What Does a Span Panel Install Actually Look Like?
Most homeowners have never seen the inside of their electrical panel — and for good reason. It's not exactly inviting. But when we replace an old breaker box with a Span smart panel, the transformation is worth documenting.
We recently completed a full residential panel swap through our electrical division, Lyons Electric. Here's what the process looks like from start to finish.
The Process
Step 1: Mount and prep. The Span enclosure goes up on the wall and all existing home wiring gets pulled into the new panel. At this stage it looks like controlled chaos — dozens of loose wires waiting to be terminated.
Step 2: Organize. Every wire gets identified, labeled, and routed to its correct position. This is where experience matters — a clean wire layout means easier troubleshooting for decades to come.
Step 3: Breakers go in. Span uses standard Square D Homeline breakers — nothing proprietary. All the intelligence lives in the circuit control board behind the breakers, which monitors and controls each circuit individually.
Step 4: Dress and verify. All wiring gets tidied, connections are torqued to spec, and every circuit is tested. This is the step most people skip when they rush — we don't.
Step 5: Power on. The moment the main breaker closes and the Span panel lights up. The LED backlight and circuit indicators come alive — every circuit is now visible and controllable from your phone.
Step 6: Button it up. Cover goes on, final inspection passes, and the homeowner gets walked through the Span app. From the outside, it's a clean white panel. From your phone, it's total control over your home's energy.
View the full project gallery →
Why Span?
A traditional breaker panel is a dumb switch — it either sends power or it doesn't. Span gives you:
- Circuit-level control from your phone — turn any circuit on or off remotely
- Energy monitoring — see exactly what each circuit is consuming in real time
- Smart backup — when paired with a battery, choose which circuits get backup power during an outage and change priorities on the fly
- Solar optimization — maximize self-consumption by intelligently managing loads
- EV charging management — prevent panel overloads when your car charges at night
Interested?
If you're considering a Span panel for your home, contact us for a free assessment. We'll evaluate your current panel, design the upgrade, and handle the full install and inspection. One call gets it done.
Span panel installs are handled by Lyons Electric, our licensed electrical division. Same team, same standards, same commitment to doing it right the first time.