Electrical Service Entrance	Panelboard
The underground service conductors enter the home at the Service Entrance where the Electric Meter is located. The Service Entrance belongs to the electric company. Do not tamper with it You can read the electric meter without opening this panel. For homes in areas that have overhead wires, there is a mast on the roof that provides the routing of power cables to the Service Entrance Panel.	The Panelboard is located in the garage. Open the hinged door to view the circuit breakers. The Panelboard contains a master (dual) circuit breaker that connects between the electric meter and the electrical distribution bars within the panelboard. Household branch circuits are protected by individual circuit breakers that plug onto the left or right distribution bar. Branch circuit breakers are numbered. The electrician that installed the housewiring branch circuits has identifed the household function of each circuit breaker on the sheet pasted to the inside of the Panelboard door.

Caution: Before you open the hinged door on the panel board cover, touch the outside of the cover with the back of your hand. If the cover is "hot", your reaction to the "shock" will probably pull your arm away from the panel cover. After you have determined that the panel cover is not "hot", open the hinged door to expose the circuit breakers.

Do not remove the Panelboard Cover. The exposed terminals inside contain 240 volts of alternating current that provides the power to operate all the lighting and appliances that are in the house. Household electricity is very dangerous and can kill you.

The National Fire Protection Association is the sponsor for the National Electrical Code manual. The NEC is generally recognized by Cities as the Standard Practice Manual that electricians must follow to insure safe and proper installation of household wiring, lighting and appliances. Inspectors use the NEC as their reference book. The detailed requirements and tables of information in the NEC are very comprehensive. An electrican does not need to know the electrical formulas or mathematics to calculate the electrical properties described in Mike's Electricity Module. The NEC contains all the information that an electrician needs. To be effective, the electrician needs to know how to read and follow the information and installation requirements found in the NEC for just about everything that he may do.