What dangers could be lurking inside your home? And how can you keep your family safe? One of the biggest risks in modern homes is electricity. It can cause electrocution, of course, but it can also cause electrical fires. Are there electrical safety hazards putting your home and family at risk? What can you do about them? Get help from an electrician! Here’s what you should know.
Electrical Fires
The National Fire Protection Association approximates that each year in the US, 50,000 house fires are caused by electricity. This leads to $1.4 billion in losses and property damage and, tragically, more than 500 deaths annually. Many of these fires could be prevented with some care and investment in a home’s electrical system.
Electrocution
4,000 Americans experience electrical injuries each year, including about 400 who are electrocuted in their homes. Half of these home electrocutions are fatal, costing the lives of another 200 Americans annually. The largest share of these incidents are caused by exposure to wiring that is exposed or damaged.
How an Electrician Can Help
Someone with extensive training in home electrical wiring, appliance safety, and risk reduction can assess your home, helping to identify any areas where unnecessary hazards exist. They can repair or replace any wiring, outlets, switches, fixtures, or panels that pose a threat to your home and your family.
If you’ve never had this done in your home, schedule this service with a reliable electrician right away. It’s a good idea for any homeowner to do, especially considering how many homes still have old knob-and-tube wiring, which is insulated with a wrapping of rubber and cloth. Rubber becomes brittle with age, the covering on the wires cracks, and live wires are exposed.
Elevated Risk
While an electrical inspection is the best plan for any home of any age, there are some situations that pose an elevated risk. Is your home in peril?
- Age: Knob-and-tube wiring was used as recently as the 1970s.
- Panel Manufacturer: Electrical panels made by a company called Federal Pacific have been determined to be unsafe. Check your circuit breaker box for the manufacturer label.
- Unreliable Power: Does your home experience outages, brownouts, or frequently-tripping circuit breakers?
- Lighting Issues: Flickering lights or bulbs that burn out more often than they should can indicate that the fixtures or the wiring are in trouble.
- Switch or Outlet Concerns: Sparks, arcs, shocks, scorch marks, or plates that are hot to the touch are a serious concern.
- Lack of GFCIs: In places near water, like bathrooms and kitchens, the outlets must be a certain type, called GFCIs, for safety. If you have ordinary outlets in these areas, they should be replaced.
- Sounds and Smells: Odors of smoke, melting plastic, or fish, or sounds like buzzing, clicking, or crackling indicate serious electrical hazards.
Your family is too precious to risk! Get help from a professional electrician in Skokie, IL.
Contact ServiceMax with any questions about your electrical system.