Your circuit breaker panel is command central for the electrical system of your home. It is important to keep this crucial piece of hardware in great shape to avoid dangerous electrical hazards. But how do you know if your circuit breaker panel is in great running shape? It’s likely that you won’t know how unless you are a trained electrician. That’s OK because you can still get a reasonable idea of the general state of your panel with a close inspection.
The first thing you need to do is find your circuit breaker panel. It should be one of the first items you find out about when you move into a new home. Although accessing your panel may not be a common event in your daily life, when you need to get to that panel, you will want to know where it is because you’ll likely be looking for it with a flashlight because a breaker threw and you need to reset it. It’s a good idea for all adult members of the family know where the panel is, just in case.
Once you’ve located the panel, opening it is pretty straightforward. There will either be a latch or a sliding piece on the door to open it. Once you open the panel, give the interior a general examination. Does anything appear burned or discolored? Does the inside smell like something is or was burning? In either case, you need to call for a trained technician at that point.
If things look normal, see if the panel has been labeled so you can get an idea of what breakers will control what appliances and different areas of the house. If the panel has been labeled properly, you will see areas of the home and also major appliances like the air conditioning and heating. If you don’t see detailed labeling in the panel, it is a good idea to have the home’s electrical system inspected because you are missing a key piece of knowledge for being able to manage your electrical system safely. Without good labeling, you will have to experiment if you need to reset things and that is the last thing you want to be doing.
Does your panel look dusty or dirty? Does it look like it’s been a long time since anyone even opend the panel to look at it? If so, then it is well worth your time and effort to get a qualified electrical professional out to inspect your home’s system and make sure that all of the breakers are capable of handling modern electrical loads. There have been periods of time in our country’s history where construction standards were very poor. If you happen to find that you are getting a lot of breakers throwing, you need to get help as soon as you can. Those breakers are what stands between you and serious electrical hazards. Don’t wait until you have a serious problem like a fire to get your home’s electrical system up to snuff.
