Electrical Panel Safety

 

It’s not likely that today when you got up you looked in the mirror and said to yourself: “Self, today we need to decide whether our electrical panel needs changing.” Point being, until something goes drastically wrong and we can’t ignore it, our electrical system is pretty much out of sight, out of mind.

The problem with this is that keeping the state of your electrical system out of mind means that in a moment it could go from normal to fried in no time at all.

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And seemingly without warning. Dramatic? Perhaps, but possible. And that’s why we’re here today- to talk to you about your electrical panel: what it is, what it does, and why you need to pay attention to possible warning signs that it’s about to die a fiery death.

What is an Electrical Panel?

Excellent (and topical) question. Your electrical panel is essentially the ‘hub’ of electricity- it distributes electrical current to all the circuits in your home. When you flip a circuit breaker switch back on after accidentally tripping it, you are accessing the electrical panel.

 

See an excellent step-by-step walk through (with pictures!) of the anatomy of an electrical service panel.

How does my Electrical Panel Work?

There are three main parts of an electrical panel- the main breaker, the hot bus, and the neutral/grounding bus.

The main breaker, located at the top of the panel and connected to two thick black wires, controls the power to all the other breakers- flipping the main breaker to “off” cuts the power to your entire house. This is important to know in case of emergency, or in case there is a murder mystery in your house and you have to turn off all the power at once to make a clean getaway. Or something.

The main breaker also tells you what the amperage capacity of the panel is- usually it will be around 200.

The hot bus consists of two copper or aluminum strips running down the center of the panel. Power travels from the main breaker to the hot bus to the circuit breakers.

Like the journey from circuit to hot wire to neutral wire and back to circuit that we discussed concerning GFCIs, the electricity that travels from the main breaker eventually returns. This is where the neutral bus comes in. The neutral bus is the two aluminum strips at the outer edges of the panel. The neutral bus transfers the electricity to the neutral wires of the electrical meter, and back to the power company’s transformer.

What Could Go Wrong?

As we saw above, bad things can happen if your electrical panel malfunctions. It is most likely to malfunction if it is outdated, hasn’t been serviced in a long time, or is one of the following at-risk brands:

*Federal Pacific

*Zinsco

*Pushmatic

The photo above came from this website, which details the problems associated with outdated electrical panels such as Zinsco and Federal Pacific. If you have an older home and haven’t had your electrical panel changed, it’s likely that your system is overloaded and you are at an increased risk of fire and electrical shock.

Another example of an outdated panel is one that operates with screw-in fuses rather than switches. If your panel uses fuses, get in touch with an electrician right away.

Some warning signs that your electrical panel may be about to call it quits (in a potentially dangerous or lethal way) are:

*Your circuits trip frequently

*Flashes of light or sparks from the panel

*The panel is hot to the touch

*Your lights flicker frequently

*You hear a buzzing sound coming from the panel

If you notice any of these warning signs, don’t hesitate to call an electrician!

In closing, we’ll turn it over to Safety Dog to sum things up for you.

Good afternoon, citizen. Let’s sum up what we’ve learned, shall we?

*Your electrical panel provides power to all the circuits in your home.

*Woof.

*The main breaker controls the power, which flows through the hot bus, to the individual circuits, and back in through the neutral bus.

*An outdated electrical panel is a fire and shock hazard!

If you are unsure about your electrical panel, a good (and affordable) option is a home electrical inspection.

Remember to scratch your dog behind the ears, and safety comes first!