I've got several cheapie homes ($25K) that have fuse panels, all of which are in good, working condition. Insurance runs about $300/year higher due to my main carrier (Shelter) not wanting to hold those policies: the farm them out to Foremost or Agis and I pay a premium for that.

I just got an upgrade quote from a licensed electrician. The cost for a city-permitted job is $2,900. This includes GFIs in kitchen/bath, hard-wired smoke detectors, new service panel, but existing wiring left in place.

My time to recoup that cost is almost 10 years. Bleh. I want upgrades to pay me back in 3 years or less.

The one house I'm considering now has gas heat and gas cook stove. It has two 220V circuits with cartridge fuses: one for clothes dryer and large window AC. In addition to those, we have 4 circuits (2 at 20 amp, 2 at 30 amp) with twist-in fuses. We're not blowing any fuses, and there's nothing that absolutely needs to be upgraded to handle any additional load. This is a smaller (800 sq ft) home, solid Class C hood. For AC, we'll use window units: a big one (13,000 btu) in the Living room on the 220V circuit and a small one (110V, 5000 btu) in the back bedroom (2 bed house).

I intend to keep this long-term as a rental and was thinking it might be less hassle with breakers, but there aren't really any hassles today and the cost recovery period is triple my normal.... I'm at a cross road here.

Fuses are actually the better protection. But now available at fewer places when replacements are needed. Frustrated tenants will tamper with equipment when replacement fuses are not at hand- and will often use the wrong size fuse.

"The cost for a city-permitted job is $2,900. This includes GFIs in kitchen/bath, hard-wired smoke detectors, new service panel, but existing wiring left in place."

Ouch. I have a full service electrical contractor that charges me just under $1k for a new service panel. I can't imagine adding a couple GFIs and smoke detectors would need to cost another $1k, much less $2k.

I’m not a big permit type guy. Safe and to code yes. I’ve had this happen before and this is what I did.

Thanks everyone so far.

Everything mentioned in the bid is required by city code. Gotta do it.

In my area we have to use the inserts that have coarse and fine threads so you can't get a 20amp in a 15amp wired circuit, these fuses are expensive for someone. The load center job costs about 1000-1300 depending on existing grounding, hopefully some shopping can help you get work done at competitive prices, I do much of this work at my own places and my agent takes pictures of the load center and meter socket outside, I add new cable to kitchens and bathrooms for the gfci outlets, and recently began adding outlets with charging ports.

Here in Los Angeles, back in the 1950's, when a fuse would blow, tenants would put pennies in the fuse space and then screw back in the fuse -- this completing the circuit and have no protection. So the City passed an ordinance that an owner could swap out the fuse with the same rated breaker without a permit.

So in my 4 unit, 5 unit, 8 unit and 16 unit apartment buildings that still had fuses, I replace them with circuit breakers of the same rating.

When the City learned I had done this, without permits, they ordered me to completely replace the panels, wiring and outlets with permits or face the "music".

The City employee's were to young to know and forgot about this ordnance. So they took me to a hearing before a real judge. I put

"egg" all over their faces. They called me a liar and incompetent want-a-be landlord handyman. The judge asked what were my qualifications. I showed him my City, State and Federal Electrical licenses plus my degrees. I had more experience under my belt than they did.

Sid,

I would do it to help myself sleep at night.

Sid,

You're about $1500 just for the panel in Pa prices. So probably not too far off for the other stuff with labor for running circuits for hard wired smokes.

You said 10 years to recoup your money? Why? $2,900/110 months is $24 a month. Is that your current cash flow on the property? Just trying to understand your math.

Sid. I NEVER pull permits on electrical panels if the amperage of the panel stays the same or the line from the house will support the upgrade from 100amp to 200amp for example. There is a difference in wire size in regards to what feeds your house.

I can't tell you how many we've done this way.

A good electrical can swap a panel with his eyes shut.

I'll have to agree with most here-- safety item and sleep at night. Ok maybe 10 years to recoup expense but if you sell it could be a major sales pitch that you've upgraded and with the CO to boot from the inspection dept.

Did you say you are currently out of compliance regarding the city code?

I would probably go ahead and upgrade and tell the tenants it's their anniversary gift/thanks for being good tenants (I hope), and you want things safe for them, etc - to soften the impending rise in rent to help pay for it.

Sell the houses and buy a better house.

SID, My thinking had been similar to yours. Fusebox-- Looks OK, no real problems, OK to let it ride... Maybe upgrade at some later date.

Except: Upon further closer inspection I found serious age-related (common) defects.

The plastic (bakelite?) and fiber materials deteriorate and are NLA.

One of the cartridge pullouts (this one for the 220V oven) crumbled as I pulled it out, leaving the cartridge fuses dangling halfway out of the fusebox. Scorch and arc marks visible on the prongs, meaning that the plastic housing had already previously lost its spring pressure on the embedded copper prongs.

Also the plug fuse sockets have thin insulating fiber washers that weaken and crumble away over time, allowing unfused current to pass even if the plug fuse is completely unscrewed and out of the socket. This presented a grave fire risk, for example if the tenant plugged in two space heaters into the same circuit that would for sure overheat the wiring and could lead to fire.

That has changed my thinking. If I encounter an old fusebox, unless it checks out PRISTINE, PRISTINE, I will upgrade. Probably will upgrade anyway as the general population are ever using more and more electrical devices, straining marginal systems more and more.

Fuses in theory are fine; but some of the materials used in the old fuseboxes are not durable and are at the time for replacement. Same as galvanized plumbing 50-60 year lifespan, which I have found to be true as clockwork.

ROY shared some GOOD info for modest upgrades when switching fusebox to circuit breakers, I would follow them.

Sid,

What about using the fuses with a breaker built into it. You get the convenience of breakers without the cost.

They screw into existing fuse panel and have a reset button on them.

The cost of a service runs me about 1000-1,200 for 100 AMP and 1,200-1,400 for a 200 amp service. So factoring that out, does the other work have to be done by the electrician or do you have a solid experienced handy man that can do the gcfi work?

some things are just the right thing to do regardless of payback periods