Things You'll Need:
- 100 watt light bulb
- lamps
- appliances
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Step 1
If you’re not sure if you need to be looking for a short circuit or not then ask yourself if one of your fuses has been repeatedly blowing out. If you can answer yes, then you probably have a short circuit.
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Step 2
So your fuse has repeatedly blown and you think it may be a lamp or an appliance. The first thing you should do is figure out where the problem is coming from. Before you do anything try this first, turn all of the wall and ceiling lights off as well as pulling all plugs for lamps and appliances.
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Step 3
Next you will want to screw in a 100 watt light bulb into the socket where the fuses have blown. If the bulb instantly lights up, it indicates you have a short somewhere in your house wiring and you should call an electrician.
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Step 4
However, if the bulb doesn’t light, start plugging in the lamps and appliances one by one watching for the effects on the test bulb. When a lamp is plugged in and turned on, if the test bulb lights to its full brilliancy but the lamp bulb does not light at all, this indicates the short is in the lamp.
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Step 5
If no short is present, both bulbs will light at half brilliancy. Only heavy wattage heating units and motorized units will become warm when subjected to this test, even though the test bulb may light to full brilliancy.
