Tag: circuit breaker

5 Signs You Need to Replace a Circuit Breaker

Aug 10, 2021

5 Signs You Need to Replace a Circuit Breaker

  • Electrical
circuit breaker

Replacing a circuit breaker can be an economical investment in protecting your home while avoiding damage to your appliances and fixtures and protecting your family.  They are a valuable first line of defense in home safety, but are often overlooked as a solution to real problems.  Your electrical panel is likely hidden in the basement or in a utility closet, well out of sight and thought. However, if you continue to ignore the warning signs and resist checking and replacing a circuit breaker as needed you can experience:

  • Flickering Lights: How annoying is it when you’re eating dinner with the family and the lights keep raising and lowering like in a haunted house? While distracting, you figure you can live with it.  That could be a big mistake.
  • Poor Performance from Appliances: Your stove may bake unevenly or never seem to reach proper temperature.  The dryer might shut off in mid-cycle. You may be convinced that all your kitchen appliances need to be replaced due to strange and inconsistent performance. What a waste of cash if it is simply a circuit breaker that needs to be replaced.
  • Damage to Essential Lights and Appliances:   When circuit breakers fail to control the flow of electricity properly you may experience bulbs that constantly burn out or a microwave that barely lasted past its one year warranty. Overheating can occur, causing lasting damage to coils and computer boards.
  • Potential of Smoke, Fire and Water Damage: When too much power is drawn through a power cord, an electrical fire can result from overheating. Your home could be severely damaged by smoke, water and flame. The cost of failing to check your electrical panel for problems continues to skyrocket.
  • Lower Property Value: When you experience a fire, no matter how small, the integrity and value of the property is lowered. Failing to upgrade electrical service to your home can result in a potential buyer hesitating to put in an offer. They want to purchase a home that is safe and has been maintained.

5 Warning Signs of a Failing Circuit Breaker

  1. Burning Smell In The Electrical Panel: If you smell a burning odor coming from the panel that means wires and insulation have become overheated and are failing to protect your home from an electrical short elsewhere. Don’t wait! Shut off the main power to the house and call an electrician immediately for emergency service.
  2. Breakers Tripping Frequently: A circuit breaker is designed to trip when too much power is being drawn through it to protect your entire home. If a breaker is tripping every time you turn on a particular appliance like the microwave or vacuum cleaner, the breaker may be worn out and ready to fail. An electrician will be able to determine if it’s simply a bad breaker or if you need to add a circuit to your home
  3. Physical Damage: If you notice scorch marks around the breaker, at an outlet or appliances are failing due to melted wires, it’s a good bet that your electrical panel and breakers require immediate service. A melted wire is one step away from your entire house going up in flames. Place that emergency call to the electrician and unplug all fixtures from that circuit.
  4. Breaker Will Not Stay Reset: Probably after several months of resetting a breaker, it simply won’t stay on for any period of time.  The breaker has probably failed. However, your electrician will check the entire circuit to make sure further damage wasn’t done to the wiring.
  5. Old Age: Circuit breakers are designed to last for decades of use. However, if you have a home where the electrical panel has not been serviced in ten years or more, there’s a good chance that there are several breakers ready to fail. Having an electrician inspect your panel is a wise investment.

It doesn’t take a lot of time or money to have a failing circuit breaker replaced. When you invest in preventative maintenance on your electrical panel you will enjoy the following benefits:

  • Peace of Mind: Your home is now a safe environment for your family. You will sleep better when you don’t worry about the house catching fire.
  • Extended Life of Appliances and Fixtures: You can now expect your new refrigerator and cooktop to last for years, until you are ready to renovate again.
  • Improved Convenience: You never realized how much easier life is when lights, appliances and electrical devices work each and every time–simply because you invested in a precautionary repair.
  • Maintains Value of Your Home: Updated service to your electrical panel gives a buyer confidence they are making a good investment.

Call MillTown today and schedule your service checkup to see if you need electrical repair  or replacement!

Read What Our Happy Customers Had To Say!

By Milltown Plumbing

Signs You Need to Upgrade Your Fuse Box

Jan 27, 2021

Signs You Need to Upgrade Your Fuse Box

  • Electrical
fuse box upgrade

When your home has a properly working electrical panel, the home is in excellent shape. Your home’s electrical service panel contains a series of circuit breakers and fuses that control all the electrical components in your home. Much like other appliances in your home, even your electrical system is prone to malfunction.  Here are a couple of indicators that it is time to repair or replace and get a fuse box upgrade.

Faulty Wiring Issues

Faulty wiring is one of the leading causes of residential fires in the United States. If a home has faulty wiring, there is a significant increase in likeliness of fire. Older wiring may not meet code and wire insulation and other materials tend to deteriorate over the course of time. Some of these warning indicators of faulty wiring include:

  • Flickering or dimming lights
  • Slight shock or tingling sensation when touching appliances
  • Constant burning smell
  • Sparking or discolored power outlets

If you notice any of these signs, it would be wise to contact a professional electrician at MillTown. 

Installing New Large Appliances

If you are installing large appliances in your home, especially one that requires large amounts of energy, you should check your electrical panel and fuse box. The panel may not be able to handle the amount of power to keep these appliances running. These appliances include refrigerators, hot tubs, air conditioner, and other large devices. 

Electrical panels provide fairly wide amounts of power amps, ranging from 100-400 amps. If your amps do not meet your electrical consumption needs, your circuit breakers will trip any time you try to turn on the hot tub or air conditioner. 

Replacing Fuses with Circuit Breakers

Fuses and circuit breakers perform the same essential functions. They prevent short-circuiting or overloading of electrical currents that is attached to any electrical devices. Fuses, however, are one-time use and are color-coded depending on their capacity. When they detect that a current is running at too high of a level, the fuse will combust and melt, creating an interruption of electrical flow. Older homes typically divide amperage amounts amongst four or so fuses within a home. Circuit breakers simply have to be reset. 

Fuses are somewhat outdated in relation to the modern age. Contact MillTown Electric as soon as possible. 

Blown Fuses

Mid-century fuse boxes were designed with a 60-amp capacity. Modern homes use three times more amperage than the outdated predecessor. Individuals and families have more electronic devices such as laptops, blow dryers and more televisions in the past number of decades. Because of this, there is a larger draw on electrical systems. Because of this, archaic fuses are more prone to overload. If your home has frequently blown fuses, you should upgrade your system.

Constant Use of Extension Cords

While extension cords can be beneficial in certain scenarios, an over-reliance on them could be dangerous. Most extension cords are intended for temporary use rather than extended usage. 

In addition to being a tripping hazard, electrical wires are usually kept in or against walls for a purpose, a protected system of wiring leads to less wear and tear. Wires that are left strewn across your living room floor can get shorted or pinched leading to damaged outlets. Constant use of these extension cords is not ideal. Contact a MillTown electrician to install more outlets. 

You Are Upgrading Your Home or Other Appliances

If you are expanding your home, remodeling or installing new appliances, this might be the ideal time for upgrading your electrical panel. If you are installing any new appliances, you will need to upgrade your panel. 

In any of these cases, it is ideal that your upgrade your system for safety purposes. Take this into consideration. About 51,000 house fires a year are caused by improper and malfunctioning electrical panels, so it would be wise to contact an electrician as soon as possible.

Don’t Let Your Panel Cause You Problems. Call & Schedule a Fuse Box Upgrade with MillTown Electric Today!

By Milltown Plumbing