You’re sitting there, watching TV, minding your own business. The quiet hum of your air conditioner lets you know that it’s keeping all the summer heat at bay.
In the background, you hear your microwave heating up leftovers and your tumble dryer spinning your freshly laundered clothes.
All in all, a pretty normal night. Suddenly, bam – out go the lights, leaving you in darkness.
Something’s just tripped your breaker.
As you get up to check out your switchboard, you start thinking about what could have caused it.
While you might assume it was one of the hungrier of the appliances we mentioned above, in many cases, it could actually be the humble microwave that’s behind it!
Yep, you heard right – read on as our residential electrician in Melbourne explain how that works.
Why is my microwave tripping my breaker?
Before we explain how your microwave could be tripping your breaker, a quick primer.
The first thing we need to do is define some terms.
As we all know, electricity is carried throughout your home using an electrical circuit.
Depending on the house, you may have one or multiple circuits – however your circuitry is set up however, the vast majority of homes in Melbourne will use breakers.
Each circuit has a finite capacity, with an upper limit before things start getting dangerous.
Once it starts getting up there, you run a higher risk of issues like short circuits, electrical fires, shocks and other issues.
That’s what circuit breakers are there to protect you against.
Once the voltage or amperage start climbing beyond safe levels, your breakers automatically cut the flow of electricity, killing the circuit and keeping you safe.
Can a faulty microwave trip a breaker? In many cases, it could just be that your microwave is simply the straw that broke the camel’s back
What’s the most energy-hungry household appliance you can think of?
Chances are the first things that come to mind are big ticket items like your air conditioning system and tumble dryer, or appliances that run 24/7 like your refrigerator.
It’s true that all of these are pretty energy-hungry appliances – however, this is also underselling the cumulative effect that other appliances like microwaves can have on your energy usage
A lot of appliances on a circuit simultaneously means more power running through it – and that in turn pushes the voltage and amperage closer to the circuit’s safe limit, setting off your circuit breakers.
Oftentimes, a circuit breaker is triggered not because of an electrical fault or a single, hungry appliance but because there are too many appliances on the same circuit.
In some cases, it could simply be that your circuit is close to overloaded, and that your microwave was just what happened to tip it over the edge.
Is your microwave on its own dedicated circuit?
The best way to avoid this happening again in the future is to watch how many appliances are on the same circuit at once, and to make sure that you aren’t putting too much strain on it.
Here’s something you may not have known, however: did you know that in many homes, kitchens have their own, higher-capacity circuit. In some, the microwave even has its own dedicated circuit!
By finding out whether or not you have a dedicated microwave circuit, you’ll be able to fissure out if the issue is with your microwave or the electrical circuit.
If the answer is “yes”, odds are that it’s an issue with the microwave itself that’s constantly tripping your breakers.
If the answer is “no” however, it could be an overloading issue – something that can be fixed easily by watching how many appliances are on the same circuit at once, or by moving your microwave to a separate circuit.
Of course, how are you supposed to know unless you can figure out whether or not you have a dedicated microwave breaker?
Luckily, this is something our commercial electrician in Parkdale can help with!
Check if your microwave is defective
Okay, so your microwave has its own circuit. That means one thing: the issue is with your microwave.
But hang on… it’s working fine?
When people think of defective microwaves, they usually think of one that’s totally busted, and which isn’t working like it should.
However, that isn’t the only way your microwave can be defective.
Defective appliances like microwaves can also cause surge damage. In summation, when your microwave goes on the fritz, it can potentially send a power surge through your electrical circuit, tripping your circuit breaker.
Not only does this leave you without power until you stumble outside with a torch to find your switchboard, but it could also damage other appliances on the same circuit.
The electrical “blood and guts” of many appliances are sensitive to power surges. A spike caused by a defective microwave could fry many of these other sensitive appliances.
Long story short, if your microwave is defective, it’s time to swap it out for a new one!
Once again, our electrical service and repair service can test your microwave, eliminating it from the list of potential suspects.
“Should my microwave have its own breaker?”
Ideally, yes.
While giving your microwave its very own circuit is only really mandatory for larger, more powerful microwaves, if you ask us, you should ensure that your microwave has its own breaker at least.
As we’ve hopefully shown you, microwaves can be one of the more common causes of a circuit breaker tripping. While adding a dedicated breaker won’t stop it from triggering the breaker, it does give you an extra layer of protection against a faulty microwave.
Luckily for you, this doesn’t require all of your walls to be ripped out to make this happen. In addition to fitting the sockets you reserve for your microwave with their own circuit breakers, our residential electricians also calculate how large your new breaker will need to be.
All of which ensures that you don’t need to worry about an issue with your microwave – after all, electricity is dangerous, as we all know – any little bit of extra protection is well worth it!
Call our residential electricians to stop your microwave from tripping your circuit breakers
Microwave always tripping your circuit breakers? That’s something our team of commercial electrician company can help out with.
From electrical installations to determining what’s causing your circuit breakers to constantly trip and dental fitout, our electrical team is here to ensure that your home or business’ electrical systems are working as they should.
We’re all about providing peace-of-mind, with quick service for all sorts of electrical issues including breakers that seem a little bit too eager to trip.
All you need to do is get in touch with our fully licensed and qualified electricians on 1300 410 141 or contact us online.