- 1). Turn off all power coming to the breaker panel. This may mean a call to the electric company if your electric meter does not have a disconnect switch on the meter box.
- 2). Remove front cover from the panel box by using a screwdriver to take out the screws that fasten the cover to the box. Take a minute to orient yourself to the inside of the breaker panel before continuing. You will notice that all of the breakers attach to a power bus down the center of the box. Along the edge of the box you will see a number of white and bare wires attached to screws along the neutral bus. At the top of the box you will notice three large cables. Two of these go under the lugs on the main breaker. The third cable will be attached to a lug at the upper end of the neutral bus.
- 3). Loosen the the lugs that hold these three cables with a wrench. Pull the two power cables up and out of the main breaker. Pull the neutral or ground cable up and out of the neutral bus. Grip these cables above the breaker panel and pull them out of the box.
- 4). Label the circuits and the breakers if you will be using the same wiring in the panel's new location. If you are moving the box more than a couple of feet, there is probably no reason to label the circuits because they will require rerouting and possibly rewiring to reach the new location of the box. Either way, remove the breakers one at a time by pulling them up and away from the power bus and remove the black wires attached them by unscrewing the screws that fasten the wire to the breaker.
- 5). Loosen each screw that holds a white or bare wire to the neutral bus. Pull each wire out of the bus. Pull each wire from the box once it is loose. When all of the breakers and neutral wires have been removed, inspect the back of the box and sides of the box to discover how it was attached to the studs or wall. If it was attached with nails, pull the nails. If it was attached with screws, remove them with a cordless electric screwdriver.
- 6). Lift the box away from its current location. Keep the cover and cover screws with the box as you move it to the new location. Leave the electricity turned off to the building. Place the breaker panel into its new home and secure it with screws or nails to the wall or nearby studs.
- 7). Push the incoming electric cables into the top of the breaker panel. The ends of the two power cables need to be pushed under the lugs on the main breaker. The end of the neutral cable will be inserted under the lug on the neutral bus. Use the wrench to tighten all three lugs.
- 8). Pass the wire from the first circuit into the box. Attach the white and/or bare wire under one of the screws on the neutral bus. The black wire will be inserted under the screw on the breaker. Tighten the screws with a screw driver and clip the breaker onto the the first slot on the power bus. Each 120-volt circuit will be attached in the same way. If you are connecting a 240-volt circuit, the neutral wires will be handled the same way as the 120-volt circuit. The 240-volt wire will have two hot wires. They will both be black or one will be black and one will be red. The 240-volt breaker has two screws so that both wires can be attached to it. The 240-volt breaker will attach to both sides of the power bus and be twice as thick as the 120-volt breaker.
- 9). Attach the front cover to the panel by putting it in place and installing the screws. Turn the electricity back on when the breaker panel has been completely installed. If you had to call the electric company to turn the power off, you will need to notify them to turn it back on.
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