The Los Altos Electrician for Eichlers,
Historic Homes & Mid-Century Panels.

Yes — from North Los Altos and the Country Club area near the foothills, to the single-story ranch homes around Rancho Shopping Center, to Loyola Corners, South of El Monte, and the original 1908 core of Old Los Altos near downtown, Cali Rollin Electric works throughout the city — including the Fallen Leaf Park Eichlers and the wooded foothill edge (The Highlands, Woodland Acres) near the Los Altos Hills boundary. We handle panel upgrades, FPE and Zinsco replacements, knob and tube and Eichler rewiring, EV chargers, generators, and emergency calls. C-10 License #1144031. Note: Los Altos Hills is a separate jurisdiction with its own building department.

Los Altos housing is overwhelmingly post-war mid-century — the median home was built around 1964 — wrapped around an original 1908 core in Old Los Altos and roughly 45 to 50 Eichlers in the Fallen Leaf Park and San Antonio Court / Parsons Way tracts, so our work tracks that stock: 100A to 200A panel upgrades, FPE Stab-Lok and Zinsco hazard-panel replacements, knob and tube replacement in the Old Los Altos historic homes, Eichler original-panel swaps and radiant-slab-aware rewiring, Level 2 EV charger installation, whole-house generator installation, ADU electrical, pre-sale electrical clearance inspections, and emergency response. Permit pulled on every job that requires one — filed electronically with the City of Los Altos Building Permit Division.

Yes — most electrical work in Los Altos requires a permit from the City of Los Altos Building Permit Division at 1 North San Antonio Road. Los Altos uses electronic submittal only (no hard copies), and some simple residential permits can be handled through the eTRAKiT self-service portal. Allow up to about five business days for the completeness check. Cali Rollin Electric handles the permit application, electronic submittal, inspection coordination, and permit close on your behalf. The Building Permit Division direct line is (650) 947-2752, but you do not make that call — we manage the process.

PG&E delivers electricity to Los Altos, while generation is supplied by Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE), the community choice aggregator that has served Los Altos and twelve other Santa Clara County communities since April 2017. PG&E still owns the poles, wires, and meter, and handles service upgrades, so for a panel or service-entrance job Cali Rollin Electric coordinates the PG&E disconnect and reconnect scheduling for you. SVCE handles the generation side and also runs home electrification rebate programs.

Yes. Los Altos has roughly 45 to 50 Eichlers, concentrated in the two main tracts — Fallen Leaf Park (built 1967–68) and San Antonio Court / Parsons Way (built 1974). Eichlers carry their own electrical considerations: radiant slab heating that you cannot trench through, original panels that are often undersized for modern loads, and exposed post-and-beam ceilings that make conventional concealment difficult. We work these homes with their construction in mind — running new circuits without disturbing the slab and replacing original panels where capacity or safety calls for it.

Yes — FPE Stab-Lok and Zinsco panels are documented across mid-century Los Altos-area homes, and both are known to fail to trip under fault conditions. Many insurers flag them. With a median home construction year of 1964, a large share of Los Altos housing is post-war mid-century and a candidate for one of these hazard panels. We replace them with a modern, properly bonded service panel, pull the permit with the City of Los Altos, and coordinate the PG&E shutoff so your home is brought up to current code.

For true electrical emergencies — burning smells, active sparks, panel arcing, main breaker failure — call 408-614-4451 immediately. We serve all of Los Altos, from the flat central neighborhoods like North Los Altos and Rancho to the foothill edge near Highway 280, and can prioritize same-day dispatch for urgent safety situations. For non-emergency power outages and repairs, same-day or next-day scheduling is typically available. You reach our team directly — not a dispatch center.

Yes — Level 2 EV charger installation is one of our most common requests in Los Altos. We install all major brands including Tesla Wall Connector, ChargePoint Home Flex, Emporia, and Grizzl-E. Installation requires a dedicated 240V circuit and a permit filed with the City of Los Altos Building Permit Division. Many Los Altos homes — especially the 1960s ranch homes around Rancho and North Los Altos — need a panel upgrade or load-management device first because mid-century panels are often near capacity; we assess that on-site. Silicon Valley Clean Energy runs home electrification rebates, and the Federal 30C tax credit covers part of EV charger installation under current IRS terms; we will point you to what applies at the time of your project.

For most of flat, central Los Altos, no. The foothill edge of the city near Highway 280 and the boundary with Los Altos Hills touches High and Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones, so generator placement, service-entrance routing, and equipment choices on those specific lots get extra attention. If your property sits on the wooded foothill edge — areas like The Highlands or Woodland Acres — we factor that into the design. The flat central neighborhoods are not in those zones.