How old is my breaker panel

Click here for our precautionary measures. What Am I Looking At? In the case of an emergency, you can turn off power to your entire home by flipping this switch. Common household electronics use 15 and amp, while larger appliances require higher amperage breakers: amps for water heaters and clothes dryers; amp for stoves; amp breakers for an HVAC unit, etc. Why Do I Have 2? Danger Will Robinson! Never touch or attempt to repair exposed wires. Call a pro ASAP. Thank you.

Shown here, a Bryant Electric Co. When this panelboard, installed in a U. It is likely that this is original equipment, dating the panel to the mid s, but we lack sufficient contextual data from our reader to know that for certain. The last possible date for panels labelled as Bryant Electric Co. Bryant Electric Co. Bryant Electric was founded in that city by Waldo Calvin Bryant in where the company of Waldo and seven employees produced electrical components including, according to Wikipedia, the first "push-pull electric switch".

Bryant Electric was sold to Westinghouse Electric in but the company continued to operate under the Bryant name and brand as a Westinghouse subsidiary. In Bryant Electric was billed as the world's largest producer of "wiring devices". It appears the history of Bryant Electric is incomplete that the company continued to operate under the Bryant name and continued to grow into the s or later.

By the company had grown from its original seven to over 1, employees, still operating in Bridgeport Connecticut. The company's operations in Bridgeport ended when Westinghouse closed the Bryant Electric Plant in , moving its production to non-unionized factories in North Carolina, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. The remains of Bryant Electric were sold to Hubbell Inc. Bryant circuit breakers Westinghouse may be identified by product labeling, such as shown on the blue-toggle-switched tandem BR circuit breaker in the illustration above as sold by Amazon in June As is found on several other circuit breaker manufacturers, the toggle switches on the breakers may be black, blue 15A by convention or red 20A by convention shown above as a quartet of four of these circuit breakers as listed for sale at an online vendor, s-selectricalsupply.

Watch out : double check your specific circuit breaker model before relying on any circuit breaker substitution chart, as breaker models and features vary substantially within individual breaker brands. The photo below, courtesy of Wikipedia cited below, shows the bryant Electric Co.

FPE electrical equipment has been sold in North America from the late 's to the present if we include the continued sale of Federal Pioneer brand panels in Canada and "replacement" FPE type circuit breakers by some independent suppliers. Watch out : These panels, including their currently-sold versions and replacement breakers do not meet the safety and performance of most electrical panels sold under most other brands.

Sarah, unless you find evidence of an earlier electrical panel the Federal Electric panel to which the label in your photo was attached is probably original. See details. Can anyone help me figure out the age of this Federal Electric breaker box? I am trying to retrace the history of my home and figure out when the AC v outlets were installed. I've attached a photo. Thank you for any help you can offer. Please re-post the image if you can. GE Electrical panel age determination:. IF your U. I am hoping to learn the age and model of this GE panel.

I am guessing the serial number is the number on the lower left of the label. Thank you! I am not sure if it's the original panel. The house was built in Not sure if it'll help, but I am attaching a photo of the inside, which is missing the dead front. The label tells us that this is a A rated main electrical panel. Watch out: missing deadfront panel covers risks fire and shock or even death: anyone might open that outer electrical panel cover, especially as the panel is located outdoors adjacent to the electrical meter.

Touching a live connection inside would shock and might kill that person. Some of the panel specifications are still legible on the door label but unfortunately the model number has been lost. What is the age of my GE electric panel?

See this. There is a pre date code system, a date code system, and a and later date code system. All of these decode alphabetic and numeric date codes providing detail for later electrical panels that adds to day, month, year of electrical load center manufacture also the operater number and shift.

However as you'll read below, for older Square-D electrical panels, both fuse panels and circuit breaker panels this decoder may not be sufficient. Fuse Class. Amperage Min. Converting From. Primary Voltage. Converting To. Bucket Style. Full Load Amps Max. Control Voltage Min. Switch Style. Panel Style. Suitable For. Secondary Voltage. Amp Min. Panel Type. NEMA Rating. Bucket Size. Frame Type. Trip Type. Class Rating. Control Voltage Max. Switch Type.

Amp Max.