14 November 2023
Whether you live in a house in the country or an apartment in the city, you have an electrical panel. Sometimes called a switchboard, box or cabinet, it distributes electricity to all the outlets and lighting circuits in your home. It is literally the heart of your electrical installation. It allows the electricity to be transmitted from the public network to your home in a snap and in complete safety. CD Engineering, expert in electrical renovation, tells you more about the electrical panel of your home.
The electrical panel is a set of components allowing you to use electricity safely in your home. In this box, you will find circuit breakers, differential switches and various connections… These different elements play an important role in the safety of your installation.
In addition to that, the electrical box centralises all the electricity and distributes it in your house. The electrical panel is therefore the source of power for your electrical appliances. This panel operates via the installation of your electrical network manager to which it is connected. It is usually located inside your home, either in your basement or in your garage. In any case, it is always in a dry place and connected to the electric metre to which it is connected.
On the current market, you will find several models of electrical panels. To make a wise choice, it is important to respect certain criteria. The size of the home and the number of rooms to be supplied with electricity will have an impact on the size of the boxes. The electrical standards in use as well as the components to be connected must also be taken into account. In the case of an installation for home automation, other criteria will be added.
The first step to respect is the surface of the house to be supplied. The more rooms you have, the more electricity you will need. Nevertheless, choosing your electrical panel is not only a question of size. Obviously, having an evolving vision is a plus. Therefore, choose slightly larger electrical panels in case of additional electricity needs.
In addition, it is essential that your panel meets current standards so that you can consume your energy safely. This is a rule applicable to all dwellings, new or old, to protect its occupants from potentially serious accidents. It will then be necessary to equip your installation with a main circuit breaker, an earth connection, to respect a minimum size…
It depends on your needs and your electrical skills! You can opt for a new bare or pre-equipped panel. Unlike the bare panel, the pre-equipped version is already composed of electrical wires. The latter will greatly facilitate your task in your installation or renovation work. Indeed, it already has the ideal number of rows and devices to connect. All you have to do is to take into account the criteria mentioned in the previous paragraph.
If you opt for the pre-equipped panel, you choose the easiest way for your work. Nevertheless, it is essential to know a minimum of things when working on your electrical installation. Whether you are an experienced do-it-yourselfer, a long-time electrician or an amateur in electricity, we advise you to contact a professional electrician like CD Engineering for all your work! Do not hesitate to contact us on our website or by phone at 02 381 31 01 for any repair work!
If you look at the diagram of an electrical panel, you will notice that it is composed of different elements:
To this can be added, for example, a lightning arrester or a remote switch.
You have done some work in your house and your electrical panel is no longer sufficient to distribute electrical current in your home? In order not to completely change your electrical panel, in Belgium, you can add a secondary electrical panel.
To do so, you must place your new panel next to the main one. We advise you to buy a pre-equipped electrical panel because the installation will be easier. Be sure to choose the right size breaker to ensure that your entire home is powered.
Do you want to add a main or branch circuit breaker to your electrical panel? To do so, first check that you have a space left on the rail. Then clip the new circuit breaker onto the rail and connect it via the electrical wires and the vertical and horizontal combs.
Note that if necessary, an electrician can perform all these operations. Equipped with the best electrical equipment, he avoids the risks of overloading, electrocution or electrical bypass problems.
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