When was the last time you checked the
circuit breakers in your home? How old is your home? These are the questions
you need to ask yourself. The major concern is safety, since
electric fires can start as a result of neglecting the breakers in
your panel box. The next concern is how bad breakers can affect your
everyday life. Imagine one day you're busy typing up a report for
your job when the power goes out and you lose all your work. You
check the panel box and one of the breakers have tripped. I had this
happen to me a few months back and we'll make sure it doesn't happen
to you.
The Demand for more Power
Each year our appliances obtain new features to make our lives more convenient, but the more automation you have in a system the more power it demands. Take a computer CPU or Video card that constantly requires more wattage from the PSU. Imagine you have three PCs and an air conditioner all on one series circuit in the house. This can put a tremendous strain on a single breaker which could cause them to trip and die faster than they should.
What's the solution?
Buy two new breakers and just keep them
on standby in case one of your breakers go bad. If you're moving into a new home then replace all the breakers with new ones. This
can be costly but you won't have to worry about it in the long run.
AFCI breakers
I'd recommend purchase of AFCI type
breakers for your home. Many house fires start from bad or old
electrical wiring. These types of breakers specialize in preventing electric
fires from old wiring when an instant surge of heat is detected.
The cutler hammer br120caf is a great
arc fault breaker that you can purchase. It's more expensive than a
normal breaker but well worth the extra cost.
Choosing the right equipment
Just make sure to match the right breaker to the proper panel box by checking the brand.
Panel Board Circuit Breaker requirements
- Zinsco require type UBIZ breakers.
- Westinghouse & Bryant panels need Cutler Hammer breakers, BR series.
- Wadsworth panel boxes take type UBIA or type VPKWB.
- Square D panel boards take Siemens breakers type QD or Cutler-Hammer type CHQ breakers.
- Siemens panels take type UBITBC breakers.
- Pushmatic panel box take type UBIP breakers.
- Federal Pacific Electric panels take type UBIFN.
- Challenger panel boards take type UBITBC and UBITBA breakers or cutler-hammer BR series breakers.
Safety
As always if you're not sure how to replace a circuit breaker properly, contact your local electrician to perform the service for you.
