SilverAlex
New member
Long-time lurker, first time poster, yadda yadda yadda.
Years ago, the neighbors had an outdoor security light installed by Dominion, mounted on the pole and connected directly to the line and not through the house panel. The new owners decided they didn’t want it, and had the power company come out to disconnect it. OK, fine so far.
To remove it, the lineman apparently decided to temporarily disconnect the 110 circuit it was attached to, which is also one of the two circuits feeding my house. The problem is, no one bothered to tell me, and I started to investigate why half the power in the house had gone out.
Which included starting the dryer, to see if it worked. Which it sort of did, presumably since 110 is enough to run the motor, but not the heat. And turning it on also backfed the de-energized half of the house, resulting in the lights that had gone out flickering back on.
Guessing what was going on, I went outside to make sure I hadn’t just killed someone. Good news: I hadn’t. Indeed, the lineman parked out of sight didn’t seem terribly concerned when I mentioned the issue.
However, am I right in thinking that he was taking some dangerous risks, since the disconnected circuit could actually have been live, thanks to me? Or is this really standard procedure if a 110 circuit needs work?
Years ago, the neighbors had an outdoor security light installed by Dominion, mounted on the pole and connected directly to the line and not through the house panel. The new owners decided they didn’t want it, and had the power company come out to disconnect it. OK, fine so far.
To remove it, the lineman apparently decided to temporarily disconnect the 110 circuit it was attached to, which is also one of the two circuits feeding my house. The problem is, no one bothered to tell me, and I started to investigate why half the power in the house had gone out.
Which included starting the dryer, to see if it worked. Which it sort of did, presumably since 110 is enough to run the motor, but not the heat. And turning it on also backfed the de-energized half of the house, resulting in the lights that had gone out flickering back on.
Guessing what was going on, I went outside to make sure I hadn’t just killed someone. Good news: I hadn’t. Indeed, the lineman parked out of sight didn’t seem terribly concerned when I mentioned the issue.
However, am I right in thinking that he was taking some dangerous risks, since the disconnected circuit could actually have been live, thanks to me? Or is this really standard procedure if a 110 circuit needs work?