Fusebox?

Fusebox?

That’s what we used to call the main electrical power in our home when I was growing up in Pearl River, New York. Believe it or not we only had one fuse for the whole house. Occasionally, I still have customers referring to the circuit breaker panel as the fuse box.

So what is the circuit breaker panel in your home?

Here are some things that you should be aware of about your circuit breaker panel:

1. It is the central control of everything electrical in your home.
2. It’s main purpose is to protect you.
3. It protects you with circuit breakers that are sized according to the circuit that is being used.
4. If you are in a fairly new home, it has specialty circuit breakers, such as arc fault and ground fault. These breakers have special features that give protection above and beyond what traditional fuse or circuit breaker would do.
5. Whenever these breakers trip, it alerts you that there is a safety problem.
6. The first thing you should do when a circuit breaker trips is ask yourself a few questions. Were you or somebody else doing something that may have caused the breakers to trip? If not, you need to go to the area or the piece of equipment that that breaker is designated for and see if there’s a problem. If you don’t get any answers to those questions that’s the time to call a qualified electrician.

A few other tips:

• Make sure your circuit breaker panel is accessible. According to code, you should have at least 3 feet clearance in front of it and 30 inches wide.
• Make sure that all the circuits are identified so you know what to look for when a breaker trips.
• Last, but not least, you need to know where your main disconnect is, and make sure that it is fully accessible and not blocked by any landscaping. In the event of an emergency, you need to be able to shut that off and totally disconnect any sources of electrical energy going into your home to prevent fire.

I think that’s about enough for now. In the future, I’d like to tell you a little bit more about your electrical system. You can always call us with your electrical questions.

As always, we’re at your service 24/7. We thank you for your continued support and look forward to servicing all of your electrical needs in the future.

Please feel free to call us if you have any questions or to schedule a consultation. We can be reached at 954-344-6763.