When I find an electrical panel that has been professionally wired, and looks very neat and orderly----and the fact that the installer really cared about his/her work is obvious----it tends to stick out like a sore thumb or should I say like Heidi Klum or Cindy Crawford on a busy street.
Well this panel, at a recent inspection would qualify as the Cindy or Heidi of electrical panels. Contrary to even the most committed fantasies, all super models have their “defects.” This one had one defect as well. Take a look at this panel and see what a "super-model" she is.

Nice clean “lines.”
All components in the “right place.”
No excess “baggage" (well maybe a little)
Everything all “tied up” nice and neat.
And the “curves” of the lines are something to make one’s
skip a beat.
Even the novice “electrical voyeur” should be able to see that the wiring and circuit breaker at the bottom left side of the panel somehow just doesn’t fit in----doesn’t belong----or is inconsistent with the rest of the “package”-----WAY more than the mole that is considered the traditional symbol of imperfection in movie stars and super-models.
This is way more than a “mole.”
This double mole pole breaker represents one of the most serious electrical safety violations that can be committed in an electrical panel----one that could actually result in electrocution for some unsuspecting person.
This breaker and wiring have been installed to provide power TO the panel from an auxiliary generator.
Imagine if you will, that the power has gone out in the home, that the generator has been cranked up and the panel is now energized. You won’t miss that last episode of “Survivor” but you have no clue that power company crews attempting to restore power out at the street are exposed to deadly electrical shocks by the power you are “manufacturing” with your generator. This is because some amount of your generator’s power will be sent along the power company’s lines back to the transformer at the street----especially if the main breaker at your panel is not turned off. Even if you were smart enough to have turned it off, enough electricity can flow on the neutral wire back to the transformer (that has no disconnect) to result in electrocution and shock to workers at the transformer. The workers are missing “Survivor” so that you don’t have to. All they want to do is “survive.”
Properly installing generator back-up systems on a home’s electrical system is a lot more complicated than just plugging in a generator----and should never be attempted by unqualified persons.
It is best to nourish your fantasies-----to keep your eye on Cindy or Heidi (or Antonio Banderas or Richard Gere, for the lady readers)----and leave the installation of generator-interfaces to Licensed Electrical Contractors.
Charles Buell
Click on the Rose
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Charles, when I purchased my current home, I wanted to add a separate circuit in the basement for some of my tools. When I opened the electrical panel I called my wife down and said, "I know you don't understand this, but you have to see it. It's the neatest electrical job I've seen in all my years of building." Yes, some still take pride in their work.