main breaker
Whole-house shutoff switch
A main breaker is the primary circuit breaker in an electrical panel that controls power to an entire building or structure.
Flipping it cuts electricity to all circuits at once—useful during emergencies or major electrical work.
Turn off the main breaker before replacing the panel.
The main breaker also protects against overloads that would overwhelm the whole system.
- circuitClosed electrical pathway
- electrical panelCircuit breaker housing
- panelDistinct flat section
- electricalInvolving conducted current
- switchCircuit-breaking toggle device
tripped · amp · fuse · disconnect · power · power outage · outage · box · reset · load · surge · flip · safety · safety shutoff · overload · shutoff · blackout · voltage
- circuit breakers
- Electricalwiring, outlets, circuits, fuses, switches
- utilitieselectricity, water supply, public utilities, water line, gas service
- circuit protectionfuse, surge protector, GFCI, surge suppressor, fuse box
- electrical gridpower grid, power grids, electrical grid, power line, power lines
- electrical wiringwires, wire, ground wire, circuit, grounding wire