Common Electrical Hazards in the Home

Electrical fires are the leading type of house fires in the United States. Sadly, there are an estimated 51,000 electrical house fires each year that result in 500 deaths and 1,400 injuries. The good news is that these fires can be prevented! If you know what to avoid doing, you can likely prevent a fire from breaking out in your home. Here’s everything you need to know about preventing an electrical house fire:

• Old wiring: Older homes tend to have a lot of issues. Some of them are big problems, and some are small. One of the biggest problems an old home faces is faulty wiring, which is the leading cause of house fires. Signs of bad wiring include lights flickering or dimming unexpectedly, breakers repeatedly tripping or warm outlets. The good news is that, nowadays, repairing or updating your old wiring isn’t as difficult as you might think—as long as you’re a trained residential electrician in Carlsbad, NM! Give us a call today to rewire your home and cut back on the chance that you have a fire.
• Plugged-in appliances near water: Liquid spills happen all of the time. They’re usually not a big deal, just a hassle to clean up. But you can have a big problem when that liquid gets near any plugged-in appliance. Don’t unplug that appliance if this happens to you! Instead, turn off the outlet the appliance is plugged into from your home’s electrical panel box. Unplug the appliance once the outlet is powered off and call an electrician for inspection.
• Wrong light bulbs: A light bulb is just a light bulb, right? Wrong! Using a light bulb with higher wattage than the lamp can handle can overload the lamp’s wiring, potentially causing a fire. Check your lamp before purchasing new light bulbs to ensure you’re buying the right wattage.
• Overloaded power strips: Power strips come in handy across your home when you need some more outlets for your appliances and gadgets. However, they can also be dangerous if there are too many high-voltage appliances plugged into them. You could easily start a fire if your power strip is full of appliances or if you plug two or more power strips together. To help prevent a fire, purchase a power strip with a circuit breaker that’ll trip if it becomes overloaded. It’s also not a bad idea to take a look at your power strips to ensure the wires aren’t frayed or damaged.
• Faulty appliances: Whether it’s a toaster, hairdryer, iron or any other appliance, you should never use it if it’s old or partially broken. Any faulty appliance is a huge fire hazard and should be replaced as soon as possible. It’s well worth your time to spend some money on a new appliance and save yourself from a house fire.

Don’t become a house fire statistic! Follow the instructions above and call a residential electrician in Carlsbad, NM to inspect your wiring if you think it may be getting too old. We’ll double check your wiring to ensure that everything is up to code and your home is as safe as possible.

Categorised in: Electrician