Positricity is your local Clearwater FL electrician. Much of our work on homes frequently deals with the power box on the side of your home. We get asked about the power box all the time. In our educational series of articles on this site, we address questions like these.
Question: Is the power box the same at the breaker box?
Answer: Yes. In the electrical trade, this metal box is called the load center. It is frequently called many names including fuse box, power panel, and circuit breaker panel.
Question: If I turn off the breaker in the power box for a room, is it safe to replace a fan?
Answer: No, not always. Houses have their own rich stories of change and improvements. Many of the changes are poor electrical choices. You can easily have all the lights in a room on one circuit, but have the fan on a different one. So, you see the lights turn off with the breaker, and then you would incorrectly assume the wires to the fan are not “hot”. Our electricians know how to test all the electrical outlets and wires to make sure it’s safe to work.
Question: Is it safe to switch a “thrown” circuit breaker back on?
Answer: You have to keep in mind that the breaker was thrown because of a dangerous amount of electricity flowing incorrectly. By turning the circuit back on, you haven’t yet determined why it flipped off. There can be many dangerous reasons why this happened. Reset it once, if it trips again, call an electrician to investigate the issue.
Question: What are the markings by the breakers on the panel.
Answer: Most homeowners like to write on stickers what each breaker controls. One for the master bedroom, another for the kitchen, etc. The labels should be clearly written and placed next to each breaker. But, going a step further, take a digital picture of the well-labeled circuits, so when time passes and the ink fades, you can re-apply labels. The National Electric Code (NEC) requires panels to be labeled.
Positricity Electric is your home electrical service company. We professionally handle residential and commercial contractor electrical work. No job is too small or large. We service all of Pinellas County including Palm Harbor, Safety Harbor, Clearwater, and St. Petersburg. We are licensed and insured. The next time you need a residential electrician in Clearwater FL, give us a call today.