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Five Electrical Safety Facts Every Home Owner Should Know

6/14/2015

17 Comments

 
Electricity is such a fundamental part of our everyday lives that we hardly ever think about how it works or any safety issues that could occur as a result of our plugged-in homes. Here are five electrical safety facts that you should know to protect your family and your home.
1. If lights flicker or dim repeatedly, you should call an electrician.
Flickering or dimming lights signifies an overload and a professional should be contacted. Power outages due to power line accidents, strong wind, storms or extreme heat also can cause brief interruptions. You can call your power company to find out details on the situation, or check your circuit boxes for those outages. You also should call your electrician if you are constantly resetting circuit breakers or changing fuses, smell burning electricity or need to replace faulty wiring.

2. If you do lose power, turn off all appliances to prevent a circuit overload when electricity is restored.
Your house may temporarily lose power due to weather issues or even on hot summer days of high demand. If you experience an outage, it is important turn off all of the appliances in your house to prevent a circuit overload or even another outage when the power is restored. Electric companies recommend leaving one lamp on so that you'll know when the power is back.


3. House wiring eventually needs to be replaced.
Depending on the amount of use, insulation on house wires can become frayed or broken, creating a fire hazard. If you have any doubts about your wiring, have a qualified electrician perform a complete inspection. Houses built between 1965 and 1973, in particular, are at risk because many were built with aluminum wiring, which the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says is 55 times more likely to reach “fire hazard conditions” than regular copper wire.

4. A circuit breaker is not designed to protect against a ground fault.
Circuit breakers are designed to protect against high levels of electrical current caused by a short circuit. Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCIs) protect against ground faults, when current leaking from an appliance goes to ground through a person touching the appliance. Even a small amount of current passing through a person this way can be lethal; a GFCI will trip if there’s a ground fault, whereas a circuit breaker won’t.

5. You can damage a power tool by using the wrong size extension cord.
If your electric lawn mower, hedge trimmer, or leaf blower doesn’t get enough power, either because the extension cord is too thin or too long, the motor can be damaged and eventually destroyed. Also, overloading an extension cord can cause a fire or shock hazard. Be sure to use a cord rated to provide the proper amperage the tool requires, which is listed on the tool.

Just a little electrical knowledge can go a long way.  Remember, when dealing with electrical issues in your home, safety should be your number one priority.

For more information and tips, visit capecodbuilders.org.  Some material in this article was provided by the Leviton Institute.
17 Comments
stephen novak
8/31/2015 05:06:07 am

reworded to clarify ..1 . flickering lights may [OR MAY NOT] be an overload but can be a caused by other problems. 3 . house wiring does not need to eventually replaced, only problematic circuits. 4 Circuit breakers are designed to protect against [Ground Faults] Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCIs) protect [ PEOPLE] against ground faults conditions.

Reply
Zotektools link
9/11/2017 04:46:53 am

I like where the tip is about switching off the appliances when electricity goes off. The reason where electricity does most damage when it restores and sometimes the voltage comes too high so the appliances are in direct way and they get burnt.

Reply
business listing in india link
9/12/2017 08:36:30 am

These electrical safety tips are really helpful for the home owners that are looking for full proof plan from electricity. The tips are to the point and the article is not too long which is really good.

Reply
Digital Multimeter link
12/20/2017 04:52:41 am

The dangers of electrical hazards can be lethal for life. You will see the news every now and then about the mishaps in the house due to electrical negligence. These tips can certainly help in keeping the house members safe.

Reply
Hilton Electrical Perth link
3/19/2018 03:53:33 am

These safety tips are really helpful and it is worth reading for. Thanks for this information you have shared, it was really helpful.

Reply
Fluke Bangladesh link
11/3/2018 02:11:39 am

One of the best articles ever I have been read. I like the way you present your article. Very informative & very professional. In electrical safety tools, we distribute fluke test and measurement tools. Our official website is https://fluke.com.bd/. Surely you can visit here and get the new result that you are looking for.

Reply
Fluke link
11/10/2018 03:21:15 am

One of the best informative article. I like the way you present your article. In your article, you represent the core things. In electrical safety purpose, https://flukebangladesh.blogspot.com/ site provides the safety issue things. Anyway, thanks for your article. Keep it up.

Reply
Jack link
12/10/2018 04:20:56 am

I express my gratitude to the writer for sharing such useful information. Maintaining Electrical safety at home, workplace or any construction site is a major concern. As per National Safety Council, estimated 600-1000 people die each year from electrocution. I would like to add one more safety tip that is shut down the main power source safely to reduce further damage.

Reply
Bob link
2/14/2019 10:17:33 pm

I didn't know that insulation could become frayed. My house is falling apart and the electricity situation is a joke. I'll have to consider hiring an electrician so that my house is put back together.

Reply
Hudson Electrical link
2/25/2019 03:33:03 am

Wonderful post! A lot of people die each year due to fire accidents so it is very important to aware people about maintaining safety at home or workplace to ignore fire accidents. Many people try to fix electric issues by themselves without having any professional skills. Most home improvement tasks should be done only by a technical person.

Reply
Camille Devaux link
4/4/2019 07:21:01 pm

It is nice to know that you can get an electrician to take a professional look at the system. This is a great way to avoid damaging the system by using the wrong extension chords while trying to fix it on your own. My sister might like knowing this as she looks into getting an electrician.

Reply
Paul Bigham link
4/8/2019 08:40:30 am

Cut off the power. Avoid using extension cords for long periods of time. Childproof your outlets. Don't overload your outlets. Warm outlets are not a good sign.Keep up the great work!

Reply
Jenna Hunter link
5/31/2019 04:43:35 pm

I really liked the electric safety facts that everyone should know. This would be really helpful for my cousin who is having electricity problems. Getting her some professional help would be really nice.

Reply
electrician south auckland link
6/1/2019 06:24:08 am

I agree that much can be learned from this electrical Safety
Facts,Thanks for sharing it not just for me but for everyone.

Reply
Jenna Hunter link
6/5/2019 07:41:06 pm

I like what you said about how flickering or dimming lights can signal an overload and can require a professional's help. My mom was complaining about how her lights are always flickering and being weird. I'll be sure to let her know that she should call an electrician as soon as she can to prevent more damage.

Reply
Electrician in East Auckland link
6/29/2019 08:25:19 am

Really the blogging is spreading its wings rapidly. Five Electrical Safety Facts, views in the constantly evolving area of persistent pain condition

Reply
Pro Remodeling link
7/16/2019 12:21:16 pm

Hey , Nice Content, Very informative article.
<a href="https://proremodelingquotes.com/">Home Window Installation</a>

Reply



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    Christine Duren, Executive Officer-HBRACC

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