Whether you own a home or rent one, you probably use electricity every day. Switches, outlets, and lighting are the most common parts of a home’s electrical system you’re likely to interact with. Since electricity is part of our daily lives, it’s easy to take it for granted, but your home electrical system can’t be something you neglect. Read on to learn about why you should be sure to keep up on electrical safety inspections.
Benefits of Electrical Safety Inspections
Better Home Safety
First and foremost, by catching potential problems before they occur, you can help keep your home safe. Problems with wiring can cause inconvenience, but more importantly, they can pose major fire risks. Loose or warm outlets are a sign that something’s wrong, too. Early on, it might just be hard to keep things plugged in. Over time, though, the cause can escalate and lead to electrocution or fire.
GFCI outlets are particularly important. Designed to shut off if something interrupts its electrical current, they’re most often located in bathrooms, kitchens, and other areas where water and humidity are common. The minerals in water conduct electricity well, making it easier for electricity to transfer where it shouldn’t. If moisture creates a path for electricity to get to the ground through you, it can be fatal. Because GFCI outlets can respond in less than a second, they greatly reduce the risk of shock.
More Savings
Similarly, by having a professional inspect your system and find potential issues before they escalate, you can often save money. More extensive repairs will often be more expensive, and many of the potential safety issues above also result in large costs. Inspections may uncover a need for bigger projects, like rewiring your home entirely. Even if that becomes the case for your building, it will still be less of a burden in the long run than a fire or similar problems.
Longer-lasting Appliances
Electrical safety inspections don’t include a rundown of your appliances themselves, but they can impact how long your appliances will remain in usable condition. Some major appliances, like many washers and dryers, use a different type of outlet compared to the smaller kind you usually find in your home. Since you’re less likely to plug and unplug devices from those outlets, it’s easier to lose track of the outlets’ condition. Excess electricity can fry your electronics, so lowering the risk of short circuits and other issues can help save them.
What Is an Electrical Safety Inspection?
An electrical safety inspection is a task performed by a certified electrician. These professionals inspect your home’s electrical system’s components for faulty wiring and other hazards. Some of these components include:
- Wiring
- Switches
- Outlets
- Breaker boxes
When Should You Have a Safety Inspection?
It’s best to have an electrician perform a safety inspection every three to five years. However, there are other instances where an inspection is a good idea.
Additions to Your Home and Remodels
If you decide to make any modifications to your home that involve electricity, you don’t just need a professional to do the job. You also need to make sure they do a proper inspection once the work is done. It’s not just for your safety, either; add-ons to existing homes need to comply with city, state, and federal electrical codes. It could also play a role in insurance claims should anything happen.
Modern homes route electricity through an electrical panel somewhere on the property. That panel determines the amount of power that your home can harness; anything more than that and you’ll encounter problems. If you build a new addition to your house without increasing your home’s power supply to match, your power may fluctuate. You can even strain the system, which puts you at risk of fire.
Older Homes
If you have an older home, the electrical components are likely out of date. Your outlets may not be able to accommodate new appliances, or your panel might not have enough power for the ones you’re able to use. If your older home has knob and tube wiring, you may not be able to power modern appliances at all.
Even if someone had converted your home from a fuse panel to a circuit breaker, it’s more common for electrical systems in older homes to have issues associated with wear and tear. Where newer homes are often good with one inspection every 3-5 years, it may be a good idea to shorten those intervals if you have an older home.
Older homes also have unique sources of safety hazards. Since older homes often have aluminum wiring, which is prone to overloaded circuits and loose connections, a safety inspection can also eliminate shock and electrocution hazards. A certified electrician can suggest your next steps for upgrading to reduce many safety hazards.
Flickering Lights
If your lights begin to flicker, they could be on their way out, or a storm in your area could be impacting the electrical grid. Ruling those out, however, means that something is wrong with your electrical system. Because the specific cause can be hard to pinpoint, you’ll need a safety inspection to ensure the problem is taken care of.
Strange Smells or Sounds
Your electrical system should be pretty quiet overall. Outlets or switches that begin to buzz signal that something is wrong. Similarly, if you notice an acrid, burning smell and can rule out an active fire of some form, the culprit could be a wiring issue. It could be at an outlet, but it could just as easily be elsewhere, making an inspection more urgent.
How to Prepare for an Electrical Safety Inspection
Preparing your home for an electrical inspection is essential for getting the best results. Make sure you have the proper documentation, such as previous inspection reports, maintenance records, and electrical permits to help the electrician identify any recurring issues or any other home maintenance documents that can help the electrician get a better idea of your home’s maintenance schedule. You’ll also want to make sure there are no objects, including appliances, blocking any electrical components.
Create a list of any concerns you have, such as flickering lights, faulty circuit breakers, strange electrical smells, and other issues. An electrician can use this information to focus on specific outlets in your home. In general, an electrical inspection can take between two and four hours to complete, so if you have children or pets, make sure they are not in the inspection area to ensure their safety and prevent distractions.
At 3 Mountains Home Services, we want to ensure your and your family’s safety by correcting any current electrical issues and preventing problems in the future. We are members of the Trade Ally of Energy and Trust of Oregon, and we proudly provide our electrical service to Portland, OR and the surrounding areas. You can also look to us for plumbing and HVAC services. Contact us today to learn more about our electrical services.
