March 2026

Panel Upgrade project in Sterling Heights

This Sterling Heights homeowner was still running on an original Pushmatic panel — a breaker style that hasn't been manufactured since the 1980s. Pushmatic panels are a known problem: breakers can't be tested for trip function, replacement parts are scarce and often refurbished or aftermarket, and the panels weren't built for the electrical load of a modern home. Insurance companies and home inspectors frequently flag them, and for good reason — a breaker that won't trip when it should is a fire risk.

We pulled the Pushmatic panel and installed a new 200 amp Square D panel, sized to handle the home's current and future electrical load. Since we were already inside the panel, we brought the rest of the system up to code at the same time: a new grounding system tied to the home's grounding electrodes, whole-home surge suppression to protect the new panel and everything plugged in behind it, and an outside disconnect so power can be cut at the meter in an emergency without going inside.

The result is a panel that meets current code, trips properly when it needs to, and has room for whatever gets added later — a generator, an EV charger, a home addition. The surge suppressor is doing quiet work in the background, absorbing spikes from the grid or a lightning strike before they reach anything else in the house.

If your home still has a Pushmatic, Zinsco, or Federal Pacific panel, it's worth having it looked at — those three brands account for a large share of the panel-related issues we see in Metro Detroit homes built from the 1950s through the 1980s.

Privacy-safe location

35400 block of Sunset Dr, Sterling Heights

Service

Panel Upgrade

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