Greetings, I was reading about wiring in a British encyclopedia and it seems that house wiring is done differently here in the USA. In the USA the mains power enters the house via a "load center". The load center has one main circuit breaker that feeds several more smaller breakers. The breakers fed by the main breaker each feed a separate circuit that is open ended. Each of these circuits can then be wired to receptacles and/or appliances such as lamps or bathroom fans. If a receptacle has a breaker built in it will be a ground fault interrupter. If an appliance has a breaker it will be there only to protect the appliance, not the circuit it is wired to. In Britain it seems that the wiring is closed, forming a loop or a ring, and there is no load center filled with breakers to protect each circuit. Instead, each receptacle has a breaker that protects the wiring. Is this correct? If not, then how are houses actually wired? And what are the advantages ? Thank You, Eric R Snow
- posted
15 years ago