Would Your Charlotte Home Pass an Electrical Safety Inspection?

Most homes today use a variety of electrical appliances. These appliances put a lot of strain on the existing electrical systems within the house. While the system might have been up to code when the installation happened, each day that you use the system, it degrades it further. Homeowners need to perform regular electrical inspections to ensure their homes aren’t one fault away from going up in flames. A periodic review is vital because:

• It checks to ensure that none of the existing circuits are overloaded.
• It locates and pinpoints potential hazards that could lead to electrical shock.
• It can determine and identify any shoddy electrical work.
• It allows electricians to figure out if there is sufficient earthing

What Are the Most Common Defects Found?

Inspections try to cover all the bases, and will usually let you know if there are any apparent shortcomings in your wiring. In all our time working on home electricals, we’ve found a handful of defects show up more often than others. Some of these include:

• Wire overcrowding: Sometimes, wires within a pull-box might get in contact with other cables or insulation.
• Knob-and-Tube Wiring: These older electrical wiring systems were standard around the 1940s. Seeing them today isn’t nostalgic, just dangerous.
• Pull-Chain Lights: Another holdover from an earlier age, pull-chain lights are electrical hazards and should be replaced with wall switches.
• Outdated or Incorrectly Sized Wiring: You need to replace these as soon as possible.
• Shared Outlets for Major Appliances: Outlets can only take so much load before they shut down. Having heavy-use appliances on the same outlet is an invitation to disaster.
• No Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCIs): Lack of GFCIs, especially in areas prone to moisture, is a severe problem.
• Newer Appliances on Old Outlets: Another problem waiting to happen, as the older outlets may not be able to cope with the more modern appliances’ needs.
• Outdated or Failed Smoke or Fire Detectors: Without these early-warning systems, a fire could get out of hand before anyone can respond to it.

While these defects are the most common ones, they aren’t all of the problems we encounter in-home wiring systems. Homeowners need to be aware of the need for an inspection and should schedule one at intervals to ensure safety.

How Do I Know I Need an Electrical Inspection?

There are tell-tale signs that an electrical inspection is necessary. Some of them are:

• Your outlets are dead
• Breakers keep tripping
• Lights constantly flicker within your home
• It’s been so long since the last inspection that you can’t remember

Any of these should be a cause for concern. Instead of sticking a short-term solution on the problem, consult a professional electrician to perform a thorough electrical inspection. You can even get the electrician to give you a priority list of things that need to be solved immediately. LiveWire prides itself on being Charlotte’s premier professional home electricians. If you are having these kinds of problems, give us a call, and we’ll deal with it in no time.