Main Electrical Panel

Main Panels vs Sub-Panels

Electric Panel

The electricity in your house is made up of a network of connections. There is a main panel where the utility company sends all of the power into your home, and there are sub-panels that direct the power to circuits throughout the house.

Typically your main panel is located in your garage and is a metal box full of switches. Similar to the way the human heart works, it distributes power into all the electrical circuits around the home. Through this panel you can control which circuits have power by flipping the switches. Your circuit breaker switch is also usually located in this box as well.

Sub-panels act in a similar way as a main panel does throughout smaller sections of the home. So for example, you could have a sub-panel for your kitchen that would allow you to easily identify which circuit was causing your refrigerator to lose power. This provides you a more narrow diagnostic than a main sub panel would, because a main panel would only be able to tell you that the problem was in the general kitchen area. So, if you notice a specific appliance isn't working you could narrow down where the problem is using the sub-panel.

Another benefit of sub-panels is that you can also install them outside your home as well. This is great for emergency cases, because it eliminates the need for firefighters to enter your home and assume additional risk to shut off the power. So, If you need to install sub-panels or have an electrician take a look at your main panel, reach out to us at (210) 899-2430, we would be happy to help.