Your electrical panel affects all of the electricity flowing through your home. Knowing how it works is essential to keeping your home safe, functional, and convenient. To do this, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the panel’s labels, breaker styles, and warning markers. Just keep in mind, you should never touch any wiring or attempt any electrical work; those jobs are always best left in the hands of a licensed electrician.

Keeping the Panel Organized and Labeled at All Times

There’s a lot that goes into keeping a panel organized. You can’t just add labels that read bedroom or lights; those labels aren’t specific enough. Here are good label ideas that make it much easier to know exactly which part of the home each breaker controls:

• Primary bedroom outlets
• Primary bedroom ceiling lights
• Upstairs bathroom outlets
• Upstairs bathroom lighting
• Kitchen countertop outlets
• Kitchen overhead lighting
• Living room outlets
• Garage door opener
• Basement lighting
• Outdoor front outlets

Understanding Breaker Amp Ratings

Each breaker will have a number printed on it, like 15, 20, 30, or 50. Those numbers tell you the amperage rating for the breakers, which indicates the amount of current each breaker is designed to handle. An electrician will use the numbers when connecting appliances, outlets, and lighting circuits to reduce the risk of overloads. For you as a homeowner, it helps to know the amperage ratings for troubleshooting tripped breakers.

Using Breaker Test Buttons

It is very important that you test your AFCI and GFCI breakers according to the manufacturer’s recommended schedule. To do this, you simply press the test button on them. The breaker should immediately cut power to the circuit connected to it. A successful test helps confirm that the breaker’s protective function is operating properly. All you have to do to restore the power is reset the breaker by moving the handle fully to the OFF position and then back to ON. If you press the test button and the breaker doesn’t trip, you know to call for service.

Following all Warning Labels

It’s very normal for electrical panels to come with multiple warning stickers on them. You may see one that details which breaker types are approved for the panel and one that tells you to shut off the main breaker before servicing the connected equipment. Familiarizing yourself with each of these is essential to using the panel safely.

When something goes wrong with your home’s electrical system, the panel is one of the first things you’ll want to check. If you see that a breaker has tripped to the OFF position, you can often reset it to the ON position to restore power to the connected circuits. Anything beyond basic breaker operation should be performed by a trained electrician, since panels have an enormous amount of electrical current flowing through them that can increase the risk of injury and house fires if not handled correctly. If you have concerns or require electrical panel services, contact We Care Heating & Air Conditioning in Central GA and the FL Panhandle.