• Fuses are made in a number of different styles.Fuse panel image by Charlie Rosenberg from Fotolia.com
  
  For many years, domestic electric systems were protected from fire hazards by fuses that screwed into a fuse box where the power entered the house. If a circuit had an excessive load placed on it, the circuit was designed to function as the weak point in the system, and it would blow out safely in order to prevent a more dangerous blowout in the wire itself.
  
  

Circuit Breakers

• The only problem with fuses was that every time they blew, they had to be replaced. This could be a problem if one blew and you didn't happen to have a replacement on hand. Fuses have now been replaced by circuit breakers, which serve the same purpose, but instead of blowing out they simply click off. The excess load is then removed from the circuit (for example, by turning off the three toasters you were using), and then the circuit breaker is turned back on.
  
  

Fuse Breakers

• A compromise between fuse technology and breaker technology is the fuse breaker. This is a fuse that has a trip in it rather than a metal strip that blows out. When the fuse trips, a button on its top can be pushed back in to reset it, in the same way that a breaker is reset. Fuse breakers allow the same convenience as a breaker, but can be used in an old-fashioned fuse box without the necessity of replacing the fuse box with a newer breaker box.
  
  

Bracket Fuses

• Bracket fuses work in the same way as screw fuses, but with a different means of attachment. Rather than screwing into a threaded socket, a bracket fuse has two metal ends, each of which is pushed into a claw-shaped bracket. The fuse then completes the circuit that runs between the two brackets. If the circuit is overloaded, the fuse breaks in between the two brackets, thus shutting down the circuit.