While you may not be thinking about it yet, the holiday season is right around the corner. If you’re like many people, you’ll be lighting up your home to put everyone into the holiday spirit. To ensure that your electrical system is ready for the increased demand, we’re going to share our best electrical preparation steps with you below.
Inspect Your Outdoor Outlets
A great place to start your electrical prep is with the outside of your home. You want to assess each outdoor electrical outlet for damage. Make sure that every outlet is a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) outlet, as this is the only safe outlet rated for outdoor use. Take note of any burn marks near the socket holes or any discoloration of the faceplate.
If you notice any exposed wires or other problems, it’s important to have them evaluated by an electrician before you use the outlet again. If you will be using multiple power strips, when it comes to your outdoor holiday decorations, you may want to consider having additional outdoor outlets installed to ensure that you’re not overloading any of your circuits.
Inspect Indoor Outlets
Now is also the perfect time to go ahead and check over all your indoor outlets to ensure they’re in good working order. Some common issues you may run into are the outlet feeling hot to the touch, yellow burn marks on the cover plate, loose outlets, and outlets that simply don’t work. You should never let any of these problems go as they can lead to more serious issues like electrocution or a fire.
Just like the outside outlets on your home need to have a GFCI, so do outlets in any wet rooms of your home. These rooms include your kitchen, laundry room, and bathrooms. GFCI outlets are easily distinguishable because they have both a reset and a test button in their center. If you’re missing GFCI outlets in these areas, it’s highly advisable to contact an electrician to install them for you.
Inspect Your Panel Box
Your electrical panel box is the motherboard of your entire electrical system. It’s absolutely vital that your box is free of debris and easily accessible in an emergency. Every single breaker in your panel box should have a label attached to it that is very easy to read. This will ensure that anyone who comes to your panel box will know exactly what circuit breaker they need without having to have any previous knowledge of your electrical system.
Get Shrubbery Around Power Lines Trimmed
The main power lines coming into your home can be extremely dangerous when they get damaged. One of the best things you can do to help prevent this is to have any low-hanging branches or shrubbery near your power lines trimmed back. Even the healthiest of branches can break under severe storm conditions. You also want to check the weatherhead at your home to ensure that it’s secure and not corroded. Weatherhead is simply a term used by electricians to describe the location where your overhead power line connects to the side of your home.
Inspection Electrical Cords
Over time, it’s not uncommon for electrical cords to experience damage. This could be due to heavy foot traffic, coming into contact with sharp objects, or the insulation becoming brittle and breaking off. Now is a good time to inspect all of the electrical cords. This includes the cords for your appliances as well as any extension cords that you’re using. If you notice that there is visible cracking, a break in the outer insulation layer, or exposed wires, it’s best to unplug the item and have an electrical professional repair the cord for you.
Test Your Smoke Detectors
While you might not want to think about it, wintertime is the most common time of the year for home electrical fires to occur. To help ensure your family’s safety in the event that a fire does break out, you’re going to want to do a few things. First, you want to ensure you have a smoke detector on every level of your home and directly outside any bedroom. Do yourself a favor by putting in fresh batteries and hitting the test button on each smoke detector to ensure that it’s working properly.
Additionally, you’ll want to inspect your fire extinguisher to ensure it’s still valid and hasn’t expired. Most homeowners are surprised to learn that there are different types of fire extinguishers for various types of items. Electrical fires must be put out by a type C fire extinguisher. You can typically find residential fire extinguishers that are rated for types A, B, and C, which can be extremely helpful in putting out all different types of fires that may occur in your home.
Consider a Whole-Home Surge Protector
When your home experiences a power surge, it can result in damage to your electrical system and any components plugged into it. With power surges happening for a number of different reasons, like lightning striking a transformer in your area, it’s hard to always turn off the power to your circuits in time to prevent damage from occurring. One of the best things you can do for your home and all of your electronic devices is to invest in a whole-home surge protector.
Most people are familiar with individual surge protectors that go on specific appliances and devices, like a laptop charger. These devices help absorb excess power that flows through a circuit to prevent items further down the circuit from experiencing an overload. Instead of investing in individual surge protectors for different appliances, it can be advantageous to simply invest in a whole-home surge protector that will protect all your electronic circuits and everything plugged into them.
Get an Electrical Inspection
Just like all other systems in your home, your electrical system should undergo a regular inspection by a licensed electrician. In general, homes that are under 40 years old should get an inspection every three to five years. Homes that are older can benefit from an annual inspection due to their older system components. This inspection will help to test for any potential problems that your system may have so that you can have them fixed before they turn into major issues.
Consider a Whole-Home Generator
While experiencing a power outage at any time of the year can be frustrating, it’s especially dangerous in the winter months. If your heating system isn’t getting the power it needs to run, your home is going to get fairly cold and unsafe. One of the best backup plans you can have for dealing with power outages in the winter is a whole-home generator. These units can run on all different types of fuels like diesel or gasoline and be programmed to immediately turn on certain parts of your electrical system whenever a power outage is detected. A backup generator can help to ensure that your heating system can continue to run and keep your family safe while your main power is out.
Expert Outdoor Lighting Services and More
Absolute Electric offers expert lighting services for homeowners in Sterling, VA. We can also help with all your surge protection, EV charging, and ceiling and attic fans. Give us a call today to schedule an appointment.
