Dear Mr. Electrician: How do I replace my townhouse electrical panel?
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Answer: There is no set answer to the question “How do I replace my townhouse electrical panel?” Every home is wired differently by the original builders and contractors. Even tract homes are not identical due to multiple sub-contractors and the evolution of the structure by the homeowners.
The older a building, the more changes it will have gone through. Some of those changes may not have been done correctly and now you must deal with them.
Read below about a townhouse electrical panel replacement job that entailed closing in an outside porch (In the photo above) and replacing the original electrical sub-panel.
Although this electrical panel is the main panel for this townhouse, technically it is a sub-panel because the neutral conductor and the grounding electrode conductor are connected (Bonded) at the electric meter location where the main circuit breaker is located.
In a sub-panel, the neutral and ground are always kept separate.
I included the homeowners’ floor plan with my application for an electrical permit. On it, I had hand-drawn the locations of electrical outlets, switches, and lights. I also included a one-page “Scope of Work” outlining the details of the job and mentioning that the townhouse electrical panel was being replaced and rotated 180 degrees.
ELECTRICAL PANEL REPLACEMENT
The photo below depicts the original electrical sub-panel installed by the townhouse builder around thirty-five years earlier. The panel manufacturer is no longer in business and there was limited space for additional circuits that would be needed.
The original panel faced the inside of a walk-in closet. Due to homeowner improvements inside the closet, there was no longer enough clearance space for the new electrical panel. See Article 110.26 in the National Electrical Code.
Fortunately, I was able to do the easiest thing. I only had to turn the new electrical sub-panel to face inside the soon-to-be-finished room. I did not have to relocate any wires.
I had one day to replace the electrical panel while the homeowners were at work. It was a simple swap-out with the only kink being that the new panel would be rotated 180 degrees to face inside the new finished room.
The first thing I did was turn off the main circuit breaker at the outdoor electric meter stack on the side of the building. Next, I removed each wire carefully one at a time so I would not damage them. I had already marked them on a previous day so I didn’t waste time with the power off.
Below is the space and hanging cables where the old sub-panel was located.
NEW TOWNHOUSE ELECTRICAL PANEL
The new electrical sub-panel was bigger than the old one and I included a main circuit breaker, though it wasn’t required because there was a main breaker at the meter.
I had to cut the wood stud and then add a piece to fit the new electrical panel in the same space as the old one. Those particular studs were not sixteen inches on center.
I screwed the new panel to the side studs using inch and a quarter #10 sheet metal screws.
The original installer didn’t, but I nailed a safety plate in place to protect the main feeder cable.
The ground bar and the grounding electrode conductor termination inside the Square D Type QO electrical panel. The ground bar is a separate purchase. Sometimes on the outside packaging of the electrical panel, it will display the part number for the ground bar.
The green taped #4 insulated aluminum wire is not connected to a ground rod or water pipe ground. It is connected to the water heater with a jumper across the hot and cold copper water pipes. The purpose is to bond the metal water pipes to ground in case they become energized.
The earth-ground connection with ground rods is located at the electric meter stack on the side of the townhouse building where all electric meters and main disconnects are located.
A backside view of a few Type NM-B electrical cables entering the bottom of the new Square D electrical panel. I used a cable stacker to hold the cables in place.
All of the original cables from the old, existing sub-panel fit nicely into the new panel on the top. I brought the new circuits into the panel through the bottom.
Here’s an article of mine about replacing a sub-panel in an old basement.
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