Did we get your attention? Today we're talking about your electrical panel!
For reference, your panel probably looks something like this:
Your electrical panel is the heart of your electrical system. Electrical panels go by many names: breaker panels, load centers, service panels or breaker boxes. It’s the steel box that holds your home’s circuit breakers. When needed, the circuit breakers turn off or “trip” the circuits that carry power throughout your home.
Your panel is the origin of a circuit, coming from a circuit breaker, and is what feeds the rest of your house's appliances, outlets, etc.
Besides flipping a breaker on and off, we always recommend having a professional do anything further. Although a breaker panel may appear simple, it's a relatively complex piece of equipment that caries heavy risk when not handled professionally. A breaker panel carries heavy electrical current, and if you touch the panel somewhere that's energized, there are a number of things that can happen: An arc flash can blind you, if you aren't insulated you can die of electrical shock through your heart (called ventricular fibrillation), or if a leg of a 240 volt circuit is loose and your panel is live, the loose wire could touch and electrocute you.
Even if you have turned the main breaker off, there are parts of your electrical panel that are still energized all of the time, and if touched can cause an above hazard to occur.
We don't say this to scare you, just to impart how important it is to have a licensed electrician work on your panel.
Now onto the good stuff!
What are the things that a licensed electrician can do for your panel to improve your home?
Install surge protection. Read more HERE.
Check your electrical impedance (Which is the "path to ground", or how strong the path is that will safely dissipate unwanted electrical current) using a ground impedance tester.
Check the temperature of your main lugs and connections. This helps tell us if there are bad connections that could cause potential hazards or energy inefficiency.
Visual panel inspection & tune up. This includes an inspection of all breakers and lugs, and a tune up which will include tightening connections.
Bus bar inspection to make sure it's still in a safe operating condition to prevent any future hazards from occurring.
If you're interested in any of the above services or have questions about your panel that you'd like answered, feel free to reach out by email (info@thegloudemanelectric.com), text, or call (909-801-4009).
Thank you for your time and stay safe!
- The Gloudeman Electric Team