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Your electrical panel serves two essential functions in your home. It channels the electricity you get from outside your home to wherever you need it. It also helps prevent too much electrical current from flowing through your home’s wiring.
While it operates, you might hear your electrical panel make noise. Some noises are normal, and some are cause for concern. Below, we’ll help you differentiate between the two.
A Gentle, Faint Buzz or Hum
This soft buzzing or humming is the sound of an electrical current moving through the panel. This is generally not cause for alarm. However, we do recommend you visit your electrical panel every so often to make sure the sounds don’t get louder.
Sizzling or Crackling Sounds
These are bad sounds, and it’s time to call an electrician. If you’re hearing any kind of sizzling or crackling, or if you’re seeing sparks, then there’s a wiring problem in your electrical panel.
Loose or damaged wiring puts your home at risk of an electrical fire caused by arcing. Arcing is a term for when electricity leaps from one wire to another, and it tends to occur with overheated, loose, or exposed wires.
Continuous, Noticeably Loud Buzz or Hum
This is another concerning sound, and you should involve an electrician. If you’re hearing a loud buzz or hum that doesn’t stop, it indicates two things:
- A circuit breaker on the panel is overloaded.
- The breaker didn’t trip when it was supposed to.
It’s crucial that all of your circuit breakers function correctly. Each breaker helps protect a circuit in your household from being flooded with too much electricity. When a rush of high voltage (or a power surge) occurs, the circuit needs to trip instantly to prevent fires and damage to the circuit and the devices plugged into it. If a breaker is not tripping when it should, you could potentially end up with an electrical fire.
Electrical Panel Repair In Winston-Salem
Repairing electrical panels and circuit breakers is not a DIY job. Trust our licensed electricians at Logan Home Energy Services to provide you with safe, high-quality electrical services. To schedule an appointment for your property in Winston-Salem and nearby parts of Central North Carolina, call us today at (336) 203-7630.