Many homeowners know the pride and satisfaction that results from completing DIY repairs and improvements. But when it comes to electrical work, the stakes of making a rookie mistake can be high.

There are several common electrical projects that aren’t complicated or extensive, but even the simplest jobs can result in serious injury or property damage if they’re performed improperly. Before making any plans to engage in a DIY electrical project, it’s important to know the risks.

What Can Go Wrong

Electricians undergo an enormous amount of training in order to earn the licenses and certifications they need to do their work. That’s because mistakes could not only be dangerous for them, but also for anyone in the homes or buildings they’re working on. Even if you know your way around the circuit box, here’s what an electrical mishap can bring:

Hiring Electricians Saves Money

One of the most common reasons why electrical novices attempt this sort of work is to save money. But that plan can easily backfire even if no one gets hurt in the process.

Poorly performed electrical work can spark destructive fires. It can also fry circuits, destroy fixtures and even damage major appliances. When things go wrong, the cost of repairs is usually several times what it would cost to hire an electrician in the first place.

Making matters much worse, homeowners insurance companies will typically ask for confirmation that electrical work was performed by a licensed electrician before covering any damage from a related event. If your insurance carrier learns that you did the work on your own to save a few dollars, you could lose your claim or even invalidate your policy. Be sure you understand your full policy details before engaging in DIY work.

Know the Code?

When you hire an electrician, you’re not just passing the risk along to a professional -- you’re hiring someone who has knowledge you don't even realize your lacking.

Electrical work is constantly getting safer and more reliable through updates to the electrical code. Licensed electricians are required to keep up with this code as it evolves, so when you work with a professional, you can count on receiving the safest electrical work possible. When you go it alone, you may follow outdated methods because you weren’t aware of the code update.

Don’t take a chance. Your life and home are too valuable. When you need electrical work performed safely and properly, call upon your knowledgeable, licensed, local electricians.

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Kauai’s electrical grid surges affect the life span of our computers, appliances, and other electronic equipment. Power surges can also completely roast the internal electronic parts during a storm or utility fault.

A whole house surge protector installed by a licensed electrician will greatly decrease the risk of power surge destruction.

Blue Sky Electric offers a quality whole panel surge protector for your home or business (parts and labor)

Guarding against surges requires a two-pronged approach: a whole-house suppressor to tame the big, dangerous power spikes and an individual circuit (or “plug-in”) surge suppressor for vulnerable appliances and electronic devices. Both types essentially act like pressure-relief valves. Normally they just sit there, allowing electric current to flow through them. But with higher-than-normal voltage, the devices instantly divert excess voltage to the ground wire. (The best ones react in less than a nanosecond.) As soon as voltage levels return to normal, the flow of electricity is restored, unless the surge was big enough to melt the fuse built into some units.

Typically, whole-house suppressors are hard-wired to the service panel, a process that takes a licensed electrician about two hours. Whole-house systems should be rated to stop a 40,000-amp surge, at minimum. Features to look for include thermal fuses, and lights or alarms that indicate when a device has taken a hit. Protection for an average house with 200-amp service will run about $500 — including a couple of hours of an electrician’s labor. Separate but smaller whole-house units are recommended for the phone and cable lines. These protect fax and answering machines, televisions, and modems.

By themselves, whole-house suppressors can’t stop surges completely; up to 15 percent of excess voltage may leak by. That’s where “plug-in” surge protectors come in. These buffers between individual appliances and wall outlets come in a bewildering array of options and prices. They range from $70 units not much bigger than a computer mouse to $350 units the size of a pizza box that guard all the components in a home theater. But most plug-in models fall into three basic categories: the familiar multi-outlet power strip; the multitasking surge station that can handle phone and cable jacks as well as power cords; and the UPS (uninterruptible power supply), which completely cleanses electric power of random fluctuations and provides a short-term battery backup in case the power dips or goes out entirely. Expect to pay between $20 and $70 for a quality power strip or surge station, and from $100 to $250 for a UPS.

The DC area is likely to see more rain over the next few months as fall weather arrives. Among the many issues that homeowners could face if the rain is particularly torrential is flooding. This opens families up to a number of safety hazards, not least of which has to do with the exposure of electrical systems to moisture. As one of the leading has a rundown of four rules for dealing with electrical issues after a flood which can give you a basic understanding of what you should do: