Though some people don't realize it, your home's electrical system is laid out like a big grid. Your kitchen is usually on one, whereas the individual bedrooms are on their own. Each grid is wired straight into the main power source that passes first through the circuit breaker, whose main job is to cut the power in the event of an energy spike. Without the circuit breaker, there would be more home fires every single year, as sudden electrical surges can happen more often than you would think.

So what can cause these electrical surges, and why do they trip the breaker? Below is a list of a few of the most common reasons that circuit breakers trip. For more information, contact an electrician.

Short-Circuits

Often detected by a burning smell inside your home, short-circuits are caused when a live wire touches a neutral wire and sends a short wave of electricity through the live wire and overloads the circuit. This results in a minor fire that is usually extinguished instantaneously but leaves a dark discoloration around the short. The circuit breaker will cut electricity to the offending wire immediately, which will also shut the power down to any appliance or switch that is connected to that wire as well. While it may be tempting to simply reset the breaker to get the power back on, you should have an electrician look at it to see what the cause of the short was.

Overloaded Circuit

Anytime you have too many electrical devices plugged into a power grid, it causes an overloaded circuit. Every grid is rated for a certain amount of electricity, so if you have multiple lamps or appliances plugged in the same outlet, it can draw too much power than the circuit allows. Instead of trying to increase the amount of electricity allowed to that area, you should unplug however many appliances and fixtures you need to keep the circuit from being overloaded again.

Ground Fault

Electrical wires travel along a certain path, and so the electricity almost always follows that same path. Unfortunately, there are other conductors of electricity besides the wire, such as water or even a human being. Anytime electricity travels along a different path to get the ground beside the electrical wire, it can cause a ground fault, which will trip the circuit breaker to cut off the power immediately. While doing so can prevent a fire, if that electricity travels through a human being, it can cause significant injury or even death, so it's important to be careful whenever you're working on any kind of electricity.