How Does an Electrical Panel Work?

The electrical panel in your home plays a key role in your household’s daily routine. You can determine when to hire an experienced electrician to repair or upgrade it by first learning how it works.

What Is an Electrical Panel?

People may use other terms to refer to the electrical panel in their homes. Some of the common terms that it can also be known by include:

• Service panel
• Breaker box
• Distribution board
• Load center

Regardless of how you refer to it, you should understand what purpose it serves. Its main purpose involves connecting the outside power lines to your home’s internal wires. With that, you should regard it as the main lifeline for your home’s entire electrical system.

It also ensures power gets distributed from the power to the numerous individual circuits throughout your house. Fuses, also known as breakers, protect the circuits.

They shut off automatically or trip if they short-circuit or get overloaded with too much power. Their design mitigates the risk of an electrical fire in your home.

What Components Are in an Electrical Panel?

Your home’s electrical panel contains numerous individual components. Each one has a different role in supplying your home with power.

The main breaker arguably stands out as the foremost component in the electrical panel. As its name suggests, it functions as the main power switch for your home’s power supply.

Found at the top of the electrical panel, it connects directly to the service wires. It brings electricity directly into your house from the outside utility company poles.

The main breaker is larger than all of the other switches in the panel. Its larger size owes to the fact it handles all of the other breakers’ electricity load. You should flip off the main breaker during emergencies, such as a fire or flood, or when you remodel or make repairs to any electrical fixtures in your home.

The electrical panel also contains individual circuit breakers. The number of these breakers can vary from home to home. They connect directly to each outlet or appliance in your home. You can also flip them on and off separately from the main breaker.

Each circuit handles amperes or a certain amount of electricity. If one experiences an overload of electricity or a short circuit, it will trip, effectively cutting off the power to the outlet or appliance. This feature allows the circuits to mitigate the risk of a fire from overheating.

You will also find bus, neutral and ground bars in the electrical panel. Bus bars are thick metal strips that distribute power from the circuit breakers to the main breaker.

Neutral and ground bars are thick metal bars. Neutral bars provide an electrical current with a return path to complete the circuit and let power flow back to the power grid.

Ground bars connect to the panel’s grounding wire, effectively providing an electrical current with an alternative path in case of a fault. This design minimizes the risk of fire and electric shock.

Finally, a maze of wires exists inside of your electrical panel. These wires include red and black “hot” wires that carry electricity to circuits from the individual breakers.

Neutral wires are white and return the current to the panel after it flows to your home’s appliances and outlets. Grounding wires are bare copper or green and guide stray currents to the ground.

How Does an Electrical Panel Work?

All of these components combine to facilitate the flow of power throughout your home. The main breaker serves as a proverbial gatekeeper, controlling the electrical flow and distributing power to individual circuit breakers.

Each individual breaker connects to an outlet, light or appliance in your home. Every time you flip a switch, turn on a light or use an appliance, it gets its power supply from the circuit connected to it.

When that circuit gets overloaded or runs the risk of overheating, it will “trip” or flip from the “on” to “off” position. You must then flip the circuit back to the “on” position to restore the flow of power. Before you flip the breaker, however, you should find out and address the reason for why it tripped.

A circuit might trip because it experiences an overload of electrical current. Overloading can occur when you have too many devices plugged into an extension cord, for example.

A breaker can also trip because of a short circuit. A short circuit occurs when a hot wire carrying an electrical current comes into contact with a neutral wire. It causes a surge in electricity.

Both overloading and short circuits can put your house at risk of a fire because of excessive heat generation. The individual circuits will shut themselves off to minimize this risk.

How to Tell When to Repair or Upgrade Your Electrical Panel

Your electrical panel can last for years. However, at some point, you may have to repair or upgrade it, particularly if you live in an older house or your panel is more than 20 to 25 years old.

Several other signs can point to the need for you to repair or upgrade the panel. For example, if you experience frequent circuit tripping, you should have an electrician inspect and service it. This problem can hint at the panel no longer accommodating the electrical demands of your house and needing an upgrade.

Additionally, if the lights in your home flicker repeatedly, you should have the panel either upgraded or repaired. A light that flickers once or twice may simply need a new lightbulb. However, several lights flickering continuously point to a problem with the electrical panel.

Likewise, if you hear unusual noises like buzzing or an odor of burning coming from it, you need to call an electrician right away. Your panel should not make noises or smell like it’s burning. These issues require immediate professional services from an experienced electrician.

Finally, if you have to use several extension cords throughout your house because of a lack of outlets, you should consider a panel upgrade. A new panel with more circuits will spare you the hassle of having to connect and use extension cords to use appliances, charge devices or use lights.

Choose Us for Your Electrical Panel Services

At Monkey Wrench Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electric, our team provides the perfect blend of professionalism and friendliness. We not only service electrical panels in the Los Angeles area. You can also rely on us for services for your home’s HVAC and plumbing systems. Our business employs a team of highly trained, uniformed technicians. We strive to provide you with a hassle-free experience and utilize eco-friendly practices in all of our services.

Our team has a “can-do” attitude and ensures your electrical services get done right the first time. We strive to transform your house into a better place to live. Customers who have hired us in the past give us five-star ratings. We adhere to local codes and take your home’s safety seriously. You can also schedule a consultation with us before we start any repair or upgrade work. Our team provides the solutions you need to upgrade or repair your home’s electrical panel. Contact us at Monkey Wrench Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electric to learn more.