Electrical panels are vital to the everyday operation of your home. They are the central nervous system of your home’s electricity. All of the electricity in your home flows through your panel, and it keeps your home safe by detecting electrical problems such as circuit overloads, and tripping the circuit to keep your home from hazards like fires.
Knowing basic information about your panel is very important. You should know the size and brand of your panel to ensure it’s up to code, and there are no known recalls or known issues. There are several electrical panel brands that are known to cause problems. If your home has any of the brands below, you will want to call the trusted electricians at Jeremy Electrical to assess your electrical panel, and possibly replace it with a new one.
Federal Pacific
These breakers were commonly installed in homes around the United States from the 1950’s to the 1990’s. Several tests over the years have shown that one in four of these breakers will be defective and not properly trip, causing a fire hazard.
Zinsco
While there are very few of these breakers in operation today, they were once very popular. As society’s electrical demands increased though, these breakers were not able to keep up. It was found that they would allow electricity to burn until it runs out or the wires melted, leaving homes at risk of fire and homeowners at risk for shock.
Pushmatic or Bulldog
These types of breakers are older systems that don’t have any replacement parts that are manufactured anymore, which is part of the problem. They’ve also been found to be grease-fed breakers, which means that if they are not used and serviced regularly, they become difficult to operate.
If you don’t have one of the panels above, but know yours is getting old, it might be time to replace it anyway. All panels wear over time, and we suggest replacing yours at least every 20 years or so. If you’re not sure how old yours is, we can come perform a safety inspection to determine if yours needs to be replaced or not. Check out our Electrical Panel Safety Checklist to make sure yours is safe and up to code.
