DIY Guide to Finding Your Circuit Breaker

All the electricity in your home comes into a central location, a large panel known as the electrical panel or breaker box. The panels can be a beehive of breakers, and it’s important to know how they work in order to diagnose problems or confidently perform DIY home upgrades like adding a dimmer switch.

Identifying Your Breaker

If one of your outlets or lights stops working, it’s a good idea to start at the source — your electrical distribution system, known as your breaker box. This large panel is usually covered by a metal door and contains a beehive of small breakers that power all the electronics and appliances in your home.

Many homes have a map or directory in their breaker boxes that identify which breaker switches are associated with which rooms or devices. If yours doesn’t, locating the correct breaker can be a trial-and-error process.

To save time, use a detector to quickly find your breaker’s location. It’s important to remember that breaker boxes are electric and can produce flashes and sparks, so work only with the right tools and follow proper safety precautions when working around electricity. Also, if you’re replacing a breaker, be sure to match the style of the new breaker to the old one. This is crucial to prevent arcing that could damage your home and potentially cause fires or injuries.

Using a Detector

A breaker panel is basically a big switchboard of switches. Each one is numbered and controls a different circuit. If you flip a switch to the off position, it will stop power from entering that circuit. It’s usually a good idea to know what each switch is responsible for so that you can shut off the correct ones when necessary.

If you’re not familiar with your breaker box, or if the lights suddenly went out in one part of the house, there are tools that can help you find the faulty breaker quickly. You plug the tool’s transmitter into a power outlet or light socket and waive it over the breakers until you hear a beep, which indicates that it found the breaker responsible for that circuit.

It’s helpful to have a second person during this process, so that one can operate the detector while the other verifies outlets and fixtures for proper identification. This helps expedite the process and ensures that all of your circuits are checked.

Identifying Your Wiring

If you’re looking to upgrade a light fixture or change your home’s electrical wiring, you’ll need access to your breaker panel. It’s a large gray or brown box with a dead front cover, and it’s usually found in a garage, basement, laundry room or closet.

The breaker panel is basically a beehive of numbered switches, each of which controls a specific part of your home’s electrical wiring. If one of them becomes overloaded, it will trip and cut off power to that circuit.

To locate a faulty breaker, first make sure that all the appliances connected to that circuit are turned off and use your detector to find the breaker in question. Once you’ve located it, switch it off and mark the location with painter’s tape so that you can easily find it again later. Make sure your breaker finder is fully charged or equipped with fresh batteries before proceeding. Also, read any instructions or safety precautions that come with the tool to avoid damaging it.

Identifying Your Circuit

Few things irk an electrician more than a panel that isn’t clearly labeled. There are a number of easy, inexpensive ways to organize your circuit breaker panel. You can start by purchasing a circuit breaker finder. This is a two-piece tool that plugs into receptacles or light sockets using a power adapter and then waives a probe across the breakers until it beeps. It is recommended that you look for a breaker finder that has a UL safety certification.

With the breaker finder plugged in, make your way to the breaker panel and place the receiver over each of the breakers until it beeps. This will be the breaker that controls that room or appliance. Make sure you communicate with your helper and mark with a pen each time they flip the breaker. If the breaker keeps tripping, it could be an indication of overcurrent and you will want to consult with a licensed electrician.