[PaperBagger'14]

Answers for a bunch of electrical questions here:

Photon

1) All electrical work is to be permitted. One of the first rules in the code book says any installation, maintenance, repair or alteration has to be inspected. This causes a grey area as it would backlog inspections for someone changing a bulb.

2) 200A seems very high, there's a load calculation that I can do for you but with a 1200 sq ft house I can almost guarantee a 100A disconnect would suffice.

Mrkajz44

Check all outside plugs for a gfci and hit test then reset. Often to save money only 1 gfci will be used and they can be run in parallel from each other. If it seems faulty (gfci trips immediately) try replacing just the gfci plug first, it might have just been the electronic components going bad. Next, take off every outside plug and look for signs of arcs, the problem may be there. Also check and see if the wires going into the plugs are wrapped around the screws or plugged into the back of the outlet. I've seen many problems with them being inserted into the back. Lastly if there is no exterior gfci plugs, check the basement for a dead front. A dead front looks the same as a regular gfci with no outlets on it and they are generally mounted next to the panel. Hit test and reset.

Also if you're looking at buying a circuit tracer make sure it can work on dead circuits. Many are only able to work on live circuits and that's not always helpful.

You Need a Thneed

You should replace them to afci's. If you are still using incandescent bulbs in these bedrooms I would advise changing the lamps to LED as incandescent and fluorescent bulbs are prone to nuissancely trip AFCI breakers (afci detects arcs and that is what is used to create light inside of CFL bulbs).

/Phew