naming the breakers

Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
House Repair Talk

Help Support House Repair Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
drewdin

drewdin

Junior Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2012
Messages
440
Reaction score
38
I have to label the breakers so I know what breaker switches what, I have been avoiding it like crazy because i don't want to go up and down the stairs 20 times.

Are there any suggestions on a method/way to minimize the stairs?
 
A good helper and 2 cell phones.:)

I have always thought outlet covers and switch covers should all have a place to write the breaker number on it. When I have a cover off and I know which breaker it is I write the number on the back side of the cover.
 
Last edited:
I bought a little 2 piece gadget in the electrical tools section at Menard's that has one piece you plug into any outlet. The other part of the tool is taken to the breaker box, and will identify the breaker. Just have someone help you; they can move the plug-in from one outlet to another as you identify. You'll still have to switch off a few to find the lights. The (electric) stove, dryer, furnace, and A/C will all be double breakers, and easy to find (for the furnace, turn your thermostat to "fan". As you switch breakers off, listen for the fan to go off. Same with the dryer.
 
The big ones should be easy, stove 40amps, dryer 30 amps, some testing like you stated. Any two 120 breakers that are tied together are two circuits but treat them as one. Fridge, dishwasher, microwave, garburator and furnace may all have there own breaker.
If you do a quick scetch of the house showing the outlets and light switchs. When you turn off breaker #2 your helper just has to write #2 at everything that went off on the scetch.
 
I think I would take the opposite approach. I would first go room by room and make a floor plan showing the outlets and lighting for each room. Then I have a little 3 prong tester that has rows of lights that show if an outlet is wired correctly that also is handy for seeing if an outlet has power. They are a couple bucks at most hardware stores.
I would then go down and turn off the first breaker or have someone turn it off and then start checking to see what doesn’t have power and mark them on the layout with the breaker number. I also think Neal’s idea to write on the back of the cover the number is great. I wish I would have done that. Both methods are time consuming but as you work your way thru the panel each time there will be less to test. The advantage of doing it this way is you don’t have to keep yelling back and forth no, no, no, no, no, no, YES and then say what one is that.

I also think Neal is on to something with a cover that’s labeled to the room. Communication covers have a window for a label I don’t know why regular outlets and switch covers never came up with this.
 
Label the rooms by location. Don't call it "MOM"S ROOM". It might not always be mom's room. Call it 2nd floor north bedroom or something more generic to the house not the users.
 
Then when you are done, make a nice drawing with all all the outlets and switches numbered and staple it to the wall near the breaker box.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top