Circuit breaker versus safety switch – what’s the difference?
It is a common misconception that safety switches and circuit breakers are the same or that one or the other will ‘do the trick’. However, they are very different and both have a unique role to play in keeping your family safe.
What does a safety switch protect?
A safety switch protects the people in your home from electric shocks, serious injury or even death from an electrical fault. It monitors current flow through circuits and will trip within 0.03 seconds when a problem is detected that could pose a risk to your personal safety.
What does a circuit breaker protect?
A circuit breaker is an automatically operated electrical switch within your switchboard, designed to protect an electrical circuit from damage caused by an overload or short circuit, such as an overloaded power point. Overloads can cause damage to circuits, appliances, power points, lights and even start house fires. It’s important to note that they do not offer any protection to people.
How do I tell the difference and do I need both?
The simplest way to look at it is: a safety switch protects your family and a circuit breaker protects your home.
You can check your switchboard for safety switches by looking for a small test button – it may say ‘test’ or simply have a ‘T’ on the switch. Circuit breakers will not have this button. In addition, there are also residual-current circuit breakers with overcurrent protection (or RCBO’s) that are both a circuit breaker and a safety switch in one, and will also have a test button.
Call us for your free safety inspection
It’s not enough just to have safety switches and circuit breakers, they must be in working order and common sense still applies! For more information, you can read our blog on how to test your safety switches are working.
If you’re unsure if safety switches are installed at your property, simply call us on 1300 306 342 to arrange your free electrical safety inspection.
Author: Chantel Gilbert
Chantel brings her professional qualifications, entrepreneurial edge and passion for customer service together in her role as General Manager of Bluegum Electrical Solutions. Chantel is our go-to for all things to with the Solar Rebates and is a pro at dealing with PowerCor & Jemena. She is challenging the stereotypes in the trade industry and surprising their customers with quality and kindness.
Along the way, Chantel has bagged multiple Excellence in Customer Service Awards on behalf of Bluegum and is the proud recipient of the 2016 Young Business Person of the Year.
Whether she is on the netball court, at the gym or out bushwalking, Chantel is always thinking about the next innovative step for Bluegum and how they can continue to raise the bar and exceed their customer’s expectations.
