100-Amp vs 200-Amp Service: What Florida Homes Need

Short answer: nearly every Florida home built today gets 200-amp service, and most homes still running 100 amps were sized for a house with one AC unit, a modest range, and nobody charging a car in the garage. If you are adding a whole-home generator, a Level 2 EV charger, an addition, or a second AC system, 100 amps is usually the thing standing in the way. If you are adding none of that and nothing is misbehaving, 100-amp service can still be entirely code-compliant and perfectly adequate.

We get this question from homeowners in Lantana and Palm Bay in about equal numbers, and the honest answer is that it depends on math, not on the age of the house. Here is what our crew actually looks at.

Service size is a question of what runs at the same time

The number stamped on your main breaker is the ceiling for everything the house can pull at once, not a measure of how many outlets you have. An electrician sizes it with a load calculation under Article 220 of the National Electrical Code: square footage, the AC compressor and air handler, water heater, range, dryer, pool pump, well pump if you are out on acreage in Wellington or Jupiter Farms, plus any large fixed appliance.

Florida skews that math in a specific direction. Air conditioning runs most of the year here, so the single biggest continuous load in a Florida house is working harder and longer than the same equipment in a cooler state. A house in Viera with two systems and a heat pump water heater can add up fast, while a 1,400 square foot bungalow near Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach with one small system may never come close to 100 amps.

Worth knowing: 100 and 200 are not the only options. Services also come in 125, 150, and 400 amps, and on larger properties we sometimes end up at 320/400 with two panels. Also, a 200-amp panel does not by itself mean 200-amp service. The panel, the meter can, the service conductors, and the utility feed all have to be rated for it.

Signs 100 amps has run out of room

• The panel is physically full, with tandem breakers crammed into slots that were never listed for them
• Someone already added a subpanel off a main that was tight to begin with
• Lights dip noticeably every time the AC compressor starts
• A generator or EV charger quote came back saying the service has to change first
• The existing panel is one of the older brands inspectors flag and that no longer have reliably available replacement breakers

That last one matters more than people expect. In older housing stock around Cocoa, Rockledge, and the established parts of West Palm Beach, we still open panels that were installed before most current homeowners were born. Salt air near the Indian River and the Lake Worth Lagoon does not help either. Corroded lugs and a rusted meter can often push a repair into a full electrical service upgrade simply because there is nothing left worth keeping.

What drives the price up or down

We do not publish a flat number for this work, because a service upgrade is genuinely site-specific. Two houses on the same street can come in far apart. These are the factors that move it:

• Distance from the meter to the panel. A meter and panel back to back is a very different job than a panel sitting on the far side of the house.
• Overhead versus underground service. Underground laterals mean trenching and utility coordination.
• Mast, weatherhead, and meter can condition. Anything corroded gets replaced, not reused.
• Grounding and bonding. Current code requires ground rods and bonds that older installations often lack, and that work comes along with the upgrade.
• Wall repair. Stucco patching after a panel relocation costs more than siding.
• Permit and inspection fees, which differ by county and municipality across Palm Beach and Brevard.
• Site access, including gates, HOA rules in master-planned neighborhoods, and landscaping in the way.

If you see a general industry price range online, treat it as a typical range that varies enormously by site. The only number that means anything is a written quote from someone who has looked at your meter, your panel, and your wall.

Permits, inspections, and the utility

Every jurisdiction we work in requires a permit for a service change, and a licensed contractor has to pull it. Ours is FL License EC 13005020. The sequence is fairly consistent: permit, utility disconnect scheduled with FPL, the changeover itself, inspection, then reconnect. Power is off for part of a day, and the reconnect depends on the inspector and the utility, not on us finishing early.

Hurricane season adds a wrinkle worth planning around. Permit and inspection queues get long after a named storm, and utility crews are committed elsewhere. If you know an upgrade is coming, doing it in the off-season is simply easier.

Before signing anything, ask the contractor: Is a load calculation included, and can I see it? Who pulls the permit? Does the price include grounding, bonding, and wall repair, or are those extras? Who schedules the utility disconnect? And does the new panel leave open spaces for the circuits I might add in the next few years?

If you are weighing this against a generator or EV charger project, it usually makes sense to plan them together. We handle both, along with the rest of our residential electrical work across Florida, and we would rather scope it once than have you pay to open the same wall twice. Call us at (844) 432-2262 for a free, no-obligation quote. We respond within one business day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need 200-amp service to install a whole-home generator?

Not automatically. It depends on the load calculation, the generator size, and whether the transfer switch covers the whole panel or selected circuits. That said, many older 100-amp services do not leave enough headroom, so the two jobs often get done together.

Is a panel replacement the same thing as a service upgrade?

No. Swapping a failing 100-amp panel for a new 100-amp panel is a panel replacement. A service upgrade raises the rated capacity, which means the meter can, service conductors, grounding, and the utility feed all have to be brought up with it.

How long will my power be out during the changeover?

Usually part of a single day for the physical work, but the full timeline depends on permit approval, the inspector's schedule, and when the utility can reconnect. We give you a realistic window before we start rather than a best-case one.