Circuit Breakers And Fuses
Circuit breakers provide short circuit protection and over current protection. Such as when a power point is overloaded with too many appliances on the one circuit, or if an electrical cable has been damaged in a way that the copper conductors touch each other and short out. The circuit breaker will cut off the power to protect the home from fire.
Circuit breakers are slowly replacing old porcelain rewiring fuses, It is in the property owners best interest to consider at some stage to upgrade the main switch board, to take full advantage of circuit breakers. For two reasons, firstly circuit breakers disconnect power far superior to fuses, giving almost immediate protection and secondly it will detect any lose cables that are connected to them directly at the switch board. When electrical power cables become loose they create heat potentially a fire hazard, a circuit breaker with its internal thermal-overload protection, will detect heat and disconnect power before any serious damage can occur.
Most importantly who needs to replace fuse wire in the dark, if you can find it. In our experience homes with old fuses are not protected properly , we are finding too often the wrong fuse wire has been installed thus providing a false sense of security. Circuit breakers do not act as a safety switch for personal protection against electric shock.
