What Are Circuit Breakers And Why Do We Need Them?

Posted by Mitsubishi Electric on January 24th, 2020

Short circuits, despite all the advancements in technology, are still a common issue. Many times, with the use of numerous appliances on a single circuit, a short circuit may occur, which leads to the halt of everything electrical in your home or workplace. Basically, this is a safety measure that is put in place to avoid electrical fires. A circuit breaker’s sole responsibility is to ensure your safety by protecting the electrical wiring done in your home.

How a circuit breaker protects your house isn’t all that complicated. It does so by ensuring that under an overloaded of electrical current, the circuit breaker trips. Without a circuit breaker, the heat created by the excess current may be transferred into the appliances and potentially result in a fire. Modern circuit breakers like the high voltage alternating current circuit breakers prevent such situations and also meet the highest standards of environment conservation, electric power saving and safety, internationally.

Circuit breakers and power failure

You need to remember that it isn’t the number of electrical appliances that cause the power in your house to stop, but the size of the wires that are placed in the walls of your house and also the electric load that is sent through those wires. So, if and when the circuit breaker in your house trips, understand that it is time to take a look at your house's wiring. However, you must call a professional to find out the reason for this occurrence. This isn’t something you should DIY. 

Often, it may be something as simple as a bad breaker, but it is equally likely that it may be something that needs immediate attention, maybe even a professional intervention; and that is something only a qualified electrician can help you with.

What is a circuit breaker?

Each circuit breaker has a spring hooked over a tiny piece of solder, which is a melt-able and fusible alloy. Each of the circuit breakers is in connection with an electrical wire that runs through the entirety of wires in your house. All of the electricity or current that flows in and out your house also runs through this solder. So, if the connected wiring is put to the risk of overheating, the solder will automatically melt which then results in the spring being extended through the solder to pull the switch off. This, in turn, shuts down that very circuit. The resetting, however, can only take place after the alloy has cooled down.

A fuse works on a very similar premise. The difference, however, is that a circuit breaker has a spring bridge whereas a fuse utilizes a melt-able metal as its bridge. Which is why, fuses need to be replaced after a single trip, unlike circuit breakers which can be switched back "on". 

High voltage alternating current circuit breakers are without a doubt some of the most important electric components used in a house or in any construction for that matter. You must have a circuit breaker installed in your house’s wiring; after all, you wouldn’t want to trifle with the risk of your house burning down.