Is bigger better? Not always. I am sharing this with all of you “do it yourself” homeowners, to hopefully prevent some potential disasters.
I am going to start by saying I am an electrician, and I have wired houses that are over 20,000 square feet, and have a LOT of custom needs. I have also worked on the “other side” in the electrical supply field.
In that aspect, I have seen the following case all too often: Joe Homeowner comes in to buy a circuit breaker. He is not sure what brand, but he explains that it keeps tripping. So, he asks for a bigger breaker that he could install to stop the tripping. BAD IDEA !
I used to see this all the time, and the company I worked for would not allow us to give any electrical advice, as we would be liable. I did it anyway, but I didn’t lose my job.
I asked the guy who came in, what size circuit breaker he had. He told me he had a 30 amp breaker, and he wanted a 60 amp breaker. If you know the basics of electricity, you’d know that a bigger breaker isn’t the answer. (If you don’t know, you do now).
First, Voltage is completely different than current. If your breaker trips, it’s a good thing. It’s doing its job. That’s right, it’s telling you there is too much of a load on it, so it trips.
If you replace your problem breaker with a larger one, you are creating a potential fire hazard. Why? Because the wire will burn up before the breaker trips. If you want to upsize anything; upsize the wire. Not the breaker.
Also, take note of how much you are drawing in terms of current. This can be done by purchase of an ammeter. You can usually pic up a pretty good one for around a hundred dollars. Also there is a product on the market called the wat miser.
Bottom line: Electrical wiring is best left to the pro’s.
