200-amp panel upgrade cost: swap vs a real service change

The sticker inside the door says 100, 150, or 200, and someone in the driveway just told you that you “need 200 amps” before they will hang a heat pump, a charger, or a hybrid water heater. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are selling a new box because the old one is full of breakers, which is a different problem than the wire coming in from the street.

A panel is the gray cabinet with the breakers. Service is the amperage the utility will actually deliver through the meter, the mast or underground feed, and the main disconnect. You can put a 200-amp-rated cabinet on a 100-amp feed and still have 100 amps. An electrician on Angi’s 2026 panel-cost page says that out loud: a new 200-amp-rated panel does not help if the exterior wire and meter box are still 100-amp.

Angi: cost to upgrade an electrical panel, 2026

What does the job cost?

HomeGuide’s breaker-box guide splits the common 100-to-200 jump two ways. Upgrading to 200 amps is $1,300 to $1,600, or $1,800 to $2,500 if a new service panel is required. A new 200-amp panel install sits at $1,800 to $2,500. Going on to 400 amps is $2,000 to $4,000. They put a typical replacement at 8 to 10 hours, including a 200-amp-capable job with a main breaker and ten branch breakers.

HomeGuide: cost to replace an electrical panel

This Old House’s 2026 panel page is the same neighborhood with a wider band: most homeowners pay $1,300 to $3,000 to get to 200-amp service, with a low around $800 and a high around $4,000. Their size table puts a 200-amp panel plus installation at $1,300 to $3,000, and a brand-new 200-amp install (no existing panel) at $1,800 to $2,500.

This Old House: cost to upgrade an electrical panel

Angi’s amperage table is narrower on the 200-amp line: panel only $250 to $350, panel plus install $1,300 to $2,000. Treat that as the box-on-the-wall job, not the meter-and-mast job.

If Bid A is $1,400 and Bid B is $4,200, they are usually not the same scope. A is often “new cabinet, same feed.” B is “utility, meter, mast, grounding, and a day with the power off.”

Panel swap or service upgrade?

Panel swap. The incoming service already matches what you want, or you are replacing a damaged, full, or recalled box and keeping the same amperage. The electrician lands the existing feeders on a new bus, labels the breakers, and you are done in a day if nothing else is wrong. HomeGuide’s lower 200-amp band is this story.

Service upgrade. You are asking the utility for more amps, usually 100 to 200. That can mean a new meter socket, new service conductors, a new mast or underground lateral, a new grounding electrode, and a scheduled disconnect/reconnect. The panel on the wall is one line item. The street is the rest.

You need the upgrade when a written load calculation (not a glance at empty slots) says the house will exceed the existing service once the heat pump, charger, or electric water heater is on. Empty slots can still mean the incoming pipe is maxed out. The Level 2 charger page is the same fork with a different appliance.

You do not automatically need 200 amps because a salesperson wants a round number. A 100-amp house that is not adding large 240-volt loads can replace a dangerous panel at 100 amps and stop there.

What do three real-looking bids mean?

These sit inside HomeGuide and This Old House bands. They are not quotes for your house.

Bid A, about $1,300 to $2,000. Replace a working-but-full or ugly 200-amp panel in the same spot, or a clean 100-to-200 where the meter and mast are already rated. Ten breakers, permit, labels. This is Angi’s 200-amp installed line and the bottom of This Old House.

Bid B, about $1,800 to $3,000. New 200-amp panel, more circuits, AFCI/GFCI breakers the inspector will want, maybe moving the cabinet a few feet, power off most of a day. HomeGuide’s “new service panel required” band and This Old House’s typical 100-to-200.

Bid C, $3,000 and up. Meter, mast, underground, Federal Pacific or Zinsco replacement with burned lugs, aluminum feeders that have to be redone, or a panel in a finished closet that has to move. HomeGuide’s 400-amp and “bring it up to code” language lives here. If the bid also includes a heat pump or a charger, make them split the panel line from the appliance line.

Federal Pacific Stab-Lok and Zinsco/Sylvania panels show up in older houses as a safety swap even when you are not adding load. That is still a panel job. Ask whether they are replacing because the brand is a known problem, or because they want 200 amps for a future charger.

When is 200 amps the right call?

You are adding more than one large 240-volt load: a heat pump, a Level 2 charger, a heat pump water heater, an electric range. The heat pump vs furnace decision and the heat pump water heater page are two of those loads. Stacking them on a 100-amp service is how lights dim when the dryer starts.

It also fits when the existing panel is full, damaged, or a brand an insurer already hates, and you would rather do the service once. Doing a 100-amp replacement this year and a 200-amp upgrade next year is two shutdowns and two permits.

A subpanel (HomeGuide puts 100-amp subpanels around $500 to $1,500 installed on their subpanel guide) is the right call when the main is physically stuffed but the service calculation still passes. That is extra breaker spaces, not extra amps from the street. A single dedicated circuit, if the main still has room, is cheaper still: HomeGuide puts that at $250 to $900.

HomeGuide: cost to install a subpanel

HomeGuide: dedicated circuit cost

Permits on their electrical pages run $50 to $350. The utility appointment is the part nobody puts a sticker on: overhead vs underground, whether the meter can be pulled the same day, and whether you need a temporary generator because the well or the medical fridge cannot sit dark for eight hours. Ask for the outage window in writing.

When should I keep 100 amps?

The load calculation passes with the new appliance, maybe with a lower charger setting or a device that shares a circuit. The panel is a modern breaker box, not a fuse cabinet or a recalled brand. You are not planning a second 240-volt machine this year.

Keeping 100 amps is not a moral failure. It is cheaper, and it avoids a utility appointment. Just get the calculation on paper so you are not guessing.

Do not let a 2026 bid subtract a federal 25C dollar for a panel. That credit ended for property placed in service after December 31, 2025, same cliff as the heat pump credit.

IRS: Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit

What should be on the quote?

1. Current service amperage, taken from the meter or the utility, not only the sticker in the door.
2. Proposed amperage, and whether this is a panel swap or a service upgrade.
3. Load calculation for this house with the new loads listed.
4. Meter, mast, underground, grounding: in or out.
5. Who calls the utility, and how long the power will be off.
6. Breaker count, AFCI/GFCI, surge if they are including it.
7. Permit and inspection.
8. What happens to old brands (Federal Pacific, Zinsco) if that is the reason you called.
9. Exclusions: drywall, relocating the panel, a charger, a heat pump.

If one bid is 40% cheaper, find the missing line before you celebrate. The missing line is usually the meter.

What goes wrong after you sign?

The new cabinet is 200-amp and the meter is still 100. The power is off all day and nobody told you the well or the fridge would be dark. The bid did not include AFCI breakers the inspector wants. The panel moves three feet and now the dryer cable does not reach. A “free upgrade with the heat pump” turns out to be a $4,000 change order once the electrician opens the wall.

How do I decide in one afternoon?

1. Read the main breaker or the meter. That is today’s service, not the sales chart.
2. List the 240-volt machines you already have and the ones you are about to add.
3. Get two bids that say swap vs upgrade, and that include a load calculation.
4. If the calculation passes at 100, price a subpanel or a shared-circuit gadget before you buy a new service.

The panel is a means to run the house. Size it for the loads you are actually plugging in, then stop.