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Electrical repair Chicago
Old Chicago wiring, brought up to 200 amps in metal conduit.
Electrical repair in Chicago, service and panel upgrades, knob-and-tube rewiring and EV charger installation. Emergency calls are billed as call-out plus time and materials. Planned work gets a fixed written quote after we have seen the panel.
01Any hour
Emergency electrician, Chicago, 24 hours
Half a house dark, or a breaker that trips the second you reset it. Somebody goes out the same night.
The most common 2 a.m. call is a main that will not stay on. Usually it is one branch circuit with a fault on it, often a failed device in an old box, and the main is doing its job. We isolate circuits one at a time until the main holds, then chase the fault on the one that does not.
The second most common is a burning smell with no visible cause. That is a loose connection heating up: an aluminum-to-copper splice without the right connector, a backstabbed outlet, a lug on the panel that was never torqued. Kill the main if you can reach it safely and call 312-282-1170.
Storm calls are different. If the service drop is down or the mast is pulled off the wall, ComEd owns the wire up to the weatherhead and they have to make it dead. We repair the mast, meter socket and service entrance so they can reconnect. That part needs a permit even in an emergency, and we file it.
What we will not do at night is start a panel replacement on a guess. We make it safe, restore what can be restored, and come back in daylight with a written scope.
02Service and panel upgrade
Electrical panel upgrade in Chicago, 60 or 100 amp to 200
A 200 amp service upgrade in Chicago means a new meter socket, new service conductors in conduit, a new load center, and a ComEd disconnect and reconnect on the day.
Most of the panels we replace are one of two things. A 60 amp fuse box from before the war, often with someone's idea of a "fix" bolted on beside it. Or a 100 amp breaker panel from the 1970s that is full, with tandem breakers squeezed into every slot. Neither will run central air, an induction range and a dryer at once.
The job goes in a fixed order. Site visit, where we look at the meter, the service drop and the existing panel. Written quote. Permit. A day booked with ComEd to cut power at the pole or the meter. Panel swap, every existing circuit landed on a labeled breaker. Inspection, which we attend. Most single-family and two-flat swaps are done inside one working day once ComEd shows up.
We do not quote a panel upgrade over the phone. The difference between a straightforward swap and one that needs a new mast, a relocated meter or a grounding electrode run to the water main is several hours of labor and a different material list. You get the right number after we have looked.
The quote covers the panel, the breakers, the conduit, the permit and the inspection visit. It does not cover drywall patching. Any branch circuit found unsafe once the cover is off is priced separately and left to you.
03Rewiring
Knob and tube rewiring in Chicago, one circuit at a time
Cloth-wrapped wire was fine in 1940. It has been drying out in your walls ever since.
Knob-and-tube has no ground conductor. The rubber under the cloth goes brittle and cracks where it bends around a knob, and where someone has blown insulation into the wall cavity the wire cannot shed heat the way it was designed to. Insurers ask about it. Buyers' inspectors flag it every time.
We replace it circuit by circuit with new THHN conductors pulled through EMT conduit, the way Chicago code wants it. Working one circuit at a time means the house keeps power at night: you do not move out, and the fridge stays on. A typical kitchen circuit gets opened at the box locations and at the bends, not along the whole wall. We fish where plaster allows and cut where it does not.
Plaster patching is itemized as its own line so you can choose. Some people have their own plasterer. Some want it done with the job. Either is fine, but we do not hide it inside a circuit price.
Why it costs more here
Chicago wires in metal conduit. Romex is not the answer here.
Across most of the country an electrician staples plastic-sheathed cable to the framing and closes the wall. The City of Chicago electrical code calls for wire in metal raceway for most residential work. That means EMT tube cut to length, bent on a hand bender, strapped, coupled and pulled.
It takes longer and the material costs more. It also means a picture hook or a drywall screw cannot reach a live conductor, and the conduit itself serves as the equipment ground path back to the panel.
When a quote from someone else is much lower than ours on the same rewire, ask what is going in the wall. We do not run Romex where code calls for conduit.
½inch EMT
Most common size for a 15 or 20 amp branch run
240volts
EV chargers, ranges, dryers and central air
200amps
Usual target service for an upgraded house
04EV charging
EV charger installation in Chicago, load checked first
A Level 2 charger is a dedicated 240 volt circuit. Before anyone orders a charger we check whether the service can carry it.
A 48 amp charger needs a 60 amp breaker, because chargers are a continuous load and the circuit is sized at 125 percent. On a 100 amp service with a gas range and no central air that can work. On a 100 amp service with an electric dryer, a window unit in every bedroom and a basement apartment, it usually does not, and the honest answer is either a lower charger setting or a service upgrade first. We run the load calculation and show it to you.
Then there is the run. A detached garage off the alley means trenching or an overhead feed from the house, and a disconnect at the garage. An attached garage or a basement wall near the panel might be a 20 foot run in EMT. Those are very different jobs, so the quote waits until we have measured.
You can buy the charger yourself or we can supply it. If you supply it, have the manual to hand when we visit.
05Reference
Amperage, wire gauge and what each one runs
Copper THHN in conduit, typical residential sizing. Long runs and hot attics change the answer, which is one reason we measure before we quote.
| Breaker | Copper wire | Voltage | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 amp | 14 AWG | 120V | General lighting and bedroom outlets |
| 20 amp | 12 AWG | 120V | Kitchen countertop, bathroom, laundry, garage outlets |
| 30 amp | 10 AWG | 240V | Electric dryer, electric water heater |
| 40 amp | 8 AWG | 240V | Smaller range or cooktop, 32 amp EV charger |
| 50 amp | 6 AWG | 240V | Range, 40 amp EV charger |
| 60 amp | 6 AWG | 240V | 48 amp EV charger, subpanel feed |
| 200 amp service | 2/0 to 4/0 | 120/240V | Whole-house service; conductor depends on material and run |
For reference only. Final sizing follows the code in force and the conditions on site.
Planned work
From first call to signed inspection
For panel upgrades, rewires and EV circuits. Emergency calls skip to step three.
You call or send a job
Tell us the building type, what is in the basement and what you want to run. Photos of the panel help.
Day 0
Site visit
Meter, service drop, panel, a look at the runs. Around an hour for most houses.
Within a few days
Written scope and price
What is included, what is not, and the fixed figure or per-circuit figure. Nothing starts until you agree it.
After the visit
Permit and dates
We pull the permit. You do not have to call the city. For service work we book the ComEd disconnect.
Before work
The work
Conduit, wire, devices, panel. We clean up each day and tell you what is live and what is not before we leave.
Booked days
Inspection
We meet the city inspector. If the inspector calls anything on our work, we correct it and book the re-inspection.
Last step
06Before you call
Questions people ask an electrician in Chicago
Not here? Call 312-282-1170 and ask.
Because the mast, meter location and grounding vary house to house, and those decide the material list. A phone number would be a guess that goes up later. One visit gets you a fixed figure that does not move.
No. The quote is per circuit. Many people start with the kitchen and bathrooms, which carry the heaviest loads and the wettest conditions, and do bedrooms later. What we will not do is leave a knob-and-tube circuit spliced into a new one.
Yes. Rewires are done circuit by circuit so power is back each evening. A panel swap means one day without power, usually between the ComEd disconnect in the morning and reconnection in the afternoon.
Anyone shopping for the lowest number regardless of what goes in the wall. Our price includes conduit, permit and inspection because the job is not finished without them. If you want a quote that leaves those out, we are the wrong call.
Often, yes. A water heater swap next to a panel upgrade is a common pairing. See plumbing for burst pipes and water heaters, or how a job runs for the full sequence.
Call 312-282-1170. Someone picks up.