Electrical Panel Basics
What’s the purpose of an electrical panel?
An electrical panel, otherwise known as a breaker panel, controls and distributes the electricity through your home. It takes the incoming electricity from your electric company and safely redistributes the electric current throughout your home through circuits.
What are the common types of electrical panels?
There are three types of electrical panels:
- Main breaker panel – control all the power to your home.
- Subpanel – allows you to add more circuits to a remote location.
- Transfer switches – access power from a generator through your household the wiring in the event of a power outage. If you have a generator, whether portable or standby, it is important to have a transfer switch installed by a licensed electrician this protect line workers from being electrocuted.
What’s inside my electric panel?
Electrical panels contain a safety device known as circuit breakers. Circuit breakers protect your home by cutting off the power or tripping when your electrical system has a fault, short circuit, or overloading of the wiring carrying too much current.
How many circuit breakers are inside the electrical panel?
Every circuit in your house has a corresponding breaker so it depends on the size of your house. Every time a new circuit is installed there needs to be an additional circuit added to the panel. It is important that a professional licensed electrician installs this because it is crucial that the breaker amperage capacity corresponds to the wire being used.
How often do you have to inspect an electric panel?
Having your electrical panel inspected yearly can help safeguard that all your breakers are working correctly and keeping you safe. Inspections can check for loose connections, signs of an aging, or heating within the panel which could all lead to a possible electrical fire.
Interested in having your home’s electrical system tested?
Transworld, Inc. Electrical Contractor’s offers CurrentSAFE which is a unique service that offers high-tech, non-destructive methods of detecting problems in home electrical systems. Our certified professional CurrentSAFE® electricians are capable of reducing your risk of a fire by finding and correcting those problems, identifying electrical shock hazards and assuring clean, dependable power to your home electronic equipment and appliances.
