elecric-lighting logistics problem

[Matt]

I have just moved into a new house. The fusebox is in the basement and I am in the basement. There are three upstairs bedrooms, and the builder has informed me that there is exactly one fuse for each bedroom. I see three fuses marked "upstairs bedroom", but I don't know which fuse goes with which bedroom.

I was upstairs a few minutes ago, and there was in each bedroom an electric table lamp turned on and lit up. The basement has no windows, and from the basement I can't see any of the bedroom windows or any of the light from any of the bedrooms. I have a flashlight. I want (without anybody's help) to match the fuses to the bedrooms, leaving the basement only once.

Is this possible?

[Bill]

Yes, unscrew one bedroom fuse then wait a few minutes. Then unscrew another bedroom fuse then go upstairs.

The light which is still on is the fuse still screwed in. The light out which is cooler to the touch is the first fuse unscrewed. The light out which is warmer is the second fuse unscrewed.

[Terry]

"m Ransley" wrote in message news: [e-mail]...

Yes it's possible. There's probably a dozen ways, at least, but here's three ................. Method A) Alone in house plug in a radio into each room in turn. Have it 'loud'; go down and remove one fuse at a time. When radio goes quiet that's the fuse for that room (or at least that outlet or lamp!). Do that twice (or three times if you don't believe what previous owner told you about three fuses one for each room). unless you live in a huge mansion you can whether a radio is on or not in an averagely quiet house. Method BE) Plug in a long extension cord to each room in turn and trail the end down to the basement, plug in a bulb or anything at all ( vacuum cleaner, electric drill or fan or what have you!) in the basement where you can see or hear it from the fuse panel. remove one fuse at a time; repeat as required. A 50 footer should be long enough to get the electricity close enough to you to tell if it's on/off. Do it a night if necessary in a darkened house; easier to see if your indicator. I have a green bulb that I sometimes use for testing if power on a circuit, harder to confuse with other light sources! Method C) Enlist help of a small person ( anything over age 4-5 will do) Plug in a lamp or turn on the lights in all the rooms. Put child in one room at a time, have child bang on the floor with a shoe or hammer or anything at all when that you remove fuse for that room and the light goes out. Repeat as required; tell child to move to another room by yelling up the stairs. Or better still, use a pair of those FRS (Family radio service) walkie-talkies to communicate with child. Great fun and educational too. Over to you! Terry.

[Joseph Meehan]

In addition to the suggestions made there are also tools made to do this.

Be careful however. Double check. I used the trick of turning off one circuit at a time until the light went out, only to find out later the lamp had burned out. That was exciting, but I don't recommend it.

Also remember that each bedroom may share circuits with another. This is actually a preferred thing. Then if one circuit goes out, your still have some power to that room. It also means you have access to two circuits in the same room if you need to run two how power machines in the one room at the same time.