Too Many Christmas Lights Can Be a Bad Thing!

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If you've ever wondered what size your electrical service is but just don't no where to begin to look, then you've stumbled on the right article. Maybe your home is an older one that still has a 60-amp fuse panel feeding it. If so, it is time to do like Tim "The Tool Man" says and update it to "More Power"!

Circuit breaker panels are the choice of people these days and you'll need at least a 100-amp service if not a 200-amp service to provide enough power for your home. Locating the information needed to determine how much power your service can draw now is easy enough if you know what to look for.

Photo: Timothy Thiele

Your home has many electric small appliances in it that you use every day. You use them to cook, clean and even iron your clothes, sometimes on a daily basis. Although they may be plugged into almost any outlet in your home, the National Electrical Code requires you to have certain specialized circuitry to run these small appliances. The reason is very clear, electrical load.

You see, things like irons and toaster ovens draw a large amount of elelctrical current and require their own circuits. By implementing basic electrical codes for safety, these appliances will work properly without tripping circuit breakers or overloading your home's circuits. Do you know what small appliance circuits are and where they are required?

We've all done it. Walk into a building supply store and head for the electrical department to buy some electrical wire for a project we have at home. Maybe it's just to extend a circuit for an additional outlet or two, or maybe it's an underground feed to a swimming pool you just added? In any case, the point is that now you're at the store looking at the wire, which one is the right wire for you? What size wire do I need? Is color important?

To help you understand the correct choice, manufacturers have labeled the outer coating of the wire with types and gauges of wire. You see, the insulation covering the wire tells the story about the wire itself. Along with different sizes of wire, there are many types of wire used around the home. Knowing which type of wire to use is just as important as determining the proper gauge, amperage limit, and the maximum wattage load limit of the electrical wire you choose.

Photo: Timothy Thiele