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If you are a new homeowner or even an experienced one, learning the importance of electricity safety is important to ensure you have a safe home you and your family can enjoy. As the saying goes “better safe that sorry”, this goes very well for electrical safety. You need to give your home a checkup to ensure that everything is working smoothly. From your wiring, to circuit breakers, outlets, and plugs, it is very important that everything is working safely and in good condition. You also want to keep in mind that electricity is no game to play with. You need to know that electricity is powerful and we need to have a deep respect for it by learning, having the right tools, or simply calling a professional to handle it if we do not have the knowledge. Here is a list of some things you should watch out for to make sure your home is wired safely:

Burnt Fuses and Tripping Breakers?

If your fuses burn on a regular basis and your breakers are tripping frequently, it’s time you call a professional to take a look at your home. There may be a short circuit or another underlying electrical issue that could be causing this, and also putting you and your family in potential harm. Make sure you get an electrical inspection by a real electrician that knows what they are doing.

Be Sure Circuits are Grounded

You would be surprised at home many older homes do not have grounded circuits. This all comes from homeowners long ago doing electrical work themselves or hiring their buddy to do the work. You need to make sure that all of your circuits are properly grounded and that the wiring is connected to a ground wire in your home. If you are unsure of how to do this, consider calling a professional. One of the best electricians in Los Angeles once told me it’s better to pay more and have peace of mind than to cheap out and risk harming yourself or a family member. We tend to agree!

Protect Outlets from Children

If you are a young family with children or if you have grandchildren coming over, it’s important to protect outlets but putting outlet protectors or replacing them with tamper-resistant outlets. By doing so, you will instantly make your home a lot safer for yourself and also your little ones.

Keep Cords Away from Heat Sources

Make sure that all of your plugs, electrical cords, and extension cords are kept far away from heat sources such as a burning fire, radiator, or space heater. You do not want a heat source heating any electrical cords and possibly sparking a fire. You also want to avoid placing cords under furniture, rugs, or blankets because this could potentially be a fire hazard if there is a spark from the electricity source.

Keep Eye on Suspicious Activity

Any suspicious activity with your electricity is a good reason to get it checked out. Dimming lights, flickering lights, sizzling sounds or a burning smell is a good enough reason to call in a professional to check out your home’s wiring. These problems will never go away on their own, they can only get worse. If you do not have the knowledge to check your home’s wiring on your own, call a pro to handle the job!

Renovating Your Home

If you are starting home renovations, now is the perfect time to take a look at your home’s electricity and possibly update some things that need updating. For example, tamper resistant outlets are now required by code in all new homes, so it would be well worth replacing your outlets with these ones. Check out the new electrical codex of your county and update your home’s wiring to the latest safety standards.

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Homes dating back to the early part of the 20th century used a different type of wiring system than is used in homes today. Homes built today utilize circuit breakers to control the electrical circuits in the home, but in the past, knob-and-tube wiring connected to a fuse box was the only electrical system available. These old wiring systems use 2 wires that are separated by insulating knobs to keep them from touching. Knob-and-tube wiring does not utilize a ground wire. Never try to repair problems with your knob-and-tube wiring on your own. If you need electrical repair Utah, call a licensed electrician.

Is Knob-and-Tube Wiring Safe? 

Knob-and-tube wiring is old, and it doesn’t have a ground, but that does not necessarily make it unsafe. The threat of danger is mainly to your appliances and electronics if they were to experience a power surge. A modern home has a ground wire that runs along with the wiring and deep into the ground to send power surges out of the home. You can lessen the threat of damage caused by power surges by installing GFCI receptacles that will shut off power if they sense a surge. Just like modern electrical systems, older systems can have problems that present a danger. If you suspect there is a problem, call a professional. Knob-and-tube electrical repair in Utah is available.

Issues With Knob-and-Tube

There are some common problems you might be able to identify without handling the wiring system. Be on the lookout for the following:

•       Exposed metal in the wiring from damaged insulation
•       Unsoldered splices
•       Fuses in the fuse box with high amperage, which would be over 20

Any of these situations could present a hazard and should be inspected by licensed electrical repair in Utah.

Replacing Knob-and-Tube

The insulation around knob-and-tube wiring is made of rubber or cloth covered in asphalt. Both of these materials will degrade over time, which means at some point, if you plan to stay in your home for a long time, you should think about updating the wiring. Also, knob-and-tube wiring was never meant to handle the electric loads of the modern homeowner. Updating the wiring is something that can be done over time. You can even do it a room at a time to make it more affordable. For now, your old wiring may be fine. If you’re just moving into a new home, have the wiring examined for wear. If there is a problem, a licensed team can perform your electrical repair in Utah.