Your TV suddenly stops working. Your router dies for no obvious reason. Your fridge compressor fails years before it should. You assume bad luck. You buy a replacement and move on. What actually happened? A power surge — and there’s a very good chance it will happen again. Most homeowners think power surges are rare dramatic events caused by lightning strikes. The reality is far more unsettling: the majority of power surges happen inside your own home, silently and repeatedly, every single day. They’re too small to trip a breaker or blow a fuse, but cumulatively they degrade sensitive electronics

Your breaker box — also called the consumer unit or electrical panel — is the heart of your home’s electrical system. It controls every circuit in the building and protects your wiring from dangerous overloads. Most homeowners never think about it until something goes wrong. The problem is that when something goes wrong with a breaker box, the consequences can be severe. Outdated or failing electrical panels are one of the leading causes of house fires in the UK and US. The warning signs are usually there well in advance — you just need to know what to look for.