My Inspector Found a Federal Pacific Electric Panel. Is that bad?

My Inspector Found a Federal Pacific Electric Panel. Now What?

 I just had a home inspection and my inspector found a Federal Pacific Electric Panel. Should I be worried? Do we need to ask the sellers to replace it?

Federal Pacific Electric Panels were primarily used from the 1950's to the 1980's. The major problem is they can fail to trip when over loaded, hence causing too much current on the line, which in turn causes arcing and then you can have a fire. So generally, not good.

In 1981 there was a recall for industrial breakers, but that has since been reversed. The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission looked at all the evidence regarding the safety of Federal Pacific electric panels, and ultimately did not make a determination.

So what does that mean? Well, it is suggested to have an licensed electrician check out the electric panel to see if there is evidence of arcing or overheating. That can be determined by feeling to see if the panel is overly warm, or certain outlets are warm or if you see blackened areas on any wall socket/plug.

When I have worked with buyers who found the Federal Pacific electric panel on home inspection, we have always asked the seller to replace it. Typically the cost is around $1000. So far no seller has refused. Some home insurance companies will not insure you if you have a Federal Pacific panel.

True story: The home I purchased had a Federal Pacific Electric Panel (this was before I was a realtor, and my agent didn't flinch). We lived with it for 13 years, though we were aware it may be a problem from electricians who had done some work for us. Finally we got around to replacing it.

That first night when our outdoor lights came on, the breaker tripped. Over the next few days our new Square D panel kept tripping. I called the electrician and asked why we were suddenly having this new issue. Was there something wrong with our new panel? Quite the contrary, it was working properly, whereas our old one should have been tripping, but wasn't. Clearly we had too much current on the line, so we did need the electrician to come back to move some of the circuits around to make them more even. 

Moral of the story: Buyer Beware