If your electrical panel has fuses rather than circuit breakers, safety can be an issue. Even some electrical panels equipped with circuit breakers can pose safety hazards and need to be upgraded.

Another reason to upgrade your electric panel is if it’s too small. To say it’s “too small” means it doesn’t supply enough power. One sign of insufficient power is that fuses are frequently blowing or circuit breakers are flipping off. Or possibly, a contractor has told you that your home or business needs more power for a new air conditioner or other installation.

What is an electrical panel?

The power from the electric utility company flows through large wires to your home and into the panel, a large metal box with fuses or circuit breakers inside. The panel controls the flow of electricity throughout the house, cutting the flow with fuses or circuit breakers if power levels rise too high.

If you think of your home electrical system as having branches and twigs like a tree, your electrical panel is the tree trunk. From the panel, the current flows into major electrical branches which dwindle into smaller and smaller branches and twigs, serving every part of your home.

An electrical panel may also be called a:

These all mean the same thing.

How do fuses and circuit breakers work?

If too much power were to flow into the wires in your home, they could melt and a fire could start. If you were to accidentally touch a damaged overloaded wire, you could receive an electrical shock.

To prevent more electrical flow than the wires are designed for, your electrical service panel is supposed to detect the problem and stop the flow immediately. In older electrical panels, a fuse blows. In newer ones, a circuit breaker flips off. Both fuses and circuit breakers are designed to break the circuit and cut the power to wires. Properly functioning circuit breakers (or fuses) are vital for your family’s safety and the safety of your home. Click here for more information about how to get the power back on if a circuit breaker has flipped off.

How do I know if my electrical panel is too small and should be upgraded?

If circuit breakers are flipping or fuses are blowing often, it likely means that your electrical system needs enlargement, including possibly a panel upgrade. Here are common situations which call for enlarging an electrical system:

Fuse Boxes

Older electrical panels have fuses rather than circuit breakers. In the days when fuse boxes were installed, homes needed considerably less power. Many fuse boxes were designed to handle 30-60 amps of power whereas the appliances and electronics in today’s homes often require 100-200 amps of power or more.

Fuse boxes may become overloaded, blowing fuses and shutting down your appliances. This is an inconvenience, and there’s a temptation to buy larger fuses so that they won’t blow so often. But, oversized fuses can allow overloading and overheating of wires. Occasionally, someone will have put a penny in the opening to replace a blown fuse. This can really create a fire hazard because a penny can’t break the circuit.

A little known danger of fuse boxes is that homeowners can accidentally stick their fingers into the fuse opening, possibly while changing the fuse, and be electrocuted. The safe solution is to upgrade with modern circuit breakers.

Circuit Breaker Brands

Specific brands of circuit breakers, especially those installed in earlier decades, have been found to deteriorate with age and pose a safety hazard. You can go to the free website Inspectopedia  and search on the brand of your circuit breaker to check its safety.

If you want to learn more about electrical panels, including some unsafe brands, click here. You can also ask us to check out your electrical panel. Call us 8-5 at (800) 990-9490. The Electric Connection provides free over-the-phone estimates and free home inspections, including checking the safety and sizing of your panel, with every electrical job. We look forward to talking with you.

Kim Hopkins

CEO, The Electric Connection

More and more people are beginning to turn to solar panels as a highly effective alternative energy source. The cost to have these installed is a great investment since there are a lot of benefits. The general benefits include having a lower carbon footprint and saved utility bills. But, solar panel installation also allows you to have the energy to manage all your utilities, become independent, and have a higher home resale.

Utility Use

Most people think that solar power can only give them enough electricity to light your home at night. However, they can actually do much more than that. For example, solar panels can give you enough energy to heat your water for showers and laundry, too. It can even help to heat your house when it gets chilly. Depending on the weather you may not always have enough energy from the sun for all of these, but having solar will make a significant dent in your utility bill.

Independence

Currently, you most likely need to answer to a lot of different utility companies to power your home and pay a lot in electric, water, and/or gas company bills. You may need to buy oil to heat your home in the winters. Having solar power gives you an increased amount of independence, so you won’t need to worry so much about other corporations and paying high utility bills. In fact, you may find that you create enough stored energy that some of your utility companies will end up paying you!

Home Resale Value

Solar installation is highly sought after when home buyers are looking to purchase a house. This means that if you already have solar installed at your home, you will likely find your house will have a better resale value for you. This is definitely not a home improvement feature that you would need to question the value of, since it’s one that you’ll be able to make your money back from over time. Solar panels also require little maintenance, which is a big added bonus.

If you’re ready to start harnessing sun power, you can do a search for solar installers to find out more about Solar Panel Info. You may even find that rebates are offered in your area, which makes it much more affordable for you and your family to start enjoying the benefits of solar energy. Feel free to give us a call to find out more.

Whether you have a spacious and expansive wraparound porch or a cozy stoop to welcome you inside, the front porch is the perfect place to establish a mood that flows throughout the home. Today I’ve rounded up a unique collection of front porch decorating ideas that celebrate the beauty of Spring with bright colors and endless charm.

Springtime is all about freshness and a world ablaze with color. This bright DIY welcome mat filters out both the dirt and the troubles of your day.

I’m a big fan of coming up with Etsy.)

Unique ways to display a bounty of your Spring flowers abound in these fresh front porch planter ideas that are anything but predictable.

via submersible LED tape lights to your water feature.

As you welcome your friends and family into your home this year, there are many ways to welcome Spring too. Small touches and pops of color are simple ways to turn your front porch into a bright and cheerful space to invite guests into the home.

At this time of the year, the weather in most parts of Australia is perfect to spend time in the outdoor spaces of your home. You can spend leisurely hours lounging around by the pool, or have BBQ parties in your outdoor kitchen, on the patio or deck. In short, you can make good use of these areas in the daytime as well as after dark.

This also means you will end up using some or the other electrical equipment and appliances there and this brings with it a specific set of challenges. In some cases, the falling dry leaves can also prove to be an electrical hazard in the outdoor areas of your home. The best way to avoid problems is to follow these basic outdoor electrical safety tips:

Just as you get the indoor electrical equipment and installations audited regularly, you should also hire an electrician to conduct a semi-annual audit of your garden and yard’s outdoor electrical fixtures. It’s best to get these checks done some time between Winter & Spring.

The next audit should be conducted between Summer & Fall. This helps reduce the chances of electrical problems surfacing out of the blue due and to temperature and weather fluctuations. While it’s best to call in a licensed and experienced electrician to handle the job, it’s also a good idea to keep an eye out for signs of electrical problems including:

When the electrical audit is being conducted, ensure that all your outdoor electrical equipment is stored & functioning properly.

Damaged or loose electrical wiring can prove to be a major electrical hazard and can be the cause of an electrical fire in your home; this is especially true if the wiring comes in contact with dry leaves or firewood that’s been piled up in the yard. Once the electrician gives you a complete report of the condition of the wiring, you should also make it a point to replace any wiring that’s loose or damaged.

Any water pooling in the landscaped areas of your home can prove to be an electrical hazard and can put your home and other outdoor features on your property at risk. The best way to prevent this from happening is to ensure that all the electrical switches, cords and connections are stored away and that they are in weather-proof casing; this ensures they don’t come in contact with any water sources.

Every pool and spa tub installation has some electrical wiring and fixtures such as pumps, underwater lights and power points etc. Ensure your electrician checks all these fixtures and that the electrical safety requirements have been met.

It’s a good idea to opt for a preventive electrical maintenance contract. As part of this contract, your electrician will check all the electrical installations in your yard and garden spaces. These checks help ensure that all these systems are in a good condition and that if any potential problems are noticed, they can be nipped in the bud.

Although LED T8s have not been around long enough to produce a thick memoir, there are some interesting things to note about why they exist.  A few years ago, there was concern that the rare earth metals used in fluorescent tube lamps might start getting significantly more expensive for the U.S. to purchase from China. Light bulb manufacturers began an arms race to develop an affordable and effective LED T8 replacement tube.

A sustained sharp increase in the price of phosphors never really happened. And so LED T8s have gained momentum in their evolution, organically evolving to better perform well in certain applications. Their price point has decreased, and their performance has gone up. And now, LED T8 linear lamps are certified by the DesignLights Consortium to be high quality, high efficiency lighting products.

However, LED T8s continue to be very controversial – even divisive – in the lighting world. Many people think they’re great; but some people think their existence is entirely unnecessary. Both sides of this argument tend to contextualize their visions of the merits and pitfalls of the LED T8 in a comparison with the merits and pitfalls of the traditional fluorescent T8 tube light.

LED T8 Linear Light Bulbs vs. Fluorescent T8 Linear Light Bulbs

First of all, the merits of fluorescent T8s cannot be overstated. Fluorescent tube lamp technology has been developed over decades and is now basically mastered. Fluorescent T8s are extremely inexpensive and have ridiculously long rated lives. In fact, in some cases, fluorescent T8s can last as long as LED T8s!

And it doesn’t stop there. The production of light with fluorescent tube lamp technology works really, really well. It is probably at its peak in terms of performance and cost. Fluorescent T8 light bulbs can last 50,000 hours. And despite their not-always-positive reputation for rendering color, fluorescent T8s can achieve high color rendering indexes (CRIs). But, it must be clearly noted, fluorescent T8s get more expensive as you seek a higher CRI.

And in terms of cost, let’s just say it straight: In many applications, the LED T8 tube light’s initial cost doesn’t make sense when compared to the relatively low cost of fluorescent T8s.  For example, at this stage of the game (June 2014), lighting large spaces like classrooms or large offices is job better performed by fluorescent T8s than LED. First, there’s the cost. Fluorescent tube lamps last long, cost little, and give off crisp light. Furthermore, fluorescent tubes give off light omnidirectionally, casting light upwards toward the ceiling as well as downward. This makes a space look more fully lighted. LEDs, in contrast, are generally more unidirectional and cast light downward only. This is something that will change, but, currently, this is just affirmation of the fact that fluorescent T8s reign supreme for some applications.

Fluorescent T8s often take a while to come on; they’re adversely affected by temperature (and somewhat sensitive about it); they can flicker often; and if the lights are turned on and off frequently, as in laundry room or bathroom applications, for example, they can fail quite prematurely, to the dismay and annoyance of everyone involved. And then there’s that toxic mercury vapor which poses danger to humans and the soil on which we live.

Oh yeah, fluorescent tube lamps require a ballast, too: A component that will also, eventually, fail.

Now, let’s give some attention to LED T8 tube lamps. It should first be noted that LED T8s have a higher initial cost than fluorescent T8s, which can be purchased for only a few dollars in some cases.

Despite their higher cost, LED tube lights have some nice advantages. First of all, LEDs love the cold, so they are great in cold weather applications, unlike fluorescent T8s, which become seemingly infirm in the cold, slow to turn on and flickerish. Basements, sheds, garages, porticos, covered pathways, bathrooms, etc, are great places to utilize the LED T8 linear lamp.

You also have to consider that if an LED T8 tube breaks, it will not release harmful mercury vapor into the air. Mercury from fluorescent tubes can get into the air but also the water supply, which is why you have to recycle them. For some people, the whole mercury thing is enough to open their minds to alternatives to the long-reigning fluorescent T8.

Plus, you can get better color rendering with LEDs than with fluorescent lights. Fluorescent lights work by transforming ultraviolet radiation into visible light. If you have a vague idea about what UV light is, you know that it’s the part of the light spectrum that’s just past the blue and violet area. Even with a rudimentary understanding of light, then, it’s easy to see how the result of transforming UV light into visible light would leave you with a bluish result. As a result, in general, fluorescent lights do not render reds well.

LEDs exude very little to no UV or infrared radiation, both of which fade the color of displayed objects including wall art, furniture, and even rugs. Fluorescent tubes – did you know this? – do indeed fade sensitive belongings over time.

Finally, LED tubes do not generally require a separate power supply. They run on line voltage and require no separate drivers, ballasts, or transformers. That’s one less thing that can break. In conclusion, LED T8s are more expensive than fluorescent T8s, but LEDs are safer, render color better, require no ballasts, operate better in the cold, and do not decline significantly in lifespan due to frequently switching on and off. This means that there are some applications, like cold places, bathrooms, basements, laundry rooms, kitchens, closets, storage rooms, walk in refrigerators or freezers, or places where there’s a risk of broken light bulbs like gyms, warehouses, etc, for which LED T8s might be the better choice. And since LED T8s don’t weaken with frequent switching on and off, they are great for use with occupancy sensors.