Electrical Service is the point where electricity enters your home and distributes to outlets, lights and appliances. It starts with a pair of 120-volt wires coming from the utility company through your home’s main service panel, sometimes called a breaker box or fuse box. Each circuit has two conductors: a hot wire (which provides current to your home appliances) and a neutral or grounding wire that completes the circuit back to the main service panel.
The main electrical service can be overhead or underground. If it is overhead, the cable comes through a pole or pedestal and connects to a main electrical meter. Residential properties that are served with overhead lines are required to have a clearance inspection of the pole and service line by the City’s Electrical Inspector. The inspection can determine the height of the mast and other parts of the electrical system that must be kept clear to ensure safety.
Underground services can be either single or 3-phase. The voltages can be 480V delta208Y120V which power the main service panel and a sub panel to provide standard 120V for outlets or 277V for motor loads. This type of service is typically found in larger commercial and industrial facilities.
Electricity passes through the wires to and from your home in a closed circuit, which means that it is always seeking to return to its source – the electrical service panel. This is why it’s important to be careful around the main electrical service panel, and only hire a licensed and insured professional to make repairs, maintenance or installations. Touching any of the exposed service wires, especially with tools such as screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers or wire cutters can cause severe injury and possibly shock you to death. Electrical Service