, the first thing to check: too many appliances on the same circuit.
2. Replace the fuse with one of the same rating, never bigger. The rating is written on the fuse and should be on the circuit label.
3. Plug the appliances back in one at a time.
4. If it blows again for no apparent reason, call a master electrician for an inspection, as Québec.ca recommends.

When it is urgent

• A fuse, the panel or the wall around it is hot, discoloured or smells like burning.
• Fuses blow often, or you find a fuse bigger than the circuit label.
• You are adding a charger, a heat pump, a hot tub or an induction cooktop.
• Your insurer or an inspector puts it in writing.

See also Burning smell, hot outlet: what to do.

What the insurer asks for

The letter usually says: replace the fuse panel with a breaker panel, sometimes with a minimum capacity, by a given deadline. Bring it: the quote answers it point by point.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada points it out: insurers look for well-maintained homes, and redoing the wiring makes the house safer and can help the premium. It recommends keeping a record of all improvements. After the work, you keep in it:

• the invoice, which describes the panel installed and the circuits transferred;
• the confirmation that the work was declared to the RBQ, as the Code requires of the contractor;
• if needed, a photo of the new panel and its label.

If your house is old, the same record serves for the rest of the installation: aluminum wiring, pre-purchase electrical inspection.

How it goes

1. The assessment and the load calculation. On site or from photos: the condition of the panel and the service, the number of circuits, the appliances present and planned. Our load calculation applies the Code’s method.
2. The quote. What will be done, what is included, and what depends on the utility.
3. Coordination with the utility, if the electrical service changes: according to Hydro-Québec, only a CMEQ member can send it the work request. The shutdown and reconnection are planned with Hydro-Sherbrooke, Hydro-Québec, Hydro-Magog or Hydro-Coaticook, depending on the address.
4. The replacement. Every circuit is reconnected, checked and labelled in the new panel.
5. The tests and the work declaration to the RBQ.

What makes the cost vary

The condition of the electrical service (mast, cable, meter base), the distance between the meter and the panel, the number of circuits to transfer, the circuits added and access to the panel. It is all explained in Replacing your electrical panel: what makes the cost vary, and the upgrade to 200 A in Upgrading from 100 to 200 A.

With LTE Électrique

We replace fuse panels with breaker panels, mostly Siemens, Schneider (Square D) and Eaton, with the load calculation and, if needed, the upgrade to 200 A. We deal with the utility and the work declaration, and you receive the invoice to give your insurer. The price is announced in advance, fixed or hourly depending on the project, and labour is guaranteed for 2 years. Send us a photo of the panel and the insurer’s letter: the estimate is free, within 24 hours.