Preventive electrical maintenance is a vital part of home maintenance and ownership. People know to check other systems in their home like their HVAC system and water heaters, but you also need to maintain your electrical system. When electrical systems fail it’s not just annoying it can also be dangerous. Electrical fires are a serious hazard in the home and electrical maintenance play’s a big part in preventing fires and outages from occurring. Figuring out what type of electrical maintenance a house in BC should have can be difficult and overlooked quite often. Here are some electrical maintenance tips to help keep your home safe and in working order.
Hire an electrician to come once a year and inspect your electrical panel. The electrical codes for panels are updated regularly so if you don’t have someone coming to inspect it and ensuring it’s in good shape your panel may be out of date. An electrician will ensure that all the connections are looking good, and that the electrical panel is fit to serve your family for another year.
Check your electrical outlets for any heat or buzzing. These signs can indicate a loose connection and may cause an outage or fire. Even without noticeable noise and heat you should be testing your outlets anyway. You can purchase a plug tester that you plug into the outlet and a display light indicates whether your outlet is in good or bad shape. When testing a GFCI outlet, press the reset button, plug in your testing device, then press test. While you’re at it check outdoor outlets and cords to make sure they aren’t damaged, and replace or repair frayed wires and plug heads where needed.
You also have multiple safety alarm systems in your home that are designed to keep you safe. However these only work effectively if they are in working order. You should be checking your alarms annually at the least. This includes finding all the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in your home and running them through the test cycle. This will ensure that all the batteries are working and that the units are not compromised.
We always recommend hiring a certified electrician to inspect your electrical systems once a year. This will guarantee that nothing gets missed and that your home will be in proper working order. Get in touch with us today to schedule your annual electrical maintenance check. We’ll send someone over right away who can review your electrical system and make sure it’s up to date and functioning properly.
