Breaker Break Down

Friday, I rose and like I always do, I flipped the thermostat up as I walked by on the way to the kitchen to start the hot water for my tea. (We keep the house at 66 degrees at night.) I could tell within minutes that something wasn't right.

After checking things out, I realized the heat pump wasn't running. The thermostat said the auxiliary heat was on. I kept smelling something and I assumed it was the furnace, since we generally don't need the auxiliary heat. I checked the breakers, which all seemed to be on, and called my husband to make sure there wasn't something else I needed to examine.

He advised me to call the heat pump people, which I did. They had someone out here by 10:30. I had everything off and so at the heat pump man's request, I turned it all back on again. The heat pump did not start, and that strange odor occurred.

The heat pump man quickly realized the issue was not in the heating system. The breaker box was burning. Yikes!

He threw the main and then examined the breaker box. One of the breakers had melted at its end.

Scorched breaker box.

Burned out breaker

This was not something he could fix. He spoke on the phone with my husband, who said he would be home in 30 minutes. In the meantime, I needed to leave for a dentist appointment, but I started scrolling through the phone book in search of an electrician. I fortunately found someone who would come out. The man would be there by noon.

With my husband on his way home, and the house seemingly not in any hurry to burn down, I went to the dentist. By the time I returned, everything was back to normal.

It was scary, though. Imagine what might have happened if I hadn't turned the furnace off.