Overloaded Circuits

Circuit breakers and fuses are designed to protect wires from overheating due to electrical overloads. If you try to use too much electricity on a wire, it heats up and becomes a fire hazard. A good analogy would be too much water pressure in a pipe which would cause it to burst.) For example, if you have multiple electric plug-in heaters or air conditioners on a circuit, it will probably cause the circuit breaker to trip. You don't simply install a larger circuit breaker since the wire would be no larger and would still overheat. The solution is to have the appliances on separate circuits. This may mean simply plugging into another outlet on a different circuit, or we may need to add wiring to provide a separate circuit and outlet.
What are the big energy users?  If it creates heat, or cold, you can expect it to need more power than simply lights or electronics.  These items can be fine by themselves, but if they are operating at the same time as another big item, the circuit breaker may trip.  Most wall outlets and lights are on a 15 amp breaker.  Kitchen and bathroom outlets are not put on 20 amp circuits since they know these areas have heavy demands.

Plug-in appliances	Energy load
Air conditioners	8-14 amps
Coffee makers (especially big ones for parties)	12 amps
Copying machines	12-16 amps
Curling irons	8 amps
Dehumidifiers	6 amps
Electric space heaters	12 amps
Freezer	6 amps
Hair dryers	15-18 amps
Irons	9 amps
Laser printers	12 amps
Microwave ovens (even the under-cabinet types	12-15 amps
Refrigerators	12-15 amps
Toaster and toaster-ovens	12-15 amps
Treadmills	12-15 amps
Vacuum cleaners	9-14 amps

Helpful Hint: At first, you can't tell whether a breaker has tripped from an overloaded circuit or a short-circuit. Resetting a circuit breaker often has a trick to it that most people do not know.

• A tripped circuit breaker often doesn't look any different than the other breakers. This is why we often tell customers to go through all the individual breakers (not the main breaker), turn each one off and then click it back to the 'On' position.

• To reset a tripped breaker, many brands require first that you 'click' the breaker to the off position before turning it back on.

  
  Important: If you reset the breaker and hear a loud hum and/or it shuts itself off right away, you probably have a short-circuit. Call us to locate and repair the problem. We can usually tell you beforehand what is involved and what it will cost.