The best magazine
The main circuit breaker in your home dictates how much power your home can use. This breaker is located in the main service panel of your home. You home is either equipped with a fuse panel or a circuit breaker panel.
The circuit breaker panel has a main breaker to disconnect power to the entire electrcal buss bar and its branch circuit breakers. Normally, the main breaker is located on the top of the buss, but sometimes the panel is installed upside down for a bottom feed breaker position.
The main circuit breaker has the amperage listed on the handle. Most generally, the main service size will be 100 or 200 amps. It is possible that a larger service is needed in larger homes and those with extensive electrical loads. Homes that have a 60-amp service or less may be needing an update.
Older service panels, of the fuse type, use cartrige fuses as the main disconnecting means instead of the circuit breakers to disconnect the power. They normally have the main discconnect and a range feed protected with cartirge fuses and four screw-in fuses that provide the branch circuits with protection. These panels are outdated because of the large demand for power that we all seem to have.
Photo: Timothy Thiele
Source: ...