Being familiar with which areas of your home are serviced by which circuit breaker is essential in case of a crisis. If you need to shut off power quickly, labeling your electrical panel can save time and confusion during an emergency. If you open your electrical panel door and don’t know what you are looking at, check out this blog to learn how to label circuit breakers correctly.

 

Learn How to Label Your Electrical Panel

With each circuit breaker correctly labeled, you’ll be able to quickly identify which switch you need to flick should there be an emergency. Here are some tips to label your panel.

Choose someone else to help you with this step. One person should check the lights in each room of the property, while the other remains at the electrical panel turning circuit switches off and on. This is the most efficient way to handle the identification process.

  • Begin by shutting all lights off in the home or building. Then turn off all circuit breakers except the master switch.
  • Turn on one breaker switch at a time, and have your partner tell you which light fixtures turned on. Label the electrical panel accordingly.
  • If you flick a switch and no lights come on, the circuit breaker may power an appliance or serve an outlet which doesn’t currently have a fixture attached. You can use a small lamp to test outlets if you can’t determine what area a circuit breaker illuminates.
  • Use blank sticky labels or a label maker to name each switch.

Appliances such as washing machines, clothes dryers, ovens or water heaters sometimes require double pole breakers because of the large amount of power they need to operate. Two breakers may be labeled for the same device.

If a breaker doesn’t seem to be functional, improper wiring or a broken circuit breaker could be the problem. Contact your local electrician if you think your electrical panel or circuit breakers may be dysfunctional.

Promise Electric is the Sarasota area’s premier master electricians, specializing in commercial and residential electrical service and repairs. We are also a Generac certified dealer. This means our professional staff are qualified to help you size, choose, purchase and install the right generator for your home or business. Hurricane season is nearly upon us – make sure your home’s electrical panel and your power are protected!