The original title of this post was set to be “Your Friend, The Fuse Box.” However, after speaking with our on-staff Electrician, I quickly found out that most homes now have a circuit breaker. Sure enough, in the basement of my older home, there it was—and not a fuse box at all. For those homes that do, the way to tell if a fuse is bad is that it will look slightly blackened inside. You can find replacement fuses at any local hardware store.
For the rest of us though, here’s a little bit of knowledge on “Your Friend—The Circuit Breaker!” If you have a large chandelier in a room or part of the house that loses power, you’ll want to grab a flashlight and head to wherever you circuit breaker is. (Also note, it is a better idea to know where this item is when the power is still on, so you don’t have to go searching for it when the power is off!) When a circuit is “tripped,” the handle on the breaker box will appear to be in the middle, rather than all the way to the left or right in the on or off position. Some breaker boxes even have a small orange window that will show when a breaker is tripped. Simply, turn the switch to the “off” position, wait a few moments, then turn back on. If the electricity comes back on and then immediately “trips” off again; you’ve got a bigger problem. Basically the circuit breaker will kill the power to that area of your house when there is a short or broken wire in that area. It is effectively protecting your home from an electrical fire. Homeowners should NOT try to figure out the problem or get into the circuit breaker panel by any means. Call an electrician to do this.
In addition, if you notice that a part of your circuit breaker has what appears to be two handles that are connected together, that’s okay. These are generally used for large appliances like stoves, refrigerators, water heaters, or the like.
So don’t fret the next time you “blow a fuse!” The solution is so simple, any homeowner or renter can do it—even me!
Hillary Hansen is a featured writer for the site UniqueMirrorsOnline.com, where you can find the perfect mirror to accent your space!
