If too great an electrical load is added to a circuit, this link will melt and prevent a dangerous overload. If you put in a fuse with too heavy a link, it will not melt in time, and the wiring and equipment may be damaged. Therefore the right size of fuse is very important, and is something that you should check in your own home. See the chart above for the right fuse for each size wire. Make a Circuit Chart At one or more places in your home there is a box or panel containing the fuses or breakers for the various circuits. Attached to the inside of the door of each such panel should be a chart something like this: [Illustration] +-----+---------------------+-----------+ | No. | Description | Fuse size | +-----+---------------------+-----------+ | 1 | Range | 40 | +-----+---------------------+-----------+ | 2 | Kitchen Outlets | 20 | +-----+---------------------+-----------+ | 3 | Dining Room Outlets | 20 | +-----+---------------------+-----------+ | 4 | Living Room Outlets | 15 | +-----+---------------------+-----------+ | | | | +-----+---------------------+-----------+ | | | | +-----+---------------------+-----------+ Notice that in our chart we have made columns for a description of what each circuit serves, its number or position in the panel, and the proper size fuse for it. Because most such charts leave out this last very important bit of information, you should make a complete new chart, like the one shown. Provide as many lines as there are fuse positions. Paste or tape it to the inside of the panel door. Then, ask permission of your parents to disconnect all the circuits by unscrewing the fuses or flipping the circuit breakers. _Do not touch anything but the fuse rim._ Then reconnect them, one at a time, to find out what each circuit serves. Turn on as many lights as you can, to help you in your detective work. Use a test lamp at those outlets that do not have a light connected to them. Write two or three words describing each circuit on the proper line on your chart. On a separate sheet, keep track of the appliances and lights that are on each circuit, and add up the watts. (If the name-plate of any appliance gives "amperes", "amps", or "A" instead of watts, just remember that amps times volts equals watts.) This will tell you if any of them are overloaded. Show this sheet to your parents. Check the Wire Sizes _Disconnect the main switch_, and determine the size of the wires in each circuit. Don't include the insulation in your measurement. _BE CAREFUL! Even though you have disconnected the main switch, the wires coming into it are still "live". So, do not touch any wires. Instead hold the wire size chart near them so that you can tell which gauge each one is._ Write in the proper size fuse for each circuit on your chart.