Experience With Cutler Hammer (Eaton) CH Series Panels

I have an Eaton sub panel for my system via a Square D main. As long as your not using an Fed Pacific you should be fine. Just insist on an EMP Shield while he's there.

I own Eaton (stock) and so I recommend it.

I replaced the FPE that was used in my neighborhood with Westinghouse long ago. Many neighbors still have FPE.  Surprised there aren't fires in my neighborhood.

Jerry

CH panels are considered among the best in the industry, which is why electricians use them a lot.  I have a 200-amp CH panel that was part of the original house construction in 1992; I have 4 dedicated 20-amp circuits in that panel for my home theater/stereo, and it has worked perfectly for 32 years . . . 

John C.

Well, Federal Pacific were among the most notoriously bad panels ever made. Not only did the back planes make poor contact but the breakers often failed to trip on overload.

Square D, Siemens, Eaton CH are all really good. My preference is for in-panel surge protectors as opposed to bolt on units. I’d suggest go with whichever your electrician recommends that allows a surge protector to plug directly onto the back plane instead of being wired in. This minimizes inductance and puts the surge protector closest to the incoming power lines.

Another thing, if this is new construction, consider where your cable modem and wifi router will be. You might want to run fiber between them, and locate the wifi router in a more wifi optimal location than the cable modem. The main reason for the fiber is to prevent surges from outside the building from entering and frying everything connected to an Ethernet cable.

Also, if your wifi router will be 30' or more from your streamers, consider fiber there also, as it will reduce/eliminate chances of lightning induced surges from being picked up.