Petaluma Electrical Company handles residential and commercial electrical work across Petaluma and Sonoma County. Whether you are dealing with a tripping breaker, planning a panel upgrade, or getting ready to add an EV charger, we scope the job on the call and schedule the visit from there. Calls are answered here, and the work gets scheduled properly.
Call (707) 289-5336 for a quote.
Real experience. Local knowledge. Ready to wire.
Dealing with a tripping breaker or a dead outlet? Those symptoms point to a diagnosable electrical fault, and the sooner it gets looked at, the better. We handle the full range of common residential and commercial electrical problems: flickering lights, outlets with no power, multiple circuits going dead at once, breakers that trip and won't reset, and burning smells or warmth coming from an outlet or switch.
A sparking outlet or a buzzing light switch is not a wait-and-see situation. Those are signs of a wiring fault, a loose connection, or a failing device, and each one carries a real fire risk if it goes unaddressed. Power surge damage, partial outages where half the house loses power, and no-power situations after a storm all fall in the same category: diagnosable faults that need a proper look, not a reset and a hope.
In Petaluma and the broader Sonoma County area, we also see breakers that start tripping seasonally after wet weather. Moisture intrusion into older junction boxes and service entrances is a known issue here, and it shows up as intermittent faults that seem to clear on their own. They don't. The fault finding process covers arc-fault and ground-fault breakers, GFCI and AFCI protection, grounding and bonding, and a straight read on what the panel and wiring are actually doing. You get straight answers about your panel and wiring before any work is scheduled.
One call and we are on it.
From older homes to new commercial builds, the electrical panel is where capacity problems show up first. A panel that trips constantly, throws sparks, or runs warm is telling you something. We handle breaker panel repair, panel replacement, and full service upgrades, including the 100-amp to 200-amp upgrades that come up often in Petaluma's older housing stock.
Petaluma has a genuine mix of mid-century homes, Victorian-era buildings, and newer construction on the east side of town. That range means panel work varies a lot from address to address. An older home might need a full service-entrance and meter upgrade to carry modern loads. A newer build adding a garage apartment or a workshop might need a subpanel. A commercial tenant finishing out a retail space might need a panel sized to handle the electrical rough-in for the whole buildout.
What a panel upgrade involves: load calculations to confirm what the service needs to carry, the panel itself, breaker replacement where individual breakers are failing rather than the whole panel, and coordination with the utility for service-entrance work where that applies. Subpanel installation for additions, garages, and detached structures falls under the same scope. If you are seeing sparks from the panel or a breaker that simply will not reset, that is the call to make first.
Reach out and describe what the breaker is doing.
Electrical work like this comes up more than people expect, especially in a city with as much older housing as Petaluma. Knob-and-tube wiring is still present in a number of homes in the older neighborhoods west of downtown, and aluminum wiring from the 1960s and 1970s shows up regularly in mid-century construction throughout Sonoma County. Both need remediation, not just a patch.
We handle whole-home rewiring, knob-and-tube replacement, and aluminum-wiring remediation, as well as new circuit installation for additions, garages, workshops, and basement buildouts. Electrical rough-in for home additions and kitchen or bathroom remodels is part of the same scope. If the walls are open, that is the right time to address wiring that would otherwise need to be accessed later.
Dedicated appliance circuits are another frequent request: 240-volt outlet installation for dryers and ranges, dedicated circuits for refrigerators, dishwashers, and large kitchen appliances, and circuits sized for workshop equipment. These are not optional extras on a modern electrical system. An undersized or shared circuit for a high-draw appliance is a breaker problem waiting to happen.
Wiring work is checked against code before sign-off, so you are not left with a job that passes inspection on paper but creates problems later. Know the price. Know the scope. Know what happens next.
Don't let a small wiring issue turn into a fire risk. A loose outlet, a switch that runs warm, or a fixture that flickers can each trace back to a wiring problem that gets worse with time. We handle outlet installation and replacement, GFCI outlet installation in kitchens, bathrooms, garages, and exterior locations, AFCI outlet installation where code requires it, and switch installation including dimmer switches and light switch replacement.
Ceiling fan installation and replacement is a regular call, whether the room has existing wiring for a fan or needs a new circuit run. We handle the wiring and the mounting, and we confirm the box is rated for a fan's weight and movement before anything goes up.
Lighting work covers recessed lighting installation, light fixture installation and replacement, under-cabinet lighting, and outdoor lighting including landscape wiring, security lighting, and motion sensor lights. Hardwired smoke detector installation and carbon monoxide detector wiring round out the safety side of this work.
We treat your home and its wiring the way we would our own, which means the work gets done right and the cleanup happens before we leave. Call us and we'll walk you through the fix.
Three services come up more here than in most parts of California. EV adoption in the North Bay corridor is among the highest in the state. Rooftop solar is widespread across Sonoma County. And grid reliability during wildfire season has made battery backup and surge protection practical concerns for a lot of households and businesses, not just a nice-to-have.
Level 2 EV charger installation starts with a dedicated 240-volt circuit run from the panel to wherever the vehicle parks. Before any wire gets pulled, we do a panel capacity check and a load calculation to confirm the service can carry the added draw without pushing the panel past its limits. Outlet placement, circuit sizing, and conduit routing all get worked out on the call and confirmed before the visit.
Sonoma County and the broader North Bay are among the highest per-capita EV markets in California, and the volume of charger installs we see reflects that. If you are asking how much it costs to install an EV charger, the honest answer is that the price depends on the panel's current capacity and how far the circuit needs to run. You get the number on the call, before anything is scheduled.
Our scope here is strictly the electrical side: wiring from the solar array to the panel, battery backup hookup, transfer switch installation, and confirming the panel has the capacity to carry the added load. We do not sell or install solar panels or battery hardware as products. What we handle is the wiring that connects those systems to your home's electrical infrastructure.
Petaluma and Sonoma County have experienced PSPS events, the public-safety power shutoffs that utilities use during high fire-risk conditions. Battery backup is a practical grid-resilience tool in this area, not a theoretical one. Generator transfer switch installation and backup generator hookup fall under the same scope for households that prefer a generator to a battery system. Either way, the electrical connection is what we handle.
A panel-level surge protection device guards the entire electrical system from voltage spikes, including appliances, electronics, EV chargers, and solar inverters. In Sonoma County, wildfire-related grid events and the voltage surges that can follow PSPS restoration are a documented concern. A single large surge can damage multiple devices at once, and the cumulative effect of smaller surges shortens the life of anything with a circuit board.
Power surge damage repair is a reactive call we take regularly. Whole-home surge protection is the proactive answer. The device installs at the panel, it works with the grounding and bonding system already in place, and it covers the whole house from a single point.
Commercial electrical work covers office and retail repairs, commercial wiring, commercial panel upgrades, and electrical rough-in for new construction and tenant buildouts. If you manage a building or a portfolio of properties in Petaluma, electrical repair and inspection work is part of keeping those properties in good condition and in compliance.
Landlords and property managers call us for rental property electrical inspections, follow-up work after a home inspection flags an electrical issue, and pre-purchase electrical inspections for buyers who want a clear picture of what a property's wiring actually looks like. Electrical safety inspections give you a written scope of what the system has, what it needs, and what the work involves. That is useful information whether you are buying, selling, or managing.
Electrician costs vary by job type, and the honest answer to most pricing questions is that the number depends on what the work actually involves. Panel replacement cost, the cost to rewire a house, outlet installation cost, ceiling fan installation cost, and electrical inspection cost all depend on the scope, the age of the wiring, and what the panel can already handle.
When you call, we talk through what you are seeing, scope the job, and give you a price before anything is scheduled. You know what the visit covers and what it costs before we confirm a time. We are available every day from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM.
We serve Petaluma and the surrounding Sonoma County communities, including Rohnert Park, Cotati, Sebastopol, Santa Rosa, Penngrove, and Novato.
Quick to arrive. Careful with your home. Clean when we leave.
Flickering lights that are not tied to a specific appliance, outlets that feel warm or show scorch marks, a burning smell near a switch or panel, and breakers that trip repeatedly on the same circuit are all signs worth acting on. In Petaluma's older housing stock, knob-and-tube wiring and aluminum branch-circuit wiring are additional factors that warrant a closer look even without an obvious symptom. These are not wait-and-see situations.
A burning smell at an outlet usually points to a loose connection, an overloaded circuit, or a failing device, any of which can cause arcing inside the box. At the panel, it can indicate a failing breaker, a loose bus connection, or wiring that is running hotter than it should. Either situation warrants a call without delay. Do not ignore a burning smell and do not cover it with a reset.
A breaker trips when the circuit is carrying more current than it was designed for, which can mean the circuit is overloaded, a device on the circuit is drawing too much, or there is a fault in the wiring. A breaker that trips once after a heavy load is usually doing its job. A breaker that trips repeatedly on the same circuit, or one that will not reset at all, points to a problem that needs to be diagnosed rather than reset and ignored.
A burning smell from an outlet, switch, or panel is an emergency. Visible sparking, a panel that is warm to the touch, or a situation where you cannot safely de-energize a circuit are all urgent. A partial outage where half the house loses power unexpectedly can also be urgent depending on the cause. We are available every day from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM.
Call (707) 289-5336 and describe what you are seeing, and we will work through the next step with you.
Troubleshooting starts at the symptom and works backward toward the source. A dead outlet might be on a circuit with a tripped GFCI elsewhere in the house. A flickering light might trace back to a loose connection at the fixture, at a junction box, or at the panel. The process involves checking the circuit from both ends, testing protective devices, and looking at the wiring condition in the area of the fault. The goal is to find the actual cause, not just the visible sign of it.
The visit starts with a look at the symptom and a check of the relevant circuit, panel section, and any protective devices on that circuit. From there, the scope of the repair is confirmed, the work is done, and the circuit is tested before we leave. For larger jobs like a panel upgrade or a rewire, the visit involves more phases, but the same process applies: diagnose, confirm scope, do the work, test the result.
The condition of the existing wiring, the age of the panel, and the load the system needs to carry all factor into that decision. A single failing breaker in an otherwise sound panel is a repair. A panel that is undersized for the property's current load, showing signs of heat damage, or no longer able to add circuits safely is a replacement. We walk you through what we find and what the options are before any work starts.
An undersized or failing panel limits what circuits the home can safely carry, which means appliances share circuits they should not, breakers trip more often, and adding anything new (an EV charger, a home office circuit, a hot tub) becomes difficult or impossible without addressing the panel first. A fuse box that has been modified with the wrong fuse sizes is a fire risk, not just an inconvenience. The panel is where every circuit in the building originates, and its condition affects everything downstream.
Breakers that trip regularly under normal household loads, a panel with no open slots for new circuits, lights that dim when a large appliance starts up, and a 100-amp service on a home that has added major appliances, a home office, or an EV charger are all indicators. In Petaluma's older housing stock, a 100-amp service that was adequate decades ago often runs short once modern loads are factored in. A load calculation on the call helps confirm whether an upgrade is the right step.
A dedicated circuit involves running a new circuit from the panel to the location of the appliance or equipment, sized for the load it needs to carry. For a dryer or range, that means a 240-volt circuit. For a refrigerator or dishwasher, a standard 120-volt circuit sized to the appliance. Workshop equipment varies depending on what is running. Panel capacity gets checked before the circuit is run, and if the panel needs room to support the new circuit, that is addressed as part of the same job.
EV charger installation starts with a panel capacity check and a load calculation to confirm the service can carry the added draw without pushing the panel past its limits. From there, we run a dedicated 240-volt circuit from the panel to the charger location, account for conduit routing and outlet placement, and wire the charger connection. If the panel is undersized, that gets addressed as part of the same project. The price is confirmed before anything is scheduled.
A whole-home surge protector installs at the main panel and intercepts voltage spikes before they travel through the wiring to the rest of the house. That covers appliances, electronics, EV chargers, and solar inverters simultaneously. In Sonoma County, grid restoration after a public-safety power shutoff can produce voltage surges that damage multiple devices at once. The device works with the grounding and bonding system already in place and requires no changes to the rest of the wiring.
Petaluma Electrical Company handles the full range of residential and commercial electrical work: repairs and troubleshooting, panel upgrades and replacements, wiring and rewiring, EV charger installation, solar and battery backup wiring, whole-home surge protection, and electrical safety inspections.
Call (707) 289-5336 to get a quote.
We are available every day from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM. The scope and the price get settled on the call, and the visit gets scheduled from there.
Below is a plain-language look at the electrical work we handle in Petaluma and the surrounding Sonoma County area. Each row covers what the service includes, who it fits best, and one practical thing worth knowing before you call. If a job on your list is not here, call us and we will talk through what it involves.
| Service Type | What's Included | When You Need It | What to Keep in Mind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlet & Switch Installation | GFCI outlet installation, AFCI outlet installation, Dimmer and smart switch wiring, Outlet and switch replacement | Kitchens, bathrooms, garages, and exterior locations needing updated protection | GFCI protection is required by code in wet areas. If your kitchen or bathroom outlets are not GFCI-protected, that is worth addressing on the next visit. |
| Dedicated Appliance Circuits | 240-volt circuits for dryers and ranges, Refrigerator and dishwasher circuits, Workshop and garage equipment circuits, Panel capacity check before installation | Homeowners adding a major appliance or workshop equipment | An undersized or shared circuit for a high-draw appliance is a breaker problem waiting to happen. Panel capacity is confirmed before the circuit is run. |
| Whole-Home Surge Protection | Panel-level surge device installation, Protection for appliances and electronics, EV charger and solar inverter coverage, Integration with existing grounding | Sonoma County homes exposed to grid surges during PSPS restoration | A single large surge after grid restoration can damage multiple devices at once. The device installs at the panel and requires no changes to the rest of the wiring. |
| Wiring & Circuit Installation | New circuit installation for additions and garages, Electrical rough-in for remodels, Junction box and conduit work, Grounding and bonding | Home additions, garage buildouts, and remodels with open walls | Open walls during a remodel are the right time to address wiring that would otherwise need to be accessed later. We scope the full circuit before the walls close. |
| Breaker & Fuse Repair | Breaker replacement and reset diagnosis, Fuse box evaluation, Breakers that trip repeatedly, Breakers that will not reset | Homes with recurring breaker trips or an older fuse box | A breaker that trips once under a heavy load is doing its job. One that trips repeatedly on the same circuit points to a fault that needs to be diagnosed. |
| Electrical Panel & Service Upgrades | 100-amp to 200-amp service upgrades, Panel replacement and breaker upgrades, Subpanel installation, Load calculations and utility coordination | Older homes adding major appliances, EV chargers, or additional circuits | Panel upgrades in Petaluma often involve service-entrance work coordinated with the utility. Load calculations are done before anything is scheduled. |
| Standby Battery for Outages | Battery backup hookup and wiring, Transfer switch installation, Panel integration for battery systems, Generator hookup as an alternative | Households that want grid resilience during Sonoma County PSPS events | Battery backup and generator hookup both require a properly installed transfer switch. That is the piece that keeps the backup system from back-feeding the grid. |
| Solar & Battery Backup Wiring | Solar array to panel wiring, Battery backup hookup, Transfer switch installation, Panel capacity for added solar load | Petaluma households managing PSPS outage risk with solar or battery systems | We handle the electrical connection, not the solar panels or battery hardware as products. The wiring from the array to the panel and the transfer switch is our scope. |
| Ceiling Fan Installation | Fan mounting and wiring, Box rating confirmation for fan weight, New circuit run where none exists, Fan and light kit wiring | Rooms with existing wiring or those needing a new circuit added | A standard ceiling box is not rated for a fan's weight and movement. We confirm the box before anything goes up. |
| Older-Home Rewiring | Knob-and-tube removal and replacement, Aluminum branch-circuit remediation, Whole-home rewiring, Panel and wiring condition assessment | Pre-1980 homes in Petaluma with original or aluminum wiring | Knob-and-tube and aluminum wiring are both present in Petaluma's older neighborhoods. Remediation is not a patch job. The circuit is replaced, not just repaired at the symptom. |
| Lighting Installation | Recessed and fixture installation, Under-cabinet and landscape wiring, Security and motion sensor lights, Hardwired smoke and CO detectors | Homeowners updating interior lighting or adding outdoor security coverage | Outdoor lighting circuits in Sonoma County need to account for weather exposure. We confirm conduit routing and weatherproofing before the circuit is run. |
| Electrical Repairs & Troubleshooting | Dead outlets and flickering lights, Tripped breakers and partial outages, Arc-fault and ground-fault diagnosis, Wiring faults and loose connections | Any home or business with an unexplained electrical symptom | A warm outlet or a buzzing switch is not a wait-and-see situation. Fault finding covers the full circuit from the panel to the device. |
| EV Charger Installation | Level 2 charger wiring and circuit, 240-volt dedicated circuit installation, Panel capacity check and load calculation, Conduit routing and outlet placement | EV owners in the North Bay adding home charging | The price depends on the panel's current capacity and how far the circuit needs to run. You get the number on the call before anything is scheduled. |
| Hot-Tub Circuits | 240-volt dedicated circuit for hot tubs, GFCI protection at the disconnect, Panel capacity check, Weatherproof conduit and wiring | Homeowners adding a hot tub or spa to an existing property | Hot-tub wiring requires a dedicated circuit, a GFCI-protected disconnect within sight of the unit, and weatherproof conduit. Panel capacity is confirmed before the circuit is run. |
| Electrical Safety Inspections | Panel and wiring condition assessment, GFCI and AFCI protection check, Pre-purchase and rental property inspections, Written scope of findings | Buyers, sellers, and landlords who need a clear picture of the wiring | An inspection gives you a written scope of what the system has, what it needs, and what the work involves. That is useful whether you are buying, selling, or managing a property. |
How do I know if my home's wiring is safe in an older Petaluma house?
The most reliable way is a wiring condition assessment. That covers the panel, the branch circuits, and the protective devices on each circuit. In Petaluma's older neighborhoods, knob-and-tube wiring and aluminum branch-circuit wiring are both present and both carry risks that do not always show a visible symptom until something fails. If the home was built before 1980 and has not had a wiring evaluation, that is worth scheduling before a problem surfaces.
What does it mean when lights dim or flicker when a large appliance starts up?
Dimming or flickering when a refrigerator compressor, air handler, or other large motor starts is usually a sign that the circuit or the service is running close to its capacity limit. The appliance draws a surge of current at startup, and if the wiring or the panel cannot absorb that without a voltage drop, the lights show it. It can also point to a loose connection at the panel or along the circuit. Either way, it is worth having the panel and the circuit checked rather than treating it as normal.
When is it reasonable to attempt a DIY electrical fix, and when should I call an electrician?
Replacing a light bulb or resetting a tripped breaker is within reach for most homeowners. Anything that involves opening a panel, working inside an outlet or switch box, running new wire, or diagnosing a fault that is not obviously tied to a single device is work that carries real risk if done incorrectly. A wiring mistake can create a fire hazard that does not show up immediately. If you are not certain what is causing the symptom, a call costs nothing and the scope gets worked out before any visit is confirmed.
Faults Traced Before Anything Is Replaced
We find the actual cause before recommending a repair. A symptom at the outlet or the fixture often traces back to a connection, a breaker, or a wiring condition elsewhere on the circuit, and replacing the visible part without finding the source just moves the problem.
Does electrical work in Petaluma require a permit, and how is that handled?
Panel upgrades, new circuit installations, and rewiring projects typically require a permit in Petaluma. What triggers a permit and what the inspection process covers depends on the scope of the work and where the property is located within the city or county. We confirm what applies to your specific job before the work starts, and the work is checked against code before sign-off. You are not left with a job that passes on paper but creates problems later.
How long does a panel upgrade typically take?
A straightforward panel replacement on a home with a standard service entrance usually takes the better part of a day. A service upgrade that involves coordination with the utility for a new meter or service drop takes longer because the utility's schedule is a factor. Jobs that also involve replacing branch-circuit wiring or adding a subpanel add time. The scope and the timeline are worked out on the call before anything is confirmed, so you know what the visit covers before it is scheduled.
What is GFCI protection and where is it required?
A GFCI outlet or breaker monitors the current flowing through a circuit and trips in a fraction of a second if it detects a ground fault, which is the kind of fault that can cause a shock. Code requires GFCI protection in kitchens, bathrooms, garages, crawl spaces, unfinished basements, and exterior locations. If your home was built before the relevant code updates, those areas may not have GFCI protection even if the outlets look normal. An inspection will identify which locations are missing it.
Code-Compliant Work on Every Job
Wiring work is checked against code before sign-off. For jobs that require a permit, we confirm what applies to your address and handle the inspection process as part of the project.
What is the difference between a panel repair and a full panel replacement?
A panel repair covers a specific failing component, typically a single breaker that has stopped holding its trip point or a loose connection at a terminal. A full replacement is the right call when the panel is undersized for the property's current load, has no room for additional circuits, shows signs of heat damage, or is a brand or model with a documented reliability problem. We walk through what we find and what the options are before any work starts, so the decision is based on the actual condition of the panel.
How does backup generator hookup work, and what is a transfer switch?
A portable or standby generator connects to the home through a transfer switch, which is a device that isolates the home's wiring from the utility grid before the generator is energized. That isolation is what prevents the generator from back-feeding the grid, which is a safety requirement and a code requirement. The transfer switch can be a manual interlock on the panel or a dedicated automatic transfer switch depending on the generator type and the circuits being backed up. We handle the wiring and the transfer switch. The generator itself is separate.
Older and Newer Wiring Both Handled
Petaluma's housing stock runs from Victorian-era buildings to recent construction, and the wiring in each era comes with its own considerations. We scope the job based on what is actually there, not on what a typical house of that age usually has.
Can aluminum wiring be made safe without rewiring the whole house?
In some cases, aluminum branch-circuit wiring can be addressed through a process called pigtailing, where a short section of copper wire is connected to the aluminum at each device location using a rated connector. That is a recognized remediation method and it is less disruptive than a full rewire. Whether it is the right approach depends on the condition of the existing aluminum wiring and how the circuits are configured. We assess the wiring before recommending a method, and the scope is confirmed before any work starts.
What is grounding and bonding, and why does it matter in an older home?
Grounding provides a path for fault current to return to the panel and trip a breaker rather than travel through a person or a device. Bonding connects metal components of the electrical system so they stay at the same voltage potential. In older homes, grounding is sometimes absent entirely, or present only in part of the house where circuits were updated at different times. A home without proper grounding is one where a fault may not trip a breaker at all. An inspection covers the grounding and bonding condition along with the rest of the system.
How do I know if my home's electrical system is ready for the load I want to add?
The starting point is a load calculation, which adds up the draw of everything the panel currently carries and compares it to the service capacity. If the existing load already runs close to the panel's rating, adding an EV charger, a hot tub, or a large workshop circuit may require a service upgrade before the new circuit can be added safely. We do the load calculation on the call and confirm what the panel can carry before any work is scheduled. That way the scope of the project is clear before the visit.
Call (707) 289-5336 to talk through the job, get a price, and schedule the visit. We are available every day from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM.
(707) 289-5336