# Electrical Panel Upgrade in Los Angeles > Electrical panel upgrade in Los Angeles: fuse boxes, 100 to 200 amps, LADWP meter spots, Pasadena and Glendale utilities, cost. Start with a load calculation. URL: https://laknobandtube.com/electrical-panel-upgrade/ Replace a fuse box or undersized panel with capacity for the new circuits, coordinated with the utility and the rewire. Questions answered Last Updated: October 24, 2026 **19.1%** of homes in the City of LA were built before 1940, by the Census Bureau's count **Express** LADBS issues nearly every house rewire permit as an express permit, with no plan check **394.12** California's rule on insulating over knob and tube, explained in plain terms [LA Knob and Tube](https://laknobandtube.com/) handles electrical panel upgrades in Los Angeles, Pasadena, Glendale and South Pasadena, as part of rewiring older houses: replacing fuse boxes and undersized panels, sizing the new one for the circuits the house will need, and coordinating with the utility. The work is carried out by licensed and insured electrical contractors. A panel upgrade can be the first electrical job an older house gets, because a fuse box or a full panel stands in the way of almost everything else. It is also a job easily mistaken for something it is not. A new panel changes the equipment at the start of every circuit. It does not change the circuits. If knob and tube fed the bedrooms before the upgrade, it feeds them after, now on new breakers. ## What happens on the first visit The first visit starts with a panel inspection: the make and condition of the panel or fuse box, the service size, how many spaces are in use and free, and how each circuit is protected. A fuse or breaker larger than its wire can carry is noted, because the new panel will be sized to the wiring, not to the old fuse. The meter, mast and service drop are checked outside, along with where a new panel could go. The visit also maps live, dead and mixed circuits, as the [guide to active and abandoned knob and tube](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/active-vs-abandoned-knob-and-tube/) describes, because the panel decision depends on what the circuits will be after any rewiring. That is where the load calculation comes in. ## Panel and branch wiring are separate scopes The two parts of the system are easy to confuse. The panel, or panelboard, holds the breakers or fuses that protect each branch circuit. Branch wiring is everything from there to the outlets, switches and lights. A panel upgrade replaces the first. Rewiring replaces the second. LADBS permit descriptions show both kinds of job, for example “upgrade electrical panel from 90 amp knob and tube to 200 amp” in 90004, and “Service upgrade to 200 and rewire sections with knob and tube” in 90026. The second one is a panel upgrade plus part of a rewire; the first, as worded, changes the panel only. That matters for insurance and for buyers. A house with a new 200-amp panel and live knob and tube is still a house with live knob and tube. The [panel upgrade vs rewiring guide](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/panel-upgrade-vs-rewiring/) explains when each is needed, and [whole-house rewiring](https://laknobandtube.com/whole-house-rewiring/) covers replacing the circuits. ## Fuse panels and old protection A pre-war house that has never had a panel upgrade may still run on screw-in fuses or fused pull-outs. Fuses do protect circuits, but they invite one dangerous habit: replacing a fuse that keeps blowing with a larger one. That lets the wire carry more current than it was built for, and it overheats before anything trips. Never change a fuse to a larger size. When a fuse panel is replaced, each old circuit gets a breaker sized to its conductors. A circuit that kept blowing a fuse will now trip its breaker for the same reason, which is a sign it needs more circuits, not a bigger breaker. ## Load calculation: 100 amps to 200 amps A house built for a few lights and a radio may still be fed by a small service. A Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UCLA study of California single-family homes found 200-amp service most common and 100-amp next, with smaller, older homes more likely to have 100 amps or less. Whether a given house needs more comes from a load calculation, done the way the electrical code sets out: lighting and receptacle load by floor area, kitchen and laundry circuits, and each fixed appliance, such as a range, dryer, water heater, air conditioning or heat pump and an EV charger. That calculation answers the capacity question honestly, and the [assessment tool](https://laknobandtube.com/tools/knob-and-tube-assessment/) is a quick way to sort out what to ask about first. Some houses can stay at 100 amps with a new panel that has more spaces. Others, especially those adding electric appliances, need a 200-amp service. Choosing the size before the rewire avoids a second upgrade later. Where the attic is due for insulation too, the [attic insulation page](https://laknobandtube.com/knob-and-tube-attic-insulation/) covers how that fits the same plan. ## The utility side: LADWP, Pasadena, Glendale and South Pasadena In the City of Los Angeles, the utility is LADWP. If the job includes a new meter panel, LADWP asks that the meter spot be verified with its electric service staff before the panel is installed; single-family meter spots up to 320 amps can be requested online. LADWP needs to see the LADBS electrical permit before its inspector visits, and says the meter set generally follows within about ten working days when no other LADWP work is needed. Underground services take longer, with cost estimates that LADWP says take six to eight weeks. LADWP generally charges no installation fee when its existing service can carry the new demand. Pasadena and Glendale run their own municipal utilities, so the process is different. Pasadena Water & Power publishes fixed charges for new services: $1,238.19 for a 200-amp overhead service, and $3,190.81 plus civil construction for an underground one. Glendale Water & Power’s residential service-upgrade requirements are confirmed per address. South Pasadena is served by Southern California Edison. The [permit guide](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/los-angeles-rewiring-permit/) covers how the city permit and the utility steps fit together. ## Mast placement in HPOZs and historic districts Interior rewiring inside an LA Historic Preservation Overlay Zone does not need preservation review, but a panel upgrade can change the outside of the house. The Highland Park-Garvanza preservation plan, for example, says electrical masts, headers and fuse boxes should be placed at the rear of a structure where possible, and that utilities should go underground where feasible. The city has 35 adopted HPOZs, and each plan has its own exemptions and guidelines. Pasadena and Glendale designate their own historic districts, and their review rules are confirmed per address. If a new meter or mast would land on a street-facing wall, the location is settled before the permit. The [historic homes guide](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/rewiring-historic-homes-los-angeles/) covers HPOZ review in more detail. ## Permits and inspection A panel upgrade is permitted work. In the City of LA, LADBS issues the electrical permit, and a single-family house needs electrical plan check only if a listed trigger applies, such as equipment of 600 amps or more or a new connected load above 400 amps, so a typical 200-amp upgrade does not. LADBS publishes an online [fee calculator](https://08web15.lacity.org/fee_est_dir) for the permit. In Pasadena, the city’s fee schedule lists a $78 processing fee, $21 per breaker and $73 for a service or panel up to 200 amps. Glendale and South Pasadena permit through their own building departments. ## Access and restoration Replacing a panel in the same spot usually needs little or no wall work. Moving it is different. A new location means extending the existing circuits to it, which can mean openings in plaster near the old and new panels, and a recessed panel set into a plaster wall needs the wall cut and patched around it. The quote should name each opening and who patches it. When the panel work comes with a rewire, the [plaster wall rewiring](https://laknobandtube.com/plaster-wall-rewiring/) page covers how openings are handled. ## What a panel upgrade costs A 100 to 200 amp panel upgrade in the same location, with no utility-side work, typically costs $2,500 to $5,500 in the LA area. What moves a job above that is relocating the panel, replacing the meter or mast, an underground service, the utility’s own charges, and any circuits that need repair before they can be reconnected. The [LA cost guide](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/knob-and-tube-replacement-cost-los-angeles/) shows how panel work fits into a full rewiring budget, and a [partial replacement](https://laknobandtube.com/partial-knob-and-tube-replacement/) or [inspection](https://laknobandtube.com/knob-and-tube-inspection/) can tell you whether the panel is the only thing the house needs right now. ## What's included - A panel inspection: condition, capacity, spare spaces and how each circuit is protected - A load calculation for the house as it is and as it will be after the rewire - A plan for panel size and location, and whether the meter, mast or service has to change - Coordination with LADWP, Pasadena Water & Power, Glendale Water & Power or Southern California Edison as the address requires - Removal of the old fuse box or panel and installation of the new one - Existing circuits reconnected on correctly sized breakers, with any knob and tube still in service listed - City permit, inspection and a labeled panel ## What a panel upgrade changes and what it does not | | Panel upgrade | Branch-circuit rewiring | | --- | --- | --- | | What is replaced | The panel, and sometimes the meter, mast or service | The wiring from the panel to outlets, switches and lights | | Knob and tube | Stays in service on new breakers | Replaced and disconnected | | Grounding at outlets | Unchanged on old circuits | New grounded circuits | | Capacity | More amps and more spaces for new circuits | More circuits, using that capacity | | Utility involvement | Often, for a new meter panel or service | Usually none | | Typical trigger | Fuse box, full panel, larger loads, a rewire | Knob and tube, cloth wiring, insurance, a remodel | ## Related resources - Decision Guide [Panel upgrade vs rewiring: which one does an older house need, and when does it need both?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/panel-upgrade-vs-rewiring/)They are separate jobs on separate parts of the system. Here is how to tell which one your house needs, and how they fit together when it needs both. - Learn [Do you need an electrical permit for rewiring in Los Angeles, and how does it work?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/los-angeles-rewiring-permit/)Who issues it, who is allowed to pull it, what the inspector checks, and how Pasadena, Glendale and South Pasadena differ from LADBS. - Learn [How do you rewire a historic home in Los Angeles without losing what makes it historic?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/rewiring-historic-homes-los-angeles/)Interior rewiring is usually outside preservation review in an HPOZ. The exterior, the finishes and the paperwork are where the care goes. - Cost Guide [How much does knob and tube replacement cost in Los Angeles?](https://laknobandtube.com/guide/knob-and-tube-replacement-cost-los-angeles/)The ranges, what moves a house within them, and the parts of the price that come from public figures. ## How a job runs 1. First call What you have seen, the age of the house, and any inspection, insurer or escrow deadline. 2. Walk-through and circuit map Which runs are live, which are dead, the panel, attic and crawlspace access, and where openings would go. 3. Permit and rewire Circuits are replaced in sequence, so most of the house keeps power on most days. 4. Inspection and patching The city inspection, a labeled panel, and the openings closed as the quote describes. ## What this work looks like An older beige 100 amp breaker panel crowded with breakers An electric meter on the side wall of a Los Angeles bungalow with the service mast rising to the roof Arc-fault circuit breakers with white test buttons in a breaker panel A grounding wire clamped to a copper ground rod beside a house foundation ## Panel upgrade questions ### Can a fuse panel be replaced while the house still has knob and tube? Yes. The old circuits, knob and tube included, are reconnected to breakers in the new panel, sized to the wire they protect. That does not replace any of the old wiring. The circuits stay knob and tube until they are rewired, and the work should list which ones remain. ### How much does a 100 to 200 amp panel upgrade cost in Los Angeles? A typical LA-area range is $2,500 to $5,500 for a 100 to 200 amp upgrade in the same location, with no utility-side work. Moving the panel, replacing the mast or changing the service adds work, and the utility's charges differ by city. ### Does LADWP charge for a panel upgrade? LADWP says it generally charges no installation fee when its existing service can carry the new demand. Work in public property, transformer work or street resurfacing is charged case by case. The meter spot still has to be verified with LADWP before a new meter panel goes in. ### Who handles the utility side of a panel upgrade in Pasadena or Glendale? Not LADWP. Pasadena is served by Pasadena Water & Power, which publishes its own service charges, and Glendale by Glendale Water & Power, whose requirements are confirmed per address. South Pasadena is served by Southern California Edison. ### Can a new meter and mast go on the front of a house in an LA HPOZ? It can draw preservation review. HPOZ preservation plans exempt interior work but generally ask that electrical masts, headers and fuse boxes go at the rear of a structure where possible. Placement is worked out before the permit, with the plan and the utility both in mind. ## Related services ### Whole-house rewiring Replace every old branch circuit, knob and tube or not, and add the circuits and protection a modern house needs. ### Partial replacement Replace the live circuits that matter now and document exactly where the old system stops. ### Inspection Find out which circuits are still live, what condition the reachable wiring is in, and what cannot be seen.