Every household uses electricity for lighting and running a variety of appliances. As electricity is dangerous, it is essential for every family to take care of electrical safety and maintenance. The electrical maintenance means to ensure that all your appliances and outlets are working correctly.
A single fault in the electrical outlet or appliance can lead to short circuit and lead to a fire. Therefore, it is critical to take care of electrical safety and maintenance in homes. Check out these tips for electrical safety that every family should follow.
Miniature Circuit Breakers
Every family should know the location of the main switch from which they can cut off the supply whenever required. Turn off the main switch every time you need to do some electrical repair to prevent the risk of electric shock.
Miniature circuit breakers (MCBs) are small switches that control the supply of electricity to individual circuits and areas in a house. MCBs come in handy when you want to work on an electrical outlet or fixture. MCBs also turn off automatically when a person gets an electrical shock to save them from danger.
Earthing and Polarization
Earthing is very important for every household as it sends the stray current into the earth and saves the person from electric shock. Sometimes, people touch the naked wires or connection by mistake, and they get an electric shock. Earthing can save a person from such situations as it allows the current to flow into the earth.
Polarization is the connection of live and neutral wires in plugs, switches and electrical fixtures. It means the correct connections of the positive and negative cables. A wrong polarization can damage the appliances or cause them to malfunction. Therefore, you must take care of the polarization while performing any repairs.
Loose connections
Sometimes the connections become loose and lead to overheating in the electric boards. The loose connections can be the cause of sparks, short circuits and fires. It is best to call a check and tighten all the connections every six months. While checking, you can also know about any worn wires and replace them.
So, next time whenever you see a switch or socket overheating or sparking, call a professional to check the connections. Also, stop using the overheating switchboards until you get them repaired.
Use the correct rating of devices
The electric boards and sockets in a house are rated for a current rating. Usually, there are three ratings for sockets 5A, 10A and 15A. The ratings may vary for different states, but the point is that you should use the appliances or correct rating. For example, you should not use a device rated 15 Ampere on a 10A or 5A socket as it can lead to overloading of that circuit.
Test for power before repairs
If you want to perform small repairs, you must check the power in the circuit before touching any wire or metal parts. Even if you have turned off the MCB, make sure you check the power using a tester device. Sometimes, people turn off the wrong MCB and get an electric shock from the wires. Therefore, it is essential to check the power using a tester before performing any repairs. The power tester device is available in all the stores selling electrical spares.
Do not overload the circuits
People usually connect multiple appliances to a single switchboard that is called overloading. Connecting too many devices to a single board causes that circuit to overload that leads to overheating or connections and wires. Overheating can lead to a fire that can be fatal for people in a house or office. Therefore, families should not connect more than recommend appliances to a switchboard.
Avoid using extension cords
Many people use extension cords to extend the reach of appliances to the switchboards. Now, an extension cord has multiple sockets that enable you to connect four to six devices, but the extension strip is connected to a single outlet on the switchboard. It can cause overloading of the circuit that can lead to overheating. Therefore, you should use the extension cords only if necessary and connect only one or two appliances to it to avoid overloading.
Call a professional for an inspection
The electrical issues occur in every household as the wiring gets old, and connections become loose with time. Therefore, it is essential to call a professional electrician for inspection every six months to check the wiring and switchboards. There are professional services like electrical maintenance Hervey Bay that you can call to conduct the inspection and fix the electrical issues.
Final Words
These are some tips for electrical safety in homes. Following these tips can enable families to make their homes electric safe and maintain their electrical wiring and equipment. Taking care of these things can keep your family safe from electric hazards.