The circuit breaker panel is the main electrical circuit distributor inside a building, whether home, office or power plant. The electrical circuit breaker panel is typically able to provide a residential household with up to 200 amps of power.
Circuit breaker panels are needed in order for electricity to flow into a home or office. The electric utility company provides the electricity to an electric meter. Then from there the electricity is flowed into electrical disconnect, and finally, into a circuit breaker.
Many circuit breakers have two rows of switches, with each switch corresponds with a different portion of a home. The main circuit breaker is larger than all other switches inside the circuit breaker panel. This switch in turn will cut power to an entire household when switched off.
Circuit breakers are the weak link in your electrical system. When a circuit draws more current than what it can handle, the wiring gets hot and it can cause a fire. The excessive current in a circuit, therefore, can be prevented by the use of “over current” safety devices like the circuit breakers.
Your home must have electrical a circuit breaker panel that can provide 100 amps of power. If your home is older, the breaker panel may only have a 60 amps capacity, and it cannot produce power to modern electrical devices.
Hence, if your home has several electronic devices, your breaker panels must have at least 200-amp, lest, the demand for electricity from several devices cannot be met by your breaker panel. In order for you to know the amount of power that your home requires, you can calculate that by looking at each electrical device in your home.
Each device has a number rating. Add up all the number ratings from each device to determine the size of circuit breaker panel that you need. Examples of devices that you need to add the number ratings are microwaves, coffee pots, can openers, crock pots, waffle irons.
You may also include toasters, pizza ovens, flat iron, refrigerator, television, hot tubs, air compressors, dish washers, air conditioner and vacuum cleaners. If you are still unsure, you can request for an electrician or technician to do it for you.
Inside the breaker panel is a neutral buss and a grounding bar. The enclosure is sealed off and is protected by a panel cover. It is also mounted with screws. The panel access door allows you to access the breakers without removing the cover.
Inside the door of the circuit breaker panel is an index, where you will write down whatever the circuits are feeding. This is for easy reference. The entire breaker panel is gray in color and is made of metal. It can either be installed within a wall or can be surface-mounted.
A circuit breaker panel is used to provide appliances with electricity. The electricity can be stopped by flipping a breaker switch to off position. To do this, you simply push the breaker into the off position. To turn it back on, you push the breaker to the other position.