ELECTRICITY

Created on Tuesday, July 16, 2019.

Electric Meter is that instrument that measures electricity use in a home.  The instrument is enclosed by a door and the clear plastic dome for any meter reader to come by the house and read the usage.  

ELECTRIC METER

Your home's electricity starts with the power service and electric meter. The utility company's service cables (whether overhead or underground) extend to your house and connect to the utility's electric meter. The meter measures the amount of electricity your home uses and is the basis for the charges on your electric bill. The meter runs only when electricity is used in the house.

DISCONNECT SWITCH?  WHERE IS IT? 

I'll have to find out. 

MAIN SERVICE PANEL, commonly known as your BREAKER BOX

After passing through the meter, your electrical service feeds into your home's main service panel, commonly known as the breaker box. Two large "hot" wires connect to big screw terminals, called lugs, inside the service panel, providing all the power to the panel. A third service cable, the neutral, connects to the neutral bus bar inside the panel. In simple terms, electricity is supplied to the house on the hot wires. After it flows through the household system, it is fed back to the utility on the neutral wire, completing the electrical circuit.

MAIN CIRCUIT BREAKER is a SWITCH

This was an excellent video. 

The service panel contains a large main breaker that is the switch controlling the power to the rest of the circuit breakers inside the panel. It is sized according to your home's service capacity. A standard panel today provides 200-amp (ampere) service. Older panels were sized for 150, 100, or fewer amps (amperes). 

The main breaker of 200 amps will allow a maximum of 200 amps to flow through it without tripping. In a tripped state, no current will flow to the panel. In systems without an external disconnect switch, the main breaker serves as the household disconnect.

Turning off the main breaker stops the flow of power to all of the branch circuit breakers in the panel, and therefore to all of the circuits in the house. However, power is always flowing into the panel and to the service lugs even when the main breaker is shut off, unless the power is shut off at a separate disconnect switch. Power is always present in the utility service lines and the electric meter unless it is shut off by the utility.

Didn't want to lose this source.  Not sure yet how good it is.  What is the Main Breaker?  Difference between Electrical box & Meter Box.