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Siemens electrical panel: what we install
Why Siemens is the brand we install most often, the 100 and 200 A models, the breakers allowed, and what a replacement costs.
In short
Siemens is the electrical panel brand STM-Électrique installs most often, and within it, almost always the SEQ line.
- Adam Chirola, our master electrician, calls it reliable and high quality.
- At Siemens Canada, a 200 A SEQ panel with a main breaker has 24 to 60 full-size spaces, depending on the model.
- Siemens Canada’s installation instructions only allow Siemens breakers and accessories.
- The price of an installed 200 A panel replacement is in the STM-Électrique quote.
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Why we mostly install Siemens
When people ask which panel brand we install, the answer is simple: Siemens, the brand we install most often.
The reason comes from Adam Chirola, STM-Électrique’s master electrician: they are reliable, high-quality panels.
Within the Siemens range, the line we almost always install is the SEQ line.
Everything STM installs carries Canadian certification. Siemens says so in its catalogue: all its panels are CSA listed, under file 13069, and all its breakers are too, under file 14374.
Siemens presents its panels as made in Canada, for Canada; that’s the manufacturer’s wording.
Siemens residential panels: 100 and 200 A
In its catalogue, Siemens Canada lists single-phase main breaker panels at 120/240 V, from 60 to 200 A, and from 12/24 to 60/120 circuits.
In the 200 A SEQ main breaker line, the May 2020 catalogue lists four standard indoor models, and the online version consulted on November 3, 2026 keeps the same ones:
| Model (200 A) | Designation | Full-size or half-size |
|---|---|---|
| SEQ24200 | 24/48 | 24 full-size or 48 half-size breakers |
| SEQ32200 | 32/64 | 32 full-size or 64 half-size |
| SEQ40200 | 40/80 | 40 full-size or 80 half-size |
| SEQ60200 | 60/120 | 60 full-size or 120 half-size |
At 100 A, the online version of the catalogue lists the SEQ12100SM (12/24), SEQ16100SM (16/32), SEQ24100SM (24/48), SEQ32100SM (32/64) and SEQ40100 (40/80).
The recent catalogue adds another line, SNC “Plug On Neutral”, missing from the May 2020 one. Its 200 A main breaker panels range from the SNC2448B1200 (24/48) to the SNC5482B1200 (54/82).
How many circuits in a 200 amp Siemens panel?
A Siemens panel’s designation reads as two numbers. Siemens explains it in its catalogue: 24/48 means 24 full-size (1 in.) breakers or 48 half-size (1/2 in.) breakers.
SEQ and EQL panels are certified for any combination of full-size or half-size plug-in breakers.
In the SEQ line, a 200 A panel therefore has 24, 32, 40 or 60 full-size spaces, depending on the model. In the SNC line, the designations don’t always double: 30/48, 40/60, 42/60 or 54/82.
It’s also what our guide on the 200 amp panel says, drawn from the same May 2020 catalogue for the SEQ line.
The number of spaces says nothing about capacity: it’s the load calculation that tells you whether your house needs 100 A, 200 A or more.
The breakers in a Siemens panel
Siemens Canada’s installation instructions for its indoor panel, linked by the distributor Gescan to the SEQ24200 model, are clear: only Siemens breakers and accessories are allowed. They refer to the panel’s label, which lists the branch breakers allowed.
Two details from the catalogue. Plug-on neutral breakers only go in SNC panels; EQL and SEQ panels take pigtail GFCIs and arc-fault breakers. And the SEQ38200U model, listed in Canada and the United States, only accepts full-size breakers certified both UL and CSA, never tandems.
Eaton, for its part, sells “classified” replacement breakers it says are interchangeable with those of several manufacturers, including ITE/Siemens. Its Canadian page refers to the US National Electrical Code and Underwriters Laboratories; it doesn’t mention CSA or the Canadian Code.
Québec’s Régie du bâtiment requires approved equipment, used under the conditions it was designed for; when in doubt, it refers you to the manufacturer.
No Siemens Canada document we have read allows a breaker of another brand in its panels.
Main panel or sub panel: Siemens’ instruction
According to Siemens Canada’s instructions for a Type 1 (indoor) main breaker panel, the panel leaves the factory ready to be used as service equipment: the strap that bonds the neutral to the enclosure is already installed.
If it isn’t used as service equipment, for example as a sub panel in a garage, Siemens Canada’s instructions say to remove that strap, and a grounding lug kit may be required. It’s a manufacturer’s instruction, specific to that document, not a section of the Code.
The same instructions point out that a permit and an inspection may be required to do the work and energize the equipment.
What a sub panel solves, and what it doesn’t, is explained in our guide sub panel installation.
Siemens and ITE
The ITE brand now belongs to Siemens. Siemens Canada sells “Blue line” breakers as replacement parts for old ITE panels.
In 1988, Siemens was already offering a free inspection of certain I-T-E brand breaker boxes installed from September 1986 to May 1987.
An old ITE or Pushmatic panel isn’t a current Siemens panel: our guide ITE or Pushmatic panel explains how to spot one and what to do.
How much does an installed Siemens panel cost?
At STM-Électrique, the price of a panel replacement, 200 A or 100 A, is in the written quote, free of charge.
From one job to the next, the price of a panel replacement varies: you get it in the quote. A secondary panel costs less.
If the service entrance needs redoing too, the service entrance and the panel are done together, in the same job.
In Montréal, the RénoPlex program (City pages read on November 3, 2026) names panel replacement in its amounts: $1,300 per panel of at least 200 A, for a building of 1 to 5 units. The application must however reach at least $3,000 in grants, which a panel alone doesn’t reach.
The replacement, step by step
Before the job, we do the load calculation and fill in all of Hydro-Québec’s forms. Allow about two weeks, as a rule.
Panels we replace often: Federal Pioneer Stab-Lok, all the time, and also Commander, CEB or Sylvania panels.
On the day, the house is without power for about five hours: the old panel comes out, the Siemens panel goes in, every circuit is connected and labelled, then the installation is checked.
The details of the day are in our guide electrical panel upgrade: cost and how the day goes.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Siemens panel?
It’s an electrical distribution panel made by Siemens, the brand STM-Électrique installs most often. At Siemens Canada, single-phase main breaker panels range from 60 to 200 A, at 120/240 V. The one we almost always install is a model from the SEQ line.
Are Siemens panels any good?
Adam Chirola, STM-Électrique’s master electrician, calls them reliable and high quality, and it’s the brand we install most often. All the panels in Siemens’ catalogue are CSA listed, as are its breakers, and everything STM installs carries Canadian certification.
How much does an installed Siemens electrical panel cost?
At STM-Électrique, the price of a panel replacement, 200 A or 100 A, is in the written quote, free of charge. It depends on your installation.
What breakers go in a Siemens panel?
Siemens breakers. Siemens Canada’s installation instructions, linked to the SEQ24200 model, only allow Siemens breakers and accessories, and refer to the panel’s label for the models allowed. Plug-on neutral breakers only go in SNC panels.
Can you put Eaton breakers in a Siemens panel?
Eaton says its “classified” breakers are interchangeable with ITE/Siemens ones, citing the US code and Underwriters Laboratories, without mentioning CSA. Siemens Canada, in its installation instructions, only allows its own breakers. When in doubt, Québec’s Régie du bâtiment refers you to the manufacturer.
A panel to replace?
We do the load calculation, handle Hydro-Québec, and the exact price is in the quote, written and free.
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Sources
Consulted on November 3, 2026.
- Siemens Canada, Power Product Catalogue, section 1, Loadcentres, May 2020
- Siemens Canada, Power Product Catalogue, section 1, Loadcentres, online version
- Siemens Canada, Loadcentre, Type 1 enclosure for indoor application, Installation instructions
- Eaton Canada, Classified circuit breakers (capture of April 6, 2023)
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Siemens Announces Free I-T-E Circuit Breaker Box Inspection Program
- City of Montréal, RénoPlex: amounts granted by type of work (in French)
- Régie du bâtiment du Québec, Modification d’appareillage approuvé (in French)