Electrical Panel (Service Capacity)
Your home's circuit-breaker box and the amperage of its main service — the hidden line item in heat pump retrofits. The main breaker's number (60, 100, 125, 200) is your service size; a heat pump needs a dedicated 240-volt circuit with real headroom.
The longer answer
Whether a panel can take a heat pump is arithmetic, not opinion: an NEC load calculation tallies what's connected against what the service supplies. Equipment choice moves the answer too — ductless systems and right-sized variable-speed units draw far less than oversized ducted setups with big strip backup, and modern load-management devices let large loads share capacity.
The failure mode to avoid is the change-order ambush: a bid that never asked about the panel 'discovering' it mid-install. Any heat pump bid on a pre-1980 home should answer the panel question at estimate time, priced.
The Seattle angle
Pre-war Seattle homes commonly carry 60–100 amp service. Sometimes capacity exists; sometimes a panel upgrade joins the electrification project — regional guidance often lands full electrification at 150–200 amps.
Guides that use this term
Where this decision happens
Nearby in the glossary
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