I checked out the finished basement wiring for a friend's new-old home. All the 14 gauge wiring was connected to the 60AMP main breaker. No blown breakers/fuses there. The wiring would melt first.

I don't know the size of my service, but since I have an electric dryer it can handle at least one 240v appliance...everything else is either gas or 12ov circuitry.
When I mapped mine--a multi-day chore with two people and a radio--I found things on opposite sides of the house on the same circuit, and normally at least one ciruit per room, the only exceptions seem to be the upstairs bath and attic, which have one circuit each. The bath has only outlets in the light fixtures, but there is an outlet to the left of the door--out in the hall!

The wiring visible in the basement is almost entirely romex, except for one which goes under the center beam to connect two outlets in neighboring rooms--that is a very heavy black cable, either cloth or rubber, not sure which--but it has one big wire in it from what I can recall. Fortunately, neither outlet is used.

It was too insane looking at my map with outlets and lights drawn in and numbered to label the circuit breakers, so I keep the map on a shelf next to the washer where I can easily find it.

I am still puzzled by the wire which went to my now gone garage--there were three bare wires running out there from a metal conduit running by the back porch and they connected to a sort of 3 armed octopus thing at the house and at the garage end. Inside the garage there was an old rotary switch for the lights, which had been replaced with romex wire at some later date.

i found this to be such an important step in understanding my home. i found two or three circuits that serve apparently nothing at all (no, i don't have an attic fan). i flipped them off years ago and nothing has cropped up.

most every light fixture in the house and all the second floor outlets were on one circuit. i'm changing that, slowly. unfortunately, i still haven't found the other side of many light fixture K&T hot wires.

Had an HVAC/electrician in to discuss AC and wiring fixes ... he was really happy to get a map of what was where. It saved him several hours, and we could discuss what was needed better.

It's not as bad as I thought - most of what was done was done properly.

One of the oddball 220 circuits went to a baseboard electrical heater, and for reasons unknown was tapped into and used for an 110 outlet at the other end of the house.

The other was 220 for no good reason, that was split and being used as 110 for several things.