Electrical panels/breaker boxes are strictly designed for electric supply and regulation. There are so many systems in your home that can be affected if the panel is on the fritz. If you find that you are often tripping breakers and need to reset them, or if you have outlets in your home that does not work, it’s most likely to for a service call to an electrician. This expert can repair and install an electrical panel so that the home will be fully functional once more.

Typically an electrical panel is found in an area outside of a house like a garage. This is done so that it can easily be accessed when there is an emergency. There are now some ages and brands of panels that are unsafe to be used in a home. If you are living in an old home and you are unsure of the age of the electrical panel that is there then you can seek the help of an electrician to determine its age.

When should you replace your electrical panel?

Breakers are used to control the quantity of electricity flowing into a circuit. On the off chance that a circuit gets over-burdened, the breaker will shut off the power. This situation may have occurred already to you when several appliances were getting its electrical power from the same circuit. This problem can be easily solved by removing the plug of the appliances and resetting the breaker.

If this is regularly happening, though, you may consider hiring a professional to help replace your old panel with an updated version to supply your home with adequate power. If there is the only one tripped breaker then this can simply be fixed by replacing that bad breaker.

If you need to replace some breakers on your board, it’s probably the best to update your installation to a whole new board instead of replacing one breaker at the time. The colored breaks will indicate to you which breakers have been replaced already.

When you are having old appliances replaced, you need to call upon an electrician to ensure that the new appliance is compatible with your panel. This is important especially if your new appliance takes up more power to operate than the previous one. If your electrical panel cannot manage the higher electrical requirement then you need to have a new panel installed that can handle it.

Newer more modern panels are equipped with AFCI outlets, designed to prevent jumping electricity and protect your wires from fire. This security feature may not be included in your panel was mounted before 1999. If AFCI outlets are not on the panel or at the start of circuits, your home could be in danger.

It’s a good idea to have a professional electrician do a safety inspection on your electrical panel and outlets. It’s cost-effective to install ACFI outlets at each circuit’s outset than replacing the whole panel.

One problem that necessitates a new panel immediately is the appearance of rusting or corrosion. Worn out panels, if not properly protected, are susceptible to surges, fires, and other damage.

Other signs that your panel needs replacing include:

• the panel is warm or hot to the touch
• appliances overheating quickly when plugged in
• melted electrical wires
• hissing
• burning smell coming from the panel
• burn marks on panel or outlets
• popping or other noises coming from the breaker box
• lights flickering when appliances are in use

If you notice something unusual with the electricity in your home, contact a professional immediately. Over-burden circuits could “fry” anything connected to those outlets—PCs, gadgets, telephones, and so forth. It is both hazardous and expensive to ignore the signs of a faulty panel. A malfunctioning electrical panel can cause electrocutions and fires, which are hazardous to life.

While an electrical panel can work for many years after some time they will have wear and tear in them. Wires can become either frayed or wear down. Rodents will bite and chew on wires sometimes and interrupt your system completely. No matter what the problem you have with your panel, an electrician can readily check it and make a recommendation on how to fix it.

It could be a thing as easy as wire-substitution or replacement of a board altogether. If the latter is what is needed to be done, then the electrician can talk to you about the options that you have for it.

If you want to have a safe home for your loved ones then you need to have a professional inspect your home’s panel. It is only the professional electrician that can safely and effectively repair or replace the electrical panel. There can be the worst threat to life if someone not professional is handling electric work. Electricians received training in every form of electrical work and can supply your home with safe and fast electrical service.