March 15, 2018 — I have lived in my tiny, 1 ½ story house in Boston since 1994, and I want to upgrade my electrical panel from 100 amps to 200 amps. The current panel is located in my basement, which floods every few years. In fact, the constant flooding became so vexing that I moved my washer and dryer upstairs to a small room off of my dining room. I also got rid of my traditional water heater and replaced it with a tankless water heater that is also now located in the same room as the washer and dryer upstairs. May I move my electrical panel to that room, too? The only spot available would be on a wall that is about 3 feet wide between the door and a window that has pretty cotton curtains. Would there be enough clearance? Would the curtains be considered a fire hazard? How about laundry detergent and bleach bottles about 4 to 5 feet away? If not the laundry room, can I put an electrical panel outside? Would I need to build a little side structure? If so, how large would it have to be?
Electrical – move the electric panel
electricalelectrical-panelflooding
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Best Answer
Take a look at the image below. Code requires you have at least 3 feet in front of the panel, 6.5 above, and 30 inches side to side. There is a trick with the 30 inches that it can be measured from either side of the panel, dead center, etc. so you get some wiggle room there. Based on what you've said about your laundry room, it sounds like code-wise it will probably work. (Although bear in mind some regions apply additional codes)
However, you also need to take into account what's in the wall. Between a door and window you'll have king studs and who knows what other load bearing stuff that could interfere with box placement or getting wires to the box. There is also the issue with wires being short when rerouted so now you'd need to make additional splices which could require water-proofing if they are still below flood level.
You can purchase outdoor breaker boxes which are rated NEMA-3-ish which means they are suitable for outdoor use and protect from rain, but as Harper mentioned, they don't protect for dust, bugs, etc. I would also agree with Jim that moving the panel would not be a cheap option. My guess is you could pop some concrete in the basement, dig a hole, and put in a good sump pump with a failure alarm for far less that moving the panel will cost.