Do you recall those switches behind a metal container installed against the wall of your house and lot for sale? When was the last time you even looked behind that door? Open it and you shall find something that looks incredibly neat but breathtakingly overwhelming and intimidating that you just have to call a technician when the lights cannot turn on for some mysterious reason that none of your family members in your house and lot for sale can figure out. Fret not for we are here to tell you all that you need to know about those intimidating switches that the world calls circuit breakers.
So, What Are Circuit Breakers?
Zeus’ Ultimate Enemy
Your house and lot for sale are full of electricity just ready to explode little lightning bolts and accidentally hurt you and your little ones. But how come you never experience such a thing and roam around your beloved home to and fro without a care in the world? This literal safe space is made possible by the dear circuit breakers that we tend to overlook and yet to give our appreciation to.
In layman’s terms, circuit breakers work as an electrical switch that is operated automatically and is designed to protect the electrical circuit of your house and lot for sale from damage caused by instances of electricity overload or a short circuit. An electrical safety, if you want to summarize it.
Perhaps this is why you never bother opening that gray metal case because these useful babies automatically do their job. It efficiently disrupts the flow of a current if electricity is just ready to burst out. Through this, we are all saved from being roasted in our bathtubs, or from our stove bursting into explosive flames. Indeed, your circuit breakers prevent damage to an electrical circuit and appliances and home devices’ electrical malfunction, while a miniature circuit breaker protects the house appliances from overloading and short-circuit faults.
Sorry, Zeus, but you cannot get us here at our house and lot for sale.
Additionally, not only it protect us from a blast of electricity, but it also saves us the dire trouble of a brownout. Just imagine how our work-from-home meetings and the online school of your dear child will be all disrupted just because of one itty bitty short circuit. That is how this invention is very crucial when it comes to having electricity in our world.
Just One of Humanity’s Many Great Inventions
Now that we know how important this stuff is, it is time that we should go appreciate who started it all. Who invented these bad babies? To whom do we owe the pleasure and many thanks? Well, it is no other than Thomas Edison. In 1879, he founded circuit breakers when he thought of the most perfect idea of protecting a circuit wiring used for lighting from the frustrating common problems of current overloads and short circuits. Though the idea was great, his invention had terrible flaws because of its fuses. Thankfully, the great Granville Woods, the self-taught African-American inventor, improved on the design, and thus ultimately invented the circuit breakers that we all know and use today.
However, history also says that the idea of circuit breakers was also used in 1800. Alessandro Volta was also said to be the original inventor of the idea of a circuit breaker as he used bowls of salt solution connected by metal strips to make a steady flow of electricity.
Talk about the genius of mankind, right?
Some Safety Implications to Bear in Mind
Of course, we also need to take care of those who take care of us, right? It also never hurts to double-check the ever-reliable circuit breaker, after all, it is a machine thus it cannot tell us if it needs some fixing of its own.
- The first safety tip is to check the electrical operation of your home at least once a month. Circuit breakers have this button for testing. It is a general rule for all types of circuit breakers to have such a button. See if the lever does not trigger or move. If it doesn’t, it means it is damaged.
- We know that you are a handy dandy man or woman who tends to play by your own rules. However, it is never safe to handle any electrical device with bare hands or wet feet and/or hands. At the very least, if you cannot find any hardware, make sure you are dry!
- When handling the circuit breakers or any electrical at your home, always make sure that the electrical power is off. You do not want your precious children to find you with a fried brain, right? Additionally, we highly suggest purchasing tools so that you do not have to directly touch electricity wiring and other appliances.
- If your electrical appliances are quite old in age, save yourself from a possible severe malfunction and hire a professional technician. It is never a bad idea to be extra careful. This way, the technician will also be able to revise and repair your device to the brim so that future breakage can be avoided again in the future.
- Please do not choose your productive electrical day during this month of September. You are playing with death if you work near electrical power conductors (especially if you are on a roof) during windy or rainy weather.
- Leave a sign a note, or anything visible and noticeable for you, your family, and your guests to see during times of emergency. This leads to our next bit.
In addition, you should know the kind of circuit breaker you would need low voltage circuit breakers, medium voltage circuit breakers, or high voltage circuit breakers. Usually, low-voltage circuit breakers are used for domestic and commercial uses, while medium-voltage circuit breakers are used for industrial systems. A high-voltage circuit breaker is a circuit breaker used for loads above 500KVA.
Do Not Cover Your Circuit Breakers
We had to highlight this point because we saw a cruciality here for good reason. Avoid covering the circuit breaker panel box, also known as the circuit breaker box, of your circuit breaker.
Truth be told, it is more advisable for circuit breakers not to have covers, but to have a dead front with the sole purpose of protecting the circuit breakers from dust, water, and other debris because as much as possible, circuit breakers should always be visible.
Why? Say, there was a power outage. How can you check what is wrong with your circuit breaker if you cannot find it? So, make sure you know where your circuit breakers are even when it is dark.
You would always need your circuit breakers to restore the light of your house and lot for sale.
Related Blog: Home Electrical Wiring 101
