Hi, I recently purchased a 1940 house with a basement suite. The house has 100A service and I was told this is sufficient, but should be upgraded if I want to add anything else... which I do... I need a couple more lights and an outdoor plug. Do I have to have the whole house rewired to do the 200A upgrade? I was told this will be close to 10K.
Thank you

Service upgrades are to the first box outside. That would be the main breaker box. A few lights and 1 outdoor plug may be able to be handled with what you have. Is everything electric including the heat, stove, water heater ?

Service upgrades are to the first box outside. That would be the main breaker box. This is a bit confusing, and not really accurate.

A service upgrade is everything from the utility taps at the top of the service riser, all the way down to the meter pan, then to the main panel/disconnect (typically in a basement or garage), and all service cable/conduit in between. Also, all new bonding/grounding.


I do agree, to add those few items will almost certainly not require a service upgrade, and especially not a complete house re-wire. Not unless you want it to of course.