Westinghouse Circuit Breaker - Circuit breakers are one of the most important safety devices in your home. They help prevent electrical fires as well as electrocution. Be very careful if you decide to diagnose problems when a breaker trips. You could easily injure or kill yourself if you come into contact with a device that has a short circuit. Always hire a licensed electrician to make repairs.

Located inside your home is a circuit breaker box or panel that contains circuit breakers. Some homes have more than one panel. There may be a main panel plus one or more sub-panels in other locations.

There will usually be a large main breaker at the top of the panel with a high rating. The breakers for your branch circuits are physically smaller and have a lower amp rating. Be advised that shutting off the main breaker will also shutdown the branch circuits, but there is still high voltage in the breaker panel. The main wire leads into the panel are still active, and shutting off the main breaker will not stop current flow to these main leads.