Electrical problems have the ability to greatly disrupt your life. They can be quite inconvenient, but they also have the potential to be very dangerous. Electrical problems can start fires in your home. Some people have the skills to do some work around the home such as plumbing and construction. However, electrical work tends to require the skills of a professional. Here are some of the warning signs.
Blown Fuses
Fuses are the connectors in your electrical system that make complete circuits deliver power to your different appliances. If you routinely have blown fuses you might have problems with your electrical system that requires the care of a professional. This is possibly due to overloading the circuits. When the circuits become overloaded, the fuses will blow to prevent damage to the entire circuitry and to your house itself. In a case such as this, you should search for the best electrician services that you can find.
Warm or Blackened Outlets
Many times you can identify a problem with your electrical system by simply checking the outlets inside your home. If you put your hand near the outlets or the back of your hand against the wall around the outlet you should be able to determine if they are warm or not. If they are warm, you might have a problem of overloading the circuits. Also, you should look and see if the circuits are discoloured. Discolouration of the plastic around the outlets could indicate that heat is warping or burning the plastic. This heat is caused by moving massive amounts of electricity through a circuit that cannot handle it.
The Octopus
If your outlets are starting to look like an octopus, you might be at risk for a problem. If you have wires and cables snaking out of the same outlet, you might be overloading the circuit. Many people in older homes have the problem of fewer outlets than they need. In the past, electricity did not control every aspect of technology, so older homes do not have as many outlets. This means that many of those in older homes plug power strips into their outlets. Power strips turn one outlet into multiple. If you have multiple power strips plugged into the same outlet and appliances attached to all of the outlets, you are running the risk of overloading the circuits.
An electrician can analyse your house and determine if you need to have new wiring run through the house. If you do, he or she can do the work and bring you into the 21st century.
Aluminium Wiring
For about ten years in the late 1970s and early 1980s, some homes were built with aluminium wiring. However, this quickly fell out of favour as it was revealed that aluminium wiring catches fire much easier than copper wire. If you have a house built during the late 70s or 80s, you might have aluminium wiring. This is not a problem in and of itself, but the wires should be inspected to be sure that they are safe.
