Best residential load center

Due to a relatively small remodel project, I've decided this is a good time to replace and relocate my home's load center. Primary reason is to increase the number of "slots" (and circuits) from 20/40 to probably 42/60 or more. Currently have a Siemens, and I'm okay with that brand for the new one, although not tied to it in any way. Not considering a combination meter box and load center due to location.
 
Are there any home automation considerations for a new load center? I saw where Eaton had some built in monitoring/control features on a prototype that hasn't made it to the residential market. Anything else? I don't want to go too bleeding edge because I don't want to get locked into something that might not be supported in five years. I have the Brultech product for monitoring a lot of circuits.
 
I have about 24 hours to decide, so talk fast.
 
Thanks,
Ira

I am using the Eaton/Cutler Hammer panel because it can accomodate the Eaton CHSPT2ULTRA surge protector in the panel.   This shortens the wires which improves the performance.   I have 3 panels in the house I am building, and plan to install surge protectors in each.   They have been installed, but are not yet energized.

A friend of mine who is an electrician uses Square-D whenever he has a choice.

Here the panel is a Square - D.   Its all conduit fed. Thinking the total service is 200 Amps. 
 
I have added more circuits / wires / fuses to break down the loads a bit even though they were fine.  IE: Added 2 more circuits to the kitchen wiring.  I separated the lighting from the multimedia electric in the family room.
 
It provides me with more granularity.  The breakers alternate phases on either side and I did even out the loads (breaker values) some; but I do not think it was necessary. 
 
I did also add two lamps / switch above the fuse panel mostly relating to servicing it if I need to.  (did the same in the utility room near the furnace, hot water heater and whatever else is there).
 
I have multiple PIMs connected adjacent to the panel each with their own breakers and outlets. (ran new conduit, wire and installed new breakers for these).  The UPB repeater also has its own breakers.
 
I did add an Eaton commercial surge device with a little intelligent monitoring board / LEDs on it.  The next model up had a bit more intelligence to it. (numeric values and little LED lights).  Never seen it triggered since installation.
 
It has a connection to the OPII panel relating to surges (just a switch).  It is side mounted and larger than the double throw 30 AMP breakers its connected to.
 
Tick Tock Tick Tock   Ira....How is your NTP server running these days.

The main load center in my house is a Murray and  there is also an Eaton sub panel. My garage has a Square D QO. The Square D is a better build quality than the other two in my opinion. I think that you can see and feel the difference in the way that the breakers snap in to place and the door fits and closes.You should also choose a box that has breakers readily available in your area.
 
Mike.

I have a SquareD 200A main panel with two SquareD 100 A sub panels, one for the outbuildings and one with critical circuits and a generator interlock.
Each panel has a Simply Automated breakerbox coupler in it.

SqD QO panels have copper busbars, the Homeline panels have aluminum busbars. 
 
The Homeline breakers are the standard style 1" breaker that you see in most common panels.
 
The QO breakers are a different design and cost twice as much.
 
SqD has surge breakers that fit in both QO and Homeline panels. 
They take up two slots and are not feed through like some brands.
 
When you are selecting a panel, pay attention to how the wires will need to be routed in the panel.  If this isn't the main service panel, you'll have to separate the neutrals and grounds.  It makes a cluttered panel if you have to route the neutral/ground wires to opposite sides of the box.   I like the QO because all the neutrals are clustered near the main breaker and you just add ground bars in each side gutter. 

My Homeline sub panels have neutral bus bars (unbonded) on each side adjacent to the breakers, and several places to mount ground bars.
I only placed a single ground bus bar in them, but you could also put one on each side.

Agree! Don't get one with aluminum busbars!! We experienced too many of those problems in the utility industry. Aluminum is to non-resilient and can squash more every year making loose connections. You can tighten them every year until there is no metal left.
 
Get whatever is most popular in your area. Stabloc breakers are very common here, available at the corner store in the middle of the night, cheaper and more reliable in most cases. But things and manufacturing standards change every year.

Here I have had no issues getting the SqD breakers at any of the local big box stores.  That said; personally here I noticed a slight difference in the newer breakers that I purchased.  Maybe it was me.  Typically I would just bring a breaker with me to the big box hardware store to get same type replacement.
 
I should take a picture of what I saw though.  The newer ones would not snap into place.  I noticed that the plastic around the metal which clipped to the panel was off maybe 1/8"  of an inch.  You can see the difference holding them side by side.  It is a very slight difference though and you have to really look closely.
 
I have had to cut a little piece of the plastic breaker shell to get them to fit right inside of my panel.  The model number of the fuse breaker though matched the old one.  The panel was installed around the beginning of the 2000's when the home was built.

LarrylLix said:

Get whatever is most popular in your area. Stabloc breakers are very common here, available at the corner store in the middle of the night, cheaper and more reliable in most cases. But things and manufacturing standards change every year.

Click to expand...

 
I'd avoid the Stab Loc if it were me.
 
www.bpgwi.com/documents/eafpepanels.pdf
http://inspectapedia.com/fpe/fpepanel.htm
http://www.startribune.com/local/yourvoices/131912743.html

Federal Pacific panels don't exist for new construction!

@Del,
 
Do you see anything on the horizon yet for the use of new technology integration of the "Residential Load Center?
 
I mean it works fine today using some 50 year old technology. 
 
That said I had a glance at some show in the middle 2000's which did demonstrate the "what could be" the "Residential Load Center" of tomorrow.
 
Are we there yet?  Are we close yet?  Has it now been abandoned? 

I ended up going with a Siemens "Ultimate" 42/60 panel. I've had good luck with them (three panels in service for 25 years and only one breaker that went bad), and I was able to get it quickly via Amazon Prime. Breakers are available locally. I'm resisting the temptation to move the breakers from the old box to the new one due to age, but I will keep a few old ones around for emergencies.
 
I also like the Siemens combo breaker/SPD device. It takes up two breaker slots, but the device has two breakers built in. The good part is that if the SPD fails, it will turn off one/both of the circuits, so I will know if the SPD failed without looking at the device. I know some people will say that's a negative, but I can put a couple of low use (low importance like my attic lights) circuits on it, and add a relay-in-a-box on each circuit that can tell my Elk when the SPD has gone bad. The SPD breaker can be switched back on after the SPD failure to continue to power the circuit, but it won't provide any protection after that. The other downside to this SPD is that it doesn't have a ground connection (only one wire that goes to the neutral), and according to the documentation, the protection is diminished if the load center has a floating neutral (mine does) because the surge has to travel significantly further to dissipate. In my case, it's about 150 feet vs. 6' if it had a ground connection.
 
So, since I'm in the spending mood, I think I will have the electrician install a Leviton 52120 (very pricey at about $1K) at the new load center, too. It has separate neutral/ground connections, so it should provide better protection. The good thing about this device (besides looking pretty cool, and the separate neutral/ground connections), is that it is modular and comes with a lifetime warranty on the device, including "modules". So if I understand it correctly, if a big surge destroys the SPD modules inside, Leviton will replace the modules for free. There are some "exceptions", but I haven't read the fine print yet. Will do so before ordering. Most other SPD's require full replacement. At least that's how I understand this stuff.
 
If I had known about the new NEC AFCI requirements, I would probably have gotten the 54/70 panel. I've got 36 circuits in use on my current 20/40, and all the 20A breakers are tandem. Even the AC and oven breakers are the kinds that have two additional 20A breakers built in. It sounds like almost everything but hard-wired appliances will require AFCI protection in the future, and from what I can google, there's only one AFCI receptacle available. Leviton makes a "regular" AFCI receptacle (similar to a GFCI receptacle). They also make a "blank" AFCI device in the "receptacle form factor". So I guess depending on the box fill restrictions (and assuming code allows it), I could mount a multi-gang box above the load center (it's in a closet, so looks don't matter), fill it with AFCI blanks, and run some of the circuits that require AFCI thru that box to get AFCI protection on those circuits.
 
A lot has changed in the 25 years since I wired this house.
 
pete_c... this will probably be the kiss-of-death for the NTP server, but it's probably been the most reliable device I've had. I don't think I've ever had to even reboot it once the initial software problems were fixed.
 
Thanks for all of the comments.
 
Ira