Home Maintenance For Dummies
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Knowing how to reset a circuit breaker will make you seem awesome to the clueless. Resetting a tripped circuit breaker is a simple matter of flipping the circuit switch back into the On position.

Newer homes have circuit breakers, which simply switch off (trip) when they become overloaded. The circuit breaker shuts off power to the room without shutting off power to the whole house.

Before you get started, get a flashlight! Things will be a lot easier with a flashlight.

Locate the electrical service panel.

Locate the electrical service panel.

This is also known as an electrical service box or a panel box. They’re usually found in the basement or garage.

Locate the tripped circuit breaker.

Locate the tripped circuit breaker.

Here’s where the flashlight comes in handy! Find the circuit breaker that is near the Off position or not in the fully On position. The circuit break flips the switch toward the Off position, but it doesn’t move all the way off.

Some breakers will show a bit of red (on the switch) if they’re tripped.

Flip the breaker fully to the Off position.

Flip the breaker fully to the Off position.

You must turn off the circuit breaker completely off before you turn it on again.

Flip the breaker fully to the On position.

Flip the breaker fully to the On position.

When the switch moves back to the On position, power should be restored. If power doesn’t come back on, try flipping it Off and On again.

If the breaker shuts off again, you have a short or some other problem that needs to be fixed before you attempt to switch it on again.

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