As a Top Plano Electrician, I know better than anyone how powerful and useful electricity is. It also makes me more aware of what most people tend to ignore or forget: electricity is dangerous. Electricians are required by law to carry insurance, and for good reasons. Electric current is capable of starting fires and destroying your property and equipment in a matter of moments. The proper safety precautions really can save lives, and there‘s always something we can do to improve home safety.

One of the most important precautions is located in your electrical panel: the circuit breaker. It is designed to keep you from using more electricity than the wiring or receptacle can handle at one time, what we refer to as overcurrent protection. This protects your wiring from taking on too much current, which can cause the coating around your wiring to melt, the leading cause of electrical fires. Circuit breakers serve another purpose as well; not only to protect from surges coming from outside your home, but from potential hazards within it as well. Current flowing through a failed piece of equipment or appliance can cause sparks, which have the potential to start fires or damage other electrical devices. A properly functioning circuit breaker can shut off the power to this device. It’s very important, however, that you use a circuit breaker of the proper size for the circuit to ensure that your wiring is properly protected.

Circuit breakers come in specialty varieties as well; the most important are ground fault circuit breakers (GFCI), for wet locations, and arc fault circuit breakers (AFCI). AFCI’s, in particular, can help prevent some of the most common dangerous situations in your home.

I’ve dealt with plenty of cases where electrical fires have started because people ran an extension cord under the carpet, so that they can power the lamp in the center of the room. Over time, people walking over the cord stretches out the wiring, making it so thin that the current overloads the thinly stretched wire, creating an arc fault; the electricity “jumps” the wire, completing the circuit in a way the cord can’t handle and generating heat that starts a fire. Arc fault circuit breakers prevent this by shutting the circuit down when the arc fault occurs.

So what do you need to know about arc fault circuit breakers? To start with, by code AFCI’s should be installed on any circuit that isn’t protected by a GFCI or directly wired into an appliance. It’s in your best interest to have your safety devices routinely inspected to maintain their optimum performance and capabilities; in particular, your circuit breakers should be inspected at least once a year. The inspection process is quick and relatively inexpensive, and something that simple really can save the lives of you and your family.

All households are trying to remain warm during the colder months. As such, the likelihood of experiencing a house fire increases during the winter. Fortunately, you can reduce your chances of having a house fire by following the following safety strategies.

Many home fires start when sparks from a fireplace ignite flammables that are too close to the hearth. If you have a fireplace, you can reduce your chances of experiencing a house fire by removing any flammables close to your fireplace. 

Additionally, you must prevent embers from flying out of your fireplace. Installing glass door fronts on your fireplace will prevent sparks from coming into contact with flammable materials.

An electric motor is a machine that uses the concept of conversion of energy and consequently converts electric to mechanical energy. The main parts that help propel the process are the rotor, stator, windings, air gap and commutator. The approximate efficiency of an electric motor is 70%-85% (extra energy is taken by the sound and heat emitted by it).

Whether for tasks as huge as building high rises, to ones as commonplace as warming food, electric motors play a significant role in our lives.

Electric motors, both large and small, can be used in a number of ways in residential and industrial applications.

Here are the general and specific requirements that need to be followed in order to install an electric motor:

Given just how much we depend on electricity nowadays, it’s normal to look for a quick solution for your home electrical repair needs. As fast as doing it yourself might seem, calling in an electrician will always be the best course of action. Everyone wants to save money, but hiring a professional for home electrical repair isn’t an expense you should try to avoid.

Basic knowledge and skills might be enough for various other types of repairs, but when it comes to electrical work, it just isn’t enough. Aside from the obvious dangers involved, you could cause the kind of damage that defeats the purpose of trying to cut costs in the first place.

A licensed electrician can diagnose your problem quickly. Beyond that, an experienced professional will resolve your problem in a way that will ensure it doesn’t come back. Unfortunately, even if you or your friends are good with tools, you can’t make that same promise. Trying to fix the problem yourself can make it worse, and when you finally call an expert in the price tag will be much harder to stomach.

The job could also become much lengthier, along with additional hours of frustration as the electrician corrects your mistakes in addition to the original problem. When it comes to electrical work, it takes only the smallest error to cause a big issue. Even an incorrectly placed wire could cause extensive — and expensive — damages. These issues could endanger your safety and prolong the duration of the repair job.

Experts will also have equipment in their arsenal that allows them to complete the job faster and more effectively than any amateur. As such, trying to save time by attempting repairs yourself is only going to achieve the opposite.

Even if you’re skilled enough to address what appears to be the issue plaguing your electrical system, you might still be doing more harm than good. Sometimes performing a minor repair, even one that seems to resolve the problem, only covers up a much more serious underlying issue. This can lead to a much bigger headache down the line, as the hidden problem will only worsen as you mistakenly believe everything is okay. Long-term issues like these become a time-consuming hassle to get repaired. Not only that, but they can also be extremely expensive if allowed to persist for too long.

You can avoid all that if a professional handles the home electrical repair in the first place. An expert electrician will catch the warning signs, even the subtle ones, and pinpoint the real issues at work. Sometimes, in spite of how you may feel, a quick fix is actually the last thing you need. Getting the problem repaired the right way so it won’t come back is much more important than reaching a speedy resolution.

Also, experienced professionals will not focus only on the home electrical repair that seems necessary. Instead, they assess the full picture when they work, which includes looking into the condition of your entire electrical system. This, apart from allowing for a more thorough and effective repair, can help them identify future problem areas. The earlier a pro spots the issue, the more easily it gets resolved.

Performing your own home electrical repair is an extremely risky move. This isn’t just because of the extra expenses associated with mistakes, or because you’d only make the problem worse. No, the most important reason you shouldn’t try to perform your own electrical repairs is safety!