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A/C & Cooling |
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Air & Water Quality |
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Appliances |
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Basement, Attic & Loft |
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Bathrooms |
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Cabinets & Countertops |
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Car, Garage & Shop |
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Childproofing |
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Closets & Storage |
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Decorating & Furnishing |
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Design, Plan, Build |
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Doors |
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Electrical & Lighting |
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Floors & Stairs |
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Green Home, Save Energy |
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Heating & Fireplaces |
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Home Tech |
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Kitchens |
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Landscape & Structures |
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Lawn & Garden |
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Paint & Painting |
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Plumbing & Fixtures |
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Pools, Spas & Saunas |
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Real Estate & Finance |
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Roof, Chimney & Gutters |
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Safe & Secure Home |
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Seasonal, Family & Fun |
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Siding, Columns & Detail |
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Walls & Ceilings |
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Windows & Skylights |
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Branch Electrical Circuits & Wiring Systems |
This drawing shows distribution of electricity through a typical service panel to the branch circuits of a house. Branch circuits feed power to receptacles, switches, fixtures, and appliances in different areas of the house. Each one attaches to one or both hot bus bars in the distribution center by means of a branch circuit overcurrent protection device, otherwise known as a fuse or circuit breaker.
A 120-volt circuit consists of one hot conductor and one neutral conductor. The hot conductor originates at a breaker or fuse connected to one of the hot bus bars. A 240-volt circuit requires both hot bus conductors, so it originates at a breaker or fuse connected to both hot bus bars.
All neutral conductors for branch circuits originate at a neutral bus bar in the distribution center. They are all in direct contact with the earth through the grounding electrode conductor at the main service entrance panel. In order that ground potential (zero volts) be maintained at all times, a neutral conductor must never be interrupted by an overcurrent protection device.
More about your home's electrical system:
Copyright. All rights reserved.
Complete Home Wiring
Electricity provides us with comfort and conveniences that we often take for granted until something goes wrong. Fortunately for the do-it-yourselfer, electrical work is one of the easiest kinds of home improvement and repair.
Copyright Sunset Publishing Corporation
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