DQ Electrical and Solar can assist you in making your premises safer.
Electricity is used in many of the devices to create comfort in your home. Look around – air conditioning, solar, hot water tanks, stoves – they all run on electricity.
It is critical to have a variety of safety mechanisms to protect against fire and electric shocks should any of these devices malfunction. We can install and upgrade a number of safety devices such as circuit breakers, fuses and smoke alarms.
Both fuses and circuit breakers serve as the point of contact between the electricity network and a specific building.
Fuses
A fuse is a type of electrical safety device that helps protect an electrical circuit from overcurrent. During heavy loads, fuses are damaged to avoid the electricity to travel across and overload the cabling/ device etc.
Fuses are created to allow current through the circuit, but if the current exceeds a certain maximum benefit, the wire burns out, and the circuit is no longer functional.
The Fuse Amperage is the amount of current that will cause a fuse to blow. Fuses have a voltage rating, which specifies the voltage level difference that the fuse can tolerate.
As a general rule a fuse installation is less expensive than a circuit breaker installation, because the circuit breakers are a more sophisticated long-term solution.
As fuse wire needs to be replaced by a qualified person, fuses will have greater ongoing operating costs compared to circuit breakers. For this and other reasons fuses in many cases have now been replaced more and more by circuit breakers.
Circuit breakers
Are the standard in modern switchboards because they are not damaged during heavy load, but simply trip and break the electricity flow. When the issue that caused the tripping has been resolved, circuit breakers can easily be reset.
Circuit breakers are also regarded as safer because they cannot be easily disabled by the consumer. Circuit breakers are classified into three types.
Thermal will react to heat generated by overload current circumstances. Magnetic will react to the magnetic field created by fault current conditions.
Thermo-magnetic will react to both the heat and magnetic field produced by overload current circumstances. This is the comparable circuit breaker to a slow blow fuse.
DQ Electrical and Solar are the experts when it comes to installing electrical safety devices. other electrical appliances such as stoves and rangehoods as well as general electrical works.
If your switchboard is more than a decade old then it is wise to request an inspection and see if there is a new meter board devices that can improve your family’s safety. Feel free to call us on 08/7160 0127 or email us via admin@dqelectrical.com for any enquiry.
FAQs
Did you know according to the National Coronial Information System, there are approximately 20 preventable deaths in Australia every year from electrocution, with more than half occurring in the home. Most of these tragedies are preventable, with electrical appliances the second-most common cause of electrocution.
Electric shock can be avoided by using safety devices. For only a small amount of outlay, you can protect your employees and family members to a higher degree, than your current set up.
When a current leakage is detected by the device it will cut off the power. By stopping the current flowing through a person, the device prevents electric burns or electric shock which can lead to serious injury or death.
Yes, both protect lives – but there are some significant technical differences. Every home has a main switch board with a breaker panel, which will house circuit breakers or fuse types. The main difference between the two is that a circuit breaker can be reset and used over and over again while a fuse is a one-shot deal, with a fuse wire that has to be replaced by a qualified person.
If your home was built before 2000 then there is a high chance that the safety devices in your switchboard are outdated. They consist most likely of the older style porcelain fuses.
You should consider upgrading these fuses to circuit breaker safety switches on all circuits. Typical home circuits are separate for the power points, lights, air conditioning, oven, hot water and pool equipment. The modern circuits when triggered will turn the power off so quickly that electrocution is avoided. Unfortunately, the older style fuses do not provide the same level of protection.
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