Fuse / Breaker Mix

Beren

This mid-50's house has a mix of breakers and fuses. The main panel is all breakers and was installed in '97. There are four secondary fuse boxes in the basement with two fuses each. One feeds the garage, one feeds the furnace, one feeds the outdoor A/C compressor, and one I haven't figured out what it feeds yet.

(I fear the latter may feed the outdoor lights, which all appear to be connected via 2-wire conductor in underground conduit, ending in bulbs covered by glass globes. I'm worried whether this might present a safety hazard if they get wet.)

Is there any real gain to combining some of those fuse boxes into a new subpanel? Or, since it works as is, should I leave it alone?

jwhite

How many homes are these circuits feeding?

__________________
Master Electrician

Beren

Heh. Just one. I don't know why fuse boxes were put at that location instead of a home run to the main panel, but I'm not an electrician. I guess it was easier for the home owner to tap into a nearby wire instead of running something new? Or maybe the panel was already full?