i have one that is very long and narrow in my laundry room, and i'm still working on the right thing for it i have a picture but it isn't big enough one thing to remember..they are metal..so you can hang anything on them with magnets..so if you make something or buy something that will fit..magnets make it a quick removal for getting to it.. a mirror or some art might be too heavy though so you would want to place a hook above the fuse box for those. there are a lot lot lot of those narrow longish mirrors out there in mirror land, they would be beautiful in a dining room..esp if there is room to put a plant and table or something in front to make a beautiful double viewed arrangement

The GFI and breaker serve two different functions. The simple description of the GFI is that is compares the current leaving with the current coming back. If they don't match, some current must be going somewhere else (like through you), and the GFI trips. It trips for even a small difference. On the other hand, the breaker protects the wire from too much current flowing through it even if the current going out matches the current coming back. A GFI wouldn't trip for a direct short from the 'black' to the 'white' wire, but the breaker would trip.

Are you hiring an electrician to do the change out? If so, he will easily be able to determine if your service entrance wires are the proper gauge for a larger service. If the service drop is the original from 1954, then more than likely it will only support 60 amps. However that being said, if you are going through the trouble of changing out the panel, you may as well spring for a new service drop that can support a minimum of 100 amps. Given you have an electric water heater and central a/c, I would go with a 125 or 150 amp service. If your budget is tight, then at the very bare minimum I would change out the sub breaker panel with the damaged buss bar. Sparking and loose connections have the definite possibility of starting a fire. As far as using 20 amps fuses, if you are 100% certain that all wiring on a circuit is #12 gauge, then 20 amps is acceptable. I would be surprised though if the builder used #12 for all circuits in 1954 though. Good luck.

As others have pointed out, the best fix is a rewiring job. You should definitely report the situation to the landlord. If he/she does nothing, there are a few things you can try. In many older houses, people kept adding on to one circuit. This was particularly true in the case of knob & tube wiring. In many cases, the add-ons were for items of low power consumption items such as lamps, electric clocks, radios, etc., and posed little or no overload threat. Then along came microwaves, washing machines, countertop appliances, etc., which did pose an overload problem. To get to the point, you MIGHT have one or two circuits that are overloaded, and sone circuits that are not. Perhaps one of those screw-in fuses is for a single receptacle for a window air conditioner. Since you wouldn't be using an A/C at the same time, perhaps you could plug in the heater there. As pharkus wrote, immediately replace the top 4 screw-in fuses with 15A fuses. The circuits MAY be good for 20A, but the wiring size would have to be verified. It is highly likely there is NO WAY there should be 30A fuses in the top 4. Once you replace all the fuses, including the 60A mains, remove the 15A fuses, one at a time, and see which lights and receptacles are not working. Keep a record of what is on each fuse. Maybe then you can determine if there is an underutilized circuit on which to use the heater. At any rate, you are probably pushing the limits of this 60 amp service, especially with an electric water heater and another electric 240-volt appliance (if there is one. That is what the other cartridge fuse holder is for, possibly an electric range or dryer.) Monitor closely. If the landlord does not address the situation, and you get the burning smell again, call the fire department. Seriously.