Identifying Hazardous Electrical Panels

LIVERMORE — If you live in an older home and have never looked at your electrical panel, it’s time you did. Why? There’s a chance your entire electrical system is relying on a defective product.

Despite advances in circuit breaker technology, many older homes still have their original electrical panels. However, in some cases, this isn’t merely an energy efficiency issue—it’s a safety issue as well. Certain brands of discontinued panels (most notably Federal Pacific and Zinsco) are still present in homes across the United States, despite having lost their UL listing and being known to be defective.

One of the biggest problems seen with these panels is when their circuit breakers fail to register dangerous conditions such as shorted or overloaded circuits, which stops them from tripping when they should. Since circuit breakers are your first line of defense against electrical hazards, if yours aren’t working properly, it leaves your family and home susceptible to a significant safety risk. To avoid this, look inside your panel and make sure it doesn’t have a Federal Pacific or Zinsco manufacturing label. If it does, have a professional electrician come out and replace it.