How do I safely reset a tripped breaker in my New Brunswick home?

How to Safely Reset a Tripped Circuit Breaker

A tripped breaker is your electrical system doing its job — it detected an overcurrent condition and shut off the circuit to prevent overheating and fire. Here's how to handle it safely.

Identifying a Tripped Breaker

Open your electrical panel door and look at the breaker switches. Most breakers have three positions:

• ON — fully pushed to one side
• OFF — fully pushed to the other side
• TRIPPED — sitting in the middle, between ON and OFF

The tripped breaker may also show an orange or red indicator window. In some panels, the tripped position looks almost like ON — look carefully for the one that isn't fully aligned with the others.

Step-by-Step Reset Process

Identify what's on the circuit — check which lights, outlets, or appliances lost power

Unplug or turn off devices on the affected circuit, especially any that were running when the breaker tripped (space heaters, hair dryers, vacuums, power tools)

Stand to the side of the panel — not directly in front of it. In rare cases of a serious fault, breakers can arc when reset

Push the breaker firmly to the full OFF position first — you must go fully OFF before going to ON

Then push it firmly to the ON position — you should feel it click into place

Reconnect devices one at a time — this helps identify which device caused the trip

If the Breaker Trips Again Immediately

If the breaker trips again as soon as you reset it (or within seconds), do not keep resetting it. This indicates:

• A short circuit — a hot wire is touching a neutral, ground, or metal surface somewhere on the circuit. This could be in the wiring, an outlet, a switch, or an appliance.
• A ground fault — current is leaking to ground through an unintended path, possibly through water or a damaged appliance
• A failing breaker — breakers do wear out and can trip prematurely, though this is less common

Leave the breaker off and call a TSANB-licensed electrician. Repeatedly forcing a breaker back on against a fault is dangerous — you're overriding the safety device that's protecting your home from fire.

If the Breaker Trips Intermittently

A breaker that trips every few days or weeks, especially under heavy use, is likely overloaded. Common scenarios in NB homes:

• Running a space heater (1,500W) and a hair dryer (1,200W) on the same 15-amp circuit (1,800W capacity)
• Kitchen circuits serving a toaster, kettle, and microwave simultaneously
• Basement circuits serving a dehumidifier, freezer, and workshop tools

The solution is either reducing the load on that circuit or having an electrician add a new circuit to distribute the load. Adding a dedicated circuit runs $300–$600 in most NB communities.

Special Breaker Types

GFCI breakers (with a TEST button on the breaker) trip from ground faults — often caused by moisture in outdoor outlets, bathroom circuits, or basement receptacles. Reset the same way, but also check for water intrusion at outlets on that circuit.

AFCI breakers trip from arc faults — they're more sensitive than standard breakers. If an AFCI trips, it may be detecting a real problem like a damaged cord, loose connection, or wire pinched by a nail. Have an electrician investigate if it trips repeatedly.

When to Call an Electrician

• Breaker trips immediately upon reset
• Breaker trips repeatedly (more than 2–3 times in a month)
• Breaker won't stay in the ON position
• You see scorch marks, smell burning, or the breaker/panel feels warm
• You can't identify which breaker has tripped
• Multiple breakers trip at the same time
• The main breaker trips (affecting your entire house)

A diagnostic visit from a licensed electrician in Moncton, Saint John, Fredericton, or other NB communities typically runs $80–$150. It's a small price compared to the risk of ignoring a persistent electrical fault.

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