If you live in an apartment complex, chances are that you haven’t seen a circuit breaker inside your apartment. So, do apartment have their own circuit breaker, and where are they located.
In general, all apartments have their own circuit breaker. They are usually smaller in size than normal, and they are mostly concealed inside a lockable circuit breaker box outside the apartment.
This is because apartment buildings are not built to have their own circuit breakers in each apartment. Instead, they are wired differently to other homes so that each apartment has its own smaller circuit breaker in the common utility room or in a locked circuit breaker box in the main corridor of your home.
Apartment circuit breakers tend to be under key and lock, which protects the occupants of the apartment from electrical dangers and others tripping the circuits deliberately.
An apartment building’s separate circuit breaker prevents power surges from affecting everyone in the building. It also allows an apartment to be without power if it needs to be shut down for repairs or emergency work being done on one specific unit without cutting off power to other units.
Why Apartment Buildings Have Separate Circuit Breakers
If you live in a house, your home probably has its own main circuit breaker, which provides power for several outlets and light fixtures throughout your house. Each individual outlet receives power through a smaller fuse that can be blown in case of an overload.
Apartment buildings are generally built with more power outlets than houses, but they usually don’t use an individual fuse for each outlet. Instead, apartment buildings have one main circuit breaker that controls all of the electricity in the building. Apartment complexes are wired so that any number of apartments can experience a loss of power without cutting off power to other units entirely.
Apartment buildings are either partially or entirely powered by an electric company, whereas houses have their own private generators to provide electricity during outages or through renewable resources like solar panels.
Partially Powered Apartment Buildings
Partly powered apartment buildings are usually large complexes that are partially powered by the local utility company. These types of buildings usually have multiple circuit breakers in a locked room, with each breaker controlling a different section of the complex. If an outlet in one part of the building blows out, only that apartment has to be shut down until it is repaired.
The same thing occurs for when one apartment’s electricity needs to be cut off due to something like maintenance being done on the unit. Apartment units are still maintained through regular inspections, but oftentimes these are scheduled at night to avoid inconveniencing tenants who may be home during the day.
100% Powered Apartment Buildings
A 100% powered apartment building has its own circuit breakers in each individual apartment, with the main circuit breaker in the building that connects to the power company.
While this is more expensive than having every unit rely on one large breaker box, it does offer benefits for individuals who have specific needs to prevent them from being without power during outages or through maintenance work being done to their individual units.
This type of buildings are mostly used by larger buildings where consistent electricity is required for medical equipment and other important things. Apartment buildings that were partially powered are usually converted into 100% powered apartments because of how much money is saved when a construction project wasn’t needed just to add circuit breakers to individual residences.
Shared circuit breaker
Though sharing a circuit breaker might seem like the cheapest option, it does pose possible risks of electrical issues. Apartment units will usually have smaller breakers that are installed for each residence, but sometimes the common areas of an apartment complex or multi-floor building may share one breaker box located in a locked room.
This type of circuit breaker is not only more affordable than individual ones, but it also ensures all tenants can enjoy steady electricity without any potentially hazardous wiring issues coming into play.
Overall, apartment buildings typically have their own separate circuit breakers to prevent surges from affecting larger groups of people and provide access to power for specific units when needed. Apartment complexes are either partially or fully powered by an electric company with individual circuit breakers in each unit.
Apartment buildings with other tenants above or below may have a shared circuit breaker within the common areas of the building, but this is usually a more affordable option for places that share power with companies and don’t require access to electricity for specific units.
Can two circuits share one neutral?
As multiple apartments share the main circuit breaker, it can be tempting to assume that they also share one neutral. However, this is not how it works. Apartment buildings need to have a neutral wire for every circuit breaker because without one there’s a risk of electrical shocks and other hazards.
As a rule of thumb, two circuits can not share one neutral. The neutral wires are necessary regardless of whether an apartment complex has a shared or individual breaker box, as they provide a consistent flow of electricity that can be used by appliances and outlets located in different parts of the building.
It’s cheapest to have certain circuits share neutrals rather than have each separate from the rest entirely, but this does pose some degree of danger if the wrong wire is attached somewhere. Please contact a reputable local Electrical installer near you for more information about apartments having their own circuit breaker or any household-related electrical issues!
