A panel job starts with a walk-through. We check the breaker rating, look for double-tapped circuits, and then identify the panel brand. Units stamped Federal Pacific Stab-Lok or Zinsco turn up often in these older neighborhoods, and Challenger panels show the same failure pattern: breakers that don't trip when they should. Homeowners with one of these brands usually opt for replacement rather than electrical panel repair. Most Urbandale households upgrading today land between 150 and 200 amps, enough headroom for an EV charger and central air running together without the breaker tripping every August, with room left for a hot tub or spa circuit.
Once the fresh panel goes in, we run insulated breakers matched to the load and size the bus work to match. GFCI protection goes in wherever the National Electrical Code requires it near water. A surge protector gets tied in at the panel too, since one lightning strike on a Polk County transformer can take out a furnace board and every smart device in the house on the same afternoon. Basements with a sump pump get their own dedicated circuit. Older homes sometimes still have aluminum wiring or knob-and-tube wiring behind the walls; we flag that during the inspection before anything gets closed up. The entire job is permitted by the City of Urbandale and inspected once the crew wraps up.
Mr. Electric: Panel Work Backed by 15 Years in Central Iowa
Our crew averages 15 years of hands-on electrical experience, and Mr. Electric of Central Iowa has been doing this work locally since 2001. That's not a marketing number. It shows up in how fast that first look at your panel turns into an accurate amp recommendation. Readers voted us Des Moines' best electrician in both 2024 and 2025, and panel upgrades are one of the jobs our six field electricians run most weeks.
Panel work doesn't stop at the Urbandale line. This crew handles the same upgrades in Johnston and Grimes, and just as often in Ankeny and West Des Moines. Having households have an EV charger or a whole-home surge protector wired in during a single visit is common, and getting generator installation lined up tends to come right after that. An old fuse box or a panel that looks scorched around the edges is worth a look either way: schedule an appointment, and we'll tell you straight if the fix is a repair or a full swap.
