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There's a number of simple things you can do in order to stay safe around the home.
Households these days are becoming more and more reliant on more and more electricity that many were simply not designed to cope with when they were first built. Especially now with more of us working from home in our day to day jobs.Whilst new homes will be built with modern safety devices such as RCD’s that are designed to help keep you and your family safe, there are still many thousands of homes, particularly on the Central Coast that may require an inspection to ensure things are still up to standard.
Residual Current Devices (RCD’s) aren’t the only thing you need to stay safe though, so whether your home is new, old or in between, here’s some things you can keep an eye on around the home that may indicate you need to contact an electrician.
1. High Electricity Bill
Does getting that bill in the mail or email every quarter give you anxiety, or worse, does it seem to be getting higher and higher despite not having made any major changes to your day to day living?Good news is, there’s a few things you can do;
- Switch to a new electricity supplier. Might seem obvious, but sometimes you just need to shop around. If you can find a better deal, absolutely go for it.
- Identify the underlying problem, there could be appliances or lighting in your home that has started to use more than it should or causing power surges.
- Hot water system could be on the way out or leaking
- Unplug chargers and appliances when you aren’t using them or just turn them off at the wall
- Potentially damaged wiring or circuits
- Swap out your light bulbs for energy efficient bulbs or better yet LED lighting.
2. Electrical Shocks
It doesn’t matter whether it’s minor or major shocks, electrical shocks are dangerous news and need to be rectified immediately. If you feel any sort of buzz at all, you need to call your local electrician ASAP.
It is recommended not to touch the appliance or switch again that caused the shock until your electrician has arrived and been able to properly assess the situation.
3. Circuits Keep Tripping
New homes, old homes, no one ever seems to have enough power points and one of the biggest causes of tripping circuits is overloaded power boards. Most homes are now at the very least fitted with circuit breakers so having them tripping means they are doing their job, albeit being inconvenient for you and your family.
Nothing is more frustrating than sitting down to your favourite Netflix show ready for a binge when suddenly your TV & internet all goes on the fritz.
Finding the fault however can be a different story. Most of the time it will be a high power device like a toaster, heater, hair dryer and most commonly these days a portable air conditioning unit.
It’s a good idea to unplug items before turning your circuit breaker back on and then plug them back in one at a time. If it trips again, you know you’ve found your source.
Depending on the appliance, it is recommended to dispose of it safely or have it repaired by a suitably qualified appliance repair business.
Other reasons your circuits may be tripping are:
- Daisy-chained power boards
- Too many devices on a single circuit
- Faulty wiring within the home.
4. Light bulbs keep going out or fading
These can actually be a tricky one to work out yourself and could be worth reaching out to a professional electrician due to the number of determining factors such as:
- Too high wattage on a dimmer switch
- Wiring on the switch
- Wiring on the lights
- Overheating down lights due to insulation and other factors
- Wiring too close to lights themselves
- Poor or loose connections
- Wrong type of bulb/lamp
5. Electrical Surges
Whilst many things completely out of your control can be the cause of an electrical surge on your home such as lightning and surges from the power grid, and can literally be over in under a second, it’s the things in your home that can be of equal danger to you. Faulty wiring, appliances, cheap or fault power boards can also be the cause and in any case if it is recommended to seek the advice of a qualified electrician particularly if occurrences become regular.
Surges can not only be hazardous to your health but also to your electrical appliances as they are simply not designed to withstand constant influxes of irregular power and will severely shorten their life.
So what can be done about fixing my electrical problem?
Whilst identifying the problem in many cases can be as simple as unplugging various appliances from your outlets, it should go without saying that you should never attempt to repair or modify any electrical problem yourself unless you are suitably qualified. Electricians such as your local Central Coast electrician Impact Electrical are level 2 electricians and can inspect any issue you may be having and even provide you with upfront pricing and complete guarantee for your utmost confidence.
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