Electrical Panel Upgrades in Santa Barbara, CA

Santa Barbara is a panel-upgrade town more than anywhere else we work, and the reason is the housing stock. A great many homes on the Mesa, the Riviera and through the Upper East were wired long before anyone imagined a car charging in the driveway or a battery on the garage wall. A 100-amp service was generous in 1955. It is the thing standing in the way today. The practical answer is usually a service upgrade to 200 amps, and in Santa Barbara that means coordinating three parties rather than one: the City of Santa Barbara building division for the permit, Southern California Edison for the service drop and meter, and in the downtown and waterfront blocks covered by the El Pueblo Viejo landmark district, design review for anything that changes how the exterior looks. We file all of it. If you live inside the landmark district we will tell you that on the phone, before it becomes a surprise halfway through. Two local details worth knowing. Salt air is hard on outdoor equipment near the beach and on the Mesa, so we specify enclosures rated for it rather than whatever is cheapest on the shelf. And older Santa Barbara homes frequently hide a second surprise behind the panel: cloth-sheathed branch wiring, or an old sub-panel nobody has opened in decades. We look before we quote, so the number we give you is the number you pay.