A circuit breaker is an safety device that prevents electrical wires from overheating. A circuit breaker are comprised of a switch that will cut off the flow of electricity from a circuit if the current within the circuit becomes too high. When there is too many electrical appliances in use within a circuit, the amount of electricity that pass through the wires becomes high.
The increased amount of electricity make the wires heat up. If the wires heat up to too high of a temperature, the insulation on the wires will melt. The melted wires can lead to the ignition of any appliances connecting to the wires.
How Circuit Breakers Keep Your Home Safe
Thus, the circuit breaker will trip (turn off the electricity) to prevent the wires from overheating to the point of start a fire. Not all appliances uses the same amount of electricity. Therefore, the electrical circuits in different area of a home may require different sized circuit breakers.
For instance, bedrooms may contain only low-wattage appliances like lamps, so the bedroom circuits may not have to be as thick in there circuit breaker. However, kitchens may contain appliances like microwaves or toasters that use a great deal of electricity. Using such an appliance in a circuit that isnt prepared to handle such highly amounts of electricity will cause the circuit breaker switch to trip.
It is never appropriate to replace a circuit breaker with a larger circuit breaker. Circuit breakers must match the thickness of the electrical wires in the circuit. Electrical wires that are thinner can only carry small amounts of electricity, while thicker wires can carry more larger amounts of electricity.
Installing a larger circuit breaker into a circuit that use thin wires will cause the thin wires to become too hot with the amount of electricity that passes through them. The larger circuit breaker will not trip in this situation because designers do not design circuit breakers to detect heat in thin wire. Thus, using thin wires with a larger circuit breaker can lead to the wires on the circuit catch fire.
There are several different types of circuit breakers that offers different safety protections to electrical circuits. GFCIs (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters) detect when electricity is leaking from the wires and the appliances connect to those wires, and will turn off the power to those circuits if it detects that the electricity is flowing in an unsafe direction. AFCIs (Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters) is designed to detect electrical arcing, which is a form of sparking that can occur with damaged electrical wires.
AFCIs are helpful in prevent fires in appliances with damaged wires because the AFCI will detect the arcing before the arcing develops into a fire. When using electrical circuits in an electrical panel, it is important that one follow the 80 percent rule. This rule states that one should not run electrical circuits at maximum capacity for long periods of time.
Circuits that are rated for 20 amps of electricity, for instance, should not have 20 amps of electricity using the circuit for long periods of time. Using 20 amps of electricity on a circuit rated for 20 amps will make the wires in the circuit heat up. In addition to the 80 percent rule, individuals should distribute electrical loads even further by using electrical circuits designated for heavy appliances to appliances that use a great deal of electricity, such as refrigerators or washing machine.
The electrical load of a circuit can be calculated by using a simple formula. The formula is to divide the total wattage of the appliances that will be using the circuit by the voltage of the outlet in the electrical panel box. Most electrical outlets in the United States contain 120 volts of electricity.
To calculate the load of electricity that will be used on a circuit, one can add all of the watts of the appliances that will be used on that circuit together. The total of the watts can then be divided by 120 to find the total amount of amps that will be used on the circuit. If the amps that are calculated exceed the amperage of the circuit breaker that will be installed in the electrical panel, then an electrical panel should be installed and wire for that circuit.
Finally, electrical panels must be clearly label. The label on electrical panels indicates which appliances are connected to which outlets, and which circuit breakers control which outlets. Additionally, the label will display which circuit breakers has tripped.
Electrical panels in older homes may not be labeled correctly or the electrical components may be older than most individuals can imagine. In these case, a professional electrician should inspect the electrical panel and wires in the home. Properly functioning electrical components will prevent wires from overheating and starting fire in the walls of the house.
