Signs Your Home Needs a 200 Amp Service Upgrade

Most older homes on the South Shore were wired for a different era. A 100 amp service was plenty when a house ran a furnace, a fridge, and a few lights. Add central air, a heat pump, a hot tub, a kitchen full of modern appliances, and an EV charger, and that panel is running well past what it was built for. When the demand catches up with an undersized service, you start seeing the warning signs, and eventually you hit a wall where you simply cannot add another circuit.

A 200 amp service upgrade doubles the electrical capacity coming into your home. It is one of the most common and worthwhile electrical projects for older South Shore houses, and it clears the way for everything modern homes demand. Here is how to tell when you need one, what the work involves, and what it costs you to wait.

Signs your service is maxed out

These are the everyday symptoms of a service that cannot keep up. One on its own may be minor. Several together usually mean it is time to upgrade.

• Breakers trip when you run the microwave, AC, and another large appliance at the same time
• Lights dim or flicker when the heat pump, dryer, or well pump kicks on
• You rely on power strips and extension cords because you are out of outlets
• Your panel is a fuse box, or a brand that has been flagged as a fire risk
• You are planning an addition, a finished basement, or a major appliance like a range or hot tub
• You want to install an EV charger and your panel has no room left
• The main breaker is already rated at 100 amps or less and the house has grown since it was installed

Why EV chargers push homes over the edge

A Level 2 EV charger can draw as much power as a whole kitchen. We see it constantly: a homeowner buys an electric vehicle, goes to add a charger, and finds the existing panel simply cannot handle the load. The same thing happens with heat pumps, which are becoming the standard for heating and cooling across Massachusetts. Both are large, continuous loads that a 100 amp service was never designed to carry alongside everything else.

Upgrading to 200 amp service solves that in one move and leaves room for whatever comes next. If you are electrifying your home, whether it is a car, your heating, or a kitchen renovation, the service upgrade is usually the foundation everything else sits on.

What a 200 amp upgrade involves

We replace the meter socket, the main panel, and the service entrance conductors, then coordinate with the utility for the disconnect and reconnect. In most homes it is a one day job. We pull the permit, handle the inspection, and leave you with a clean, labeled, code-compliant panel that has open slots for future circuits. If your existing panel is also failing or unsafe, we often pair this with a panel upgrade so you only pay for one visit and one inspection.

You will be without power for part of the day while the utility handles the reconnect, and we plan the timing with you in advance so it is as painless as possible. When we are done, everything is documented and inspected, which matters if you ever sell the home.

What it costs to wait

An undersized service is not just an inconvenience. Safety: an overloaded panel runs hot and is a genuine fire risk. Capacity: you keep tripping breakers and you cannot add the things you want. Value: a modern 200 amp service is something buyers and inspectors look for, and it enables EV charging and electric heat that add value. Waiting rarely makes the project cheaper, and it can turn a planned upgrade into an emergency one.

Planning ahead pays off

If you know a big electrical project is coming, a car, a heat pump, an addition, or a kitchen remodel, it is worth sizing the service for all of it at once rather than upgrading twice. A single 200 amp upgrade that anticipates your next few years is almost always cheaper than piecemeal work, and it means you are never the person who has to stop a project because the panel ran out of room. We are happy to look at your whole plan, not just the one thing in front of you, and recommend the service size that fits where your home is headed.

Boston Light & Power serves Boston, Milton, Quincy, Braintree, Weymouth, Hingham, Scituate, Cohasset, Hanover, and Norwell. We are licensed under Massachusetts Master Electrician License #24281-A.