The Fusebox, Breaker or Electrical Panel is Buzzing!

1) Buzzing Sound

A buzzing sound from the fuse box area could be something benign such as a doorbell transformer. Doorbell transformers are notorious for making a buzzing sound as it is a byproduct of the job they perform. By taking 120 volts or 240 volts and converting it into the typical 12 volts that a doorbell circuit uses, they create heat and noise. The noise is a buzzing sound and this can increase with the ‘wear and tear’ or age of the doorbell transformer. 

On occasion, dimmer switches that control lighting circuits can cause a circuit breaker to make a buzzing sound. This buzzing sound is often caused by electrical currents jumping the gap between poor contact inside the dimmer or perhaps too many bulbs installed thereby overloading the dimmer switch. An electrical buzzing generally means that there is an issue that requires investigation and resolution and as such the noise should be checked without delay.

2) What is an Electrical Panel?

An Electrical Panel is the box that contains the brains of the electrical system in your home.  It is known by other names such as the circuit breaker box, fuse box, fuse board, consumer unit or trip switch box. They all generally mean the same thing and carry out a similar or the same purpose. 

The purpose of the box is to split up the mains electrical supply into smaller electrical supplies and deliver electricity around the home to the plug socket outlets, lights, and other electrical equipment. 

Within the box there are either Fuses or Trip Switches/Circuit Breakers. The fuses contain a piece of wire that varies in thickness with the electrical current rating of the fuse. The fuse wire will heat up and eventually melt during excessive electrical demands. It will blow in a more spectacular fashion when there is a short circuit, normally with a bang. The Circuit Breakers perform in a similar manner by gently clicking off when there is excessive electrical demand and operating in a more dramatic fashion during short circuits. 

3) Faulty Breaker

A circuit breaker is a component contained in the electrical panel or consumer unit and is usually accompanied by several others. Each breaker has its own electrical current rating. The rated value is the amount of electrical current that the breaker will allow to safely pass before it begins to start the disconnection process. 

A 32-amp breaker, for instance, will allow 32 amps of current to pass before this begins to affect the internal bi-metallic strip which is the component that heats up, bends, and disconnects the circuit under excess electrical load. 

A failing or overloaded circuit breaker can also cause a buzzing sound in the fuse box or electrical panel. The noise would also be similar to an arcing noise typically heard when wiring connections are loose and electricity is struggling to jump a high resistance connection. 

When a breaker is failing it can trip the power supply sooner than the manufacturer intended and as such this can result in nuisance tripping and the appearance of electrical faults in the circuit when, in fact, the breaker is at fault. In these cases, a repair is not possible and a new breaker is needed. 

When a FUSEBOX IS BUZZING it can be as a result of a failing breaker. 

4) Crackling Noise or Buzzing?

Its important to distinguish the difference between a crackling and a buzzing or humming noise. A buzzing sound is generally a continuous hum of consistent volume. The volume may increase depending upon electrical load conditions but will generally by continuous. 

A crackling sound may occur in bursts and will sometimes be quiet then loud depending upon electrical load. This sound is usually due to arcing and sparking where electrical currents are attempting to jump gaps between a loose connection, loose wires, or high resistances. This is an immediately dangerous situation as great temperatures are generated by this process and it can lead to electrical fires. 

5) Electrical Problems

Whilst buzzing noises can be normal albeit irritating, they can also indicate electrical problems. It is often the case that an electrician will need to be called to investigate the issue with buzzing noises as they are sometimes difficult to pin down or establish the true causes. 

Some typical electrical problems are:

1. Loose Wiring
2. Fusebox Tripping
3. Consumer unit problems
4. Burning Smell

5.1) Loose Wiring

Loose wiring can occur through poor electrical installation work and also over time. Connections are subject to continuous temperature variation through electrical current flow along with the vibrations that occur through the electricity supply frequency. These effects can cause wiring to work loose and high resistances to develop. 

The result of this is circuits that occasionally fail but then reconnect, intermittent power cuts, RCD or GFCI tripping, overheating and occasional electrical fires. 

5.2) Fusebox Tripping

When the fuse box or electrical panel trips it can create confusion trying to understand what has happened in the electrical system in order to cause this tripping. If you find that your consumer unit is tripping then we have written several articles about this for you to check out. 

There can be a variety of issues that cause a fuse box, electrical panel or consumer unit to trip or blow fuses and occasionally there is no other choice but to call an electrician to investigate the cause. Specialised test equipment and tools along with knowledge and experience is the best way to trace an electrical fault. 

5.3) Consumer Unit Problems

When issues occur in the consumer unit, they can quickly lead to the necessity for a replacement consumer unit. MCB (miniature circuit breakers), Trip switches and fuses can blow meaning replacement components are necessary. 

Various components that fail can also ruin other components or render them unsafe. For example, damage to the busbar can also affect several circuit breakers meaning that the total replacement of the unit becomes necessary to safely reinstate power. 

We have composed an article detailing all the components in the consumer unit, their purpose and their ways of interacting with each other which may be helpful in understanding what has happened inside your consumer unit. 

5.4) Burning Smell

A burning smell is never a good sign. If you can smell a fish type smell, a chemical or plastic type smell it’s often bad news and there is a good chance that there is electrical burning occurring somewhere in your electrical installation. 

If you suspect there is electrical burning then you need to turn the main switch off at the circuit breaker panel and contact a professional electrician to come and investigate the issue as soon as possible. 

One of the most common electrical circuits that is susceptible to electrical burning is the electric shower circuit. The electrical connections in this circuit see a lot of stress as electric showers are very powerful and require a lot of electrical current which can sometimes exceed the capacity of the circuit or cause electrical fire where there are bad connections within the pull cord switch or wall switch. 

The particular circuit breaker for the electric shower is often underrated for the requirements and this can also lead to circuit failure or even a fire hazard. 

Almost any water heater or electrical heater can cause a burning smell to occur with the electrics. These devices are normally perfectly safe but it is often the wiring in and older home (for example) that can not necessarily take the load. 

6) Electrical Safety

Electrical work should really only be carried out by a qualified electrician in order to prevent damage to the fuse panel, consumer unit, wiring or electrical accessories. An electrical system that requires replacement is a fairly major and expensive job so a professional is best placed to carry out any maintenance work to ensure the longevity of the system. 

A breaker box buzzing is indicative of things that are wrong in the electrical system and often an electrical safety check is a good idea along with the fault-finding element of tracing the electrical issues. 

There are some safety hazards involved in carrying out electrical safety checks so an electrician is the best to do this BUT there are some electrical safety checks that you could make yourself by following our article.