TRIPPING BREAKERS
One of the most common issues reported to Highwire Electric by our clients is a tripping breaker. What does it mean when a breaker trips? Is a tripped breaker dangerous? How can I fix a tripped breaker? Read on for some of the most common causes of this issue and other frequently asked questions.
If your breaker or breakers are tripping—don’t panic.
A breaker is designed to trip to maintain the safety of an electrical circuit in your home. Essentially, if a circuit is “overloaded” meaning too much power is being pulled on a single circuit of wires, a breaker will trip to ensure the wiring does not overheat or arc and create an electrical fire hazard. However, a tripped breaker will cause the circuit it controls to lose power, which can be an inconvenience, especially if it happens repeatedly.
Q: I just lost power to one room or one part of my house. Is this a tripped breaker? What do I do?
A: Finding out if your breaker is tripped is fairly simple. First, you need to locate your electrical panel/breaker box. There are pictures of electrical panels on our website, a quick image search will also bring up many examples of what your panel might look like. Within your panel there should be anywhere from 10-40 breakers. Each breaker controls one electrical circuit in your home. Finding the tripped breaker is simple: each breaker has an ON/OFF switch. The tripped breaker will be the one set to “OFF”. You can simply switch the breaker to the “ON” position to regain power. HOWEVER it is important to resolve the issue that led to the breaker tripping first to avoid a repeat of the issue. Read below for common causes of a tripped breaker and how to solve them.
The Kitchen:
Most commonly, when we see breakers tripping in a kitchen, it’s related to one of a few issues. If your breaker trips every time you use you microwave, it is likely because the microwave was not given its own dedicated circuit. Microwaves pull a lot of power and need wiring dedicated just to the microwave, nothing else should be plugged in on the same circuit. If you have a countertop microwave plugged into just any outlet, you might experience this issue. If you have a mounted microwave, it’s likely the outlet was wired improperly to begin with. You will need to have an electrician run a dedicated circuit to avoid this issue in the future. A new circuit usually costs $300-400 depending on ease of access and the location of the circuit and your panel. Similar issues can occur with the other large appliances in your kitchen like the oven or refrigerator. These can really add up if the kitchen wasn’t wired to handle modern appliances. If you have an older home, you may find rewiring your kitchen will be the best option to resolve these issues.
Kitchens also usually have GFCI outlets to protect circuits from moisture. Read the “bathroom” section below to learn more about these.
The Bathroom:
The most common cause of tripped breakers in the bathroom is—you guessed it—hair dryers. These little machines pull a lot of power. If you haven’t tripped a breaker with one, you probably have tripped a GFCI outlet at some point. These are the outlets with buttons that you can press to reset the power. GFCI’s function somewhat like miniature breakers and are designed to protect the circuit from shorts. You find them anywhere an outlet might be exposed to moisture like the bathroom, kitchen, or outdoors. If your bathroom breaker is tripping, it could be a sign that you are missing GFCI outlets, that they weren’t installed properly, or that the circuit will not be able to tolerate the load of your appliances no matter what you do. You can try using your dryer on a lower setting. If the problem persists, we recommend scheduling a consultation with a Highwire electrician to evaluate your GFCI outlets and the capacity of the circuits in your bathroom.
Laundry Rooms:
Similar to microwaves and ovens, clothing washers and dryers need dedicated circuits. If you have recently purchased a new machine or if you’ve experienced repeated issues in your laundry room, we recommend a consultation for a new circuit. The issue may be avoidable by removing any other appliances in the room and only having one laundry machine turned on at a time, but if this isn’t possible or doesn’t solve the problem, you probably need a professional to help. Prices will vary depending on the type of machines/amp requirements, but will start around a few hundred dollars or more.
Living Rooms, Bedrooms, and Other Areas of the Home:
Modern machinery pulls a lot of power. If you have multiple computers, televisions, entertainment systems, or other devices all plugged into the same circuit, you may run into trouble. If you have breakers tripping in areas of the home not covered above, first try turning off and unplugging as many devices as possible. Remove any power trips and try to evenly distribute items that need to be charged or plugged in across multiple outlets or rooms of your home.
If you still experience issues, call Highwire Electric or another licensed electrician to evaluate your home’s power and determine a customized solution.
