A Guide on Blowing Fuses

If you are like most homeowners and renters, you know that some of those electrical outages are not caused by the blowing wind and rain. Sometimes those outages are a result of a circuit being shorted, something that was plugged up overloading the circuits and blowing your fuses. If you have experienced an unexplained outage when the weather was bright and shiny and you know that you've paid your electrical bill, it is time for you to brush up on what you know about blown circuits.

First, you should know that your home is wired to allow for the most efficient disbursement of electricity. Sometimes when you go to plug up an appliance or some other electronic, that device interferes with the way the electricity flows. That particular appliance pulls an abnormal amount of energy and causes an electrical overload. When this happens, you may experience a situation where everything in the room all of a sudden stops working. It is like all of the power was shut off. When this happens, it is because there was an overload or a short circuit that occurred. Your home is wired to react this way to keep your home protected from an electrical fire occurring.

Depending on the type of home you have, your house may be wired with fuses or circuit breakers. These devices are wired to accept a specific amount of electricity and once that amount is exceeded, they either blow or trip. There are three standard types of fuses. There is the 15 amp, 20 amp and the 30 amp. The most common are the kind that screws into sockets. They are also shaped so that if you were to attempt to screw them into the wrong bases, they wouldn't fit.

In the event of a blown circuit, you need to either reset the circuit or replace the fuse. The reason it blew in the first place was to prevent the electrical wiring from overheating, decomposing and catching fire. To prevent this from happening, you should avoid hooking up appliances that put a strain on the electrical load in your home.
Shortages can also cause your circuits to blow. When there is a shortage in the hotwire, the fuse expands and then closes off the circuit. It is often impossible for a novice to remedy this type of situation, however with the right electrician, it can be resolved.

As a homeowner and renter, it is important that you check the cords of all of your appliances and electrical equipment for any deformities. Frays, broken, misshaped and cut cords are all know to cause shortages and surges which can overload your electrical wiring. They are also items that can cause electrical fires to start. Do not plug up to many items. Just because something is not in use while it is plugged in does not mean that it does not still draw on the electricity.

To keep your home safe, it is best to have a professional electrician come out to your home periodically to inspect your electrical wiring.