What Is the Main Panel?

The main panel is the breaker panel that has the metered connection from the electric utility to your home. It’s the first line of defense against electrical issues and can help protect both you and your appliances from damage. The main panel is also called the service entrance panel since it connects directly to your power company’s electricity supply. All other panels are known as subpanels and get their power from the main panel.

Exploring Subpanels

Subpanels are like a waypoint to direct electrical power to different parts of your premises. They perform a lot of the same tasks as the main panel, such as helping to ensure electrical appliances don’t get fried by too much power. Just like the main panel, the subpanel contains a number of circuit breakers that interrupt the flow if they detect too large of a current passing through them.

What’s the Difference Then?

Subpanels don’t provide their own energy to a house but instead operate off the power from the main panel. The main panel is directly connected to the utility point-of-entrance to a building, and all subpanels feed off that connection. However, the subpanel provides a useful methodology for installing outlets that help you organize your electrical system into something more manageable.

Why Use a Subpanel vs. the Main Panel

Generally, using a subpanel over the main panel offers a lot of flexibility for your home’s electrical systems. There are a few extremely common use cases that we encounter when it comes to installing subpanels. Among these are:

1. Offers More Circuit Space. If your main panel is overcrowded, it could become a fire hazard. Keeping your main panel manageable may require you to break your electrical distribution system up into a series of subpanels, depending on how many areas you intend to cover.
2. Safety Considerations. Subpanels are excellent ways to make a more secure electrical system. In the event of an electrical fire to a subpanel-controlled circuit, you can simply switch off the subpanel, isolating that area so you can deal with the problem.
3. Separate Uses for Power. Many of us have garages where we operate all sorts of heavy machinery. Installing a subpanel to deal with different power requirements is a smart move since it keeps things organized. If you need to switch off a particular tool, appliance, or piece of machinery in the garage, all the breakers are located in a single, convenient subpanel.  Similarly, subpanels are great ideas to power additions to the main house, separate buildings on the property, or outdoor spas, gazebos and pergolas.

Don’t Do It Yourself

A lot of people might be tempted to try to install a subpanel themselves. It doesn’t seem that hard, and there are articles for everything to guide you. However, attempting this could have serious consequences. Installation by a non-professional could lead to risks for electrical hazards, shock, or worse. Call the experts at Excellent Electric if you want to figure out if you should install a subpanel, and where would be the best place to put it. Let us use our experience to help you. Call us today!