Checking
Electrical Circuits
This
procedure requires working with fuses or circuit breakers. Do
not remove the protective cover from the distribution panel
box. Even though you can do the entire testing without accessing
panel wiring, it is recommended that you have an electrician
work with you.
Before using this process, be sure to read this entire page.
- Watch
the disk turn inside your electric meter while household
items are being used. Count the number of seconds it takes
for the black section to go around once and come back to the
same position. Write the number of seconds on a piece of paper.
This is a reference number. (Meters used by some Bangor Hydro
customers have a digital read out with no visible disk. These
instructions cannot be used.)
- Turn
off all circuit breakers or fuses, except the “Main”.
The disk
in the electric meter will come to a complete stop within
five minutes. (Interesting Note: In most meters the disk must
make 139 revolutions to measure 1 kWh.)
- Turn
on one cir cuit breaker or fuse. Repeat “Number 1”.
Write down which circuit breaker or fuse you are testing and
the number of seconds the disk takes to go around once.
- Turn
of f the circuit you just tested. Turn on the ne xt circuit
breaker or fuse and repeat “Number 1.”
- Use
this process to check all individual circuits. Because some
electrical items (such as furnace, refrigerator, water heater)
do not run constantly, you may have to make them run to do
this test completely.
Findings
You will find some circuits with very small numbers and others
with bigger numbers. Each number is the number of seconds the
disk took to make one complete turn. Small numbers mean the
disk turned quickly (electricity is being used faster), and
bigger numbers
mean the disk is turning slower (electricity is being used less
fast).
Small numbers indicate potential high usage circuits. High usage
circuits require follow-up. Start with the smallest number of
seconds (electricity was used fastest) to follow-up on what
you have found.
Follow-Up
Now that you know which circuit has the highest usage (but smallest
numbers) you need to find what household electrical items are
connected to that circuit.
- Turn
“On” all circuit breakers or fuses.
- Turn
“Off” the one circuit you want to check, the circuit
that made the disk turn the fastest.
-
Go around your home and find everything that has no power
to it.
Check every outlet, every light, every appliance. Make a list
of
what does not operate and label the list with the circuit
breaker or
fuse that you had turned off. Note: refrigerator, furnace
or some other appliance may not be running at the moment you
do this test. You may have to make special efforts to find
their circuits.
- The
list you just completed shows what is on this circuit. The
items on that list made the disk turn rapidly when you were
watching the meter. If you think anything on that list is
malfunctioning, have an electrician test it.
- If
nothing is malfunctioning, you may have to make more efficient
use of the items on that list to reduce your energy consumption.
Remember:
Reducing electrical energy consumption is best accomplished
by maintaining items properly and using electrical items efficiently.
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to Energy Manager
