This is Part 1 of a six-part series to help you better understand your home’s electrical system components. As other parts are published, you can find them here.
Electricity comes into your home through the electric meter and into your circuit breaker panel. This panel is the heart of the whole home system and from here, the electricity branches out through the house like the veins in your body. Each “vein,” or circuit, begins at the circuit breaker in the panel. When a circuit gets overloaded, the breaker will trip, not letting power go out to the circuit. Should this happen, you can reset the breaker and restore power to the circuit. A “tripped” breaker will be about halfway between the OFF and the ON position. Turn the breaker all the way off and then to the ON position. It’s that simple!