When was the last time you thought about your service panel?
Whether you know it as a breaker panel, load center, breaker box, service panel, or simply that grey box on the wall, this piece of equipment is the heart of your electric system. It contains your home’s circuit breakers, and believe it or not, this one panel can save your home from a fire.
Service panels take the electricity coming into your home and safely redirect it throughout. It has an important fail-safe built into it. They are designed to stop the flow of electricity, or break the circuit, and flip to the off position if the amount of electricity goes above a certain level. Without this, the system would become overloaded and could spark, lighting a fire inside your home.
There are multiple reasons you may need an upgrade to your service panel:
- Faulty wiring
- You’ve added appliances
- Using too many extension cords
- The need to upgrade old/bad fuses
Some safety advice for keeping your service panel working is to make sure the breakers are labeled correctly. To do so, leave the main breaker on (the one at the top) and turn off all the rest. Then turn one on at a time and look for the outlet that is working. Continue for all of the breakers until they are all labeled.
Having an up-to-date service panel could also save your life! Whenever you are working with electricity around the house, be sure to turn off the breaker for the area you are working in.
Electricity is dangerous and nothing to play around with. Let Miller's Services’s come make sure your house is safe and your service panel is working efficiently. If you want to learn more about upgrading your service box or schedule a service, call us at (804) 758-7100!
