Most people don’t think about all the switches and connections that happen when you flick a switch or hit the power button on an appliance – at least, not until the item doesn’t work. The electricity in your home travels over an amazing, complex system, and there can be a lot of reasons why you may need Circuit breakers are not one-size-fits all, and there are 3 important items to review before installing any circuit breaker into an electrical box: the load capacity, whether or not the breaker is compatible with the others in your electrical panel and the limitations of a particular circuit breaker, which will tell you how and what a circuit breaker will protect. Faulty circuit breakers need to be replaced as they cannot be repaired.

Improperly Sized Electrical Panel

The electrical panel in your home is designed to deliver and manage a specific amount of electricity. If the panel is too small, you may trip circuit breakers consistently, causing appliances to shut down. Having too much power flow through your electrical box has the potential to give electrical shocks and cause fires. Adding a room to your home requires more than just adding another circuit breaker; the panel has to be able to deliver and manage the needed electricity for the new space. This is why it’s important to always hire a professional for all electrical work.

If you are experiencing electrical issues in your home, don’t try to repair the problems yourself. Instead, call the people you can trust: 3 Causes of Electrical Issues in Your Home.

Being the owner of a plant is a big responsibility and it is very important to keep your equipment in working condition. You need to remember that all your maintenance must be planned in an efficient way for both economic and energy efficiency.

Usually when you choose to partake in your routine maintenance, it may cause a delay in your production resulting in loss of income. All safety electrical equipment that is used on a continuous basis will require a lot more maintenance than your equipment that is used rarely, although they will still need to be maintained.

Even though you may maintain your equipment on a regular basis there will be times that your equipment could break. You will then need to take all costs into consideration before deciding whether you should repair the equipment or to just replace it completely.

To help you decide, you should analyze what you have already spent on the equipment as well as what it will cost to maintain it in the future. Once you have done that you should compare it to what it would cost you to acquire newer equipment that may cost less to maintain.

You could also hire a specialist that could create a breakdown of important factors such as the probability of the following:

To run a successful plant you will also need to keep the following important steps in mind:

Our dependence on electricity is truly astonishing. In every room of your home you’ll find multiple ways electricity is used that we often take for granted. If not handled with care, electricity can pose serious threats of electric shock and burn. One way that these types of accidents can occur is when babies and children are able to roam freely and get their hands on electrical devices. Consider ways of childproofing your house from potential electrical hazards before a serious accident occurs. Our well-trained team at Expert Electric has compiled a list of measures so that you can get started.

To identify any electrical hazards in your home, start by going room by room. For a more thorough approach, get down on your hands and knees to view the potential hazards from a child’s perspective. At this lower vantage point you are looking at all the electrical outlets, power strip bars and power cords. Be sure to look behind furniture and up on any side tables, dressers or counter tops. Make a list of electrical hazards that you have identified and get to work addressing those issues.

Childproofing your electrical outlets will be one of the most basic and simplest solutions. There are usually multiple outlets in each room and they seem to be attracted to them. Outlets are very tempting little spots on the wall for children to stick random objects into. To prevent this dangerous behavior from happening, install electrical outlet caps or safety plates over the top of unused outlets. This will block children from sticking their fingers and other items into the holes, which can cause the electrical current from flowing to the child. All unused outlets that are accessible to children should be covered.

Power bars are commonly used around the home to power numerous electrical devices located in the same room, such as a television system or computer setup. In these areas, multiple cords are often found tangled up in a pile and are all plugged into one power strip on the floor or in a cabinet. Childproofing a power strip can easily be done to protect your child from dangerous electrical shock or burn. Purchase and install power strip covers on child-accessible power bars. These covers wrap around the power bar and have a hole for the cords to exit. This helps to prevent children from tampering with and pulling out cords. At times gaps may occur in the covers hole, duct tape these areas to prevent little fingers from entering into the cover.

Securing electrical cords will be an important safety measure. If a child can pull on an electrical cord to dislodge the prongs it can create an opportunity for electrical shock. Alternatively, the connected electrical device could fall down due to the tugging and cause an injury to the child’s head. Secure these types of hazards by tucking electrical cables safely out of reach or plugging them in different areas of the room not accessible to children. If the cords are too long, shorten them by rolling up the cord into your hand and tying with a zip tie. Any cords that run along the floor can be a tripping hazard and should be secured with strong tape or a rubber cord cover that can be purchased in any length.

We want to help you have piece of mind about your home and rest easy knowing you’re safe from electrical accidents. For more ideas or questions that you have regarding childproofing your home for electrical hazards, contact our trained and courteous technicians at Expert Electric. Call us today at 604-681-8338.

Do you know why your home in Manassas would benefit from whole home surge protection?

You might think it has something to do with lightening. However, the reasons for whole home surge protection are more complicated than you may realize.

In addition to not experiencing a significant number of them in Manassas, did you know that whole home surge protectors can’t stop lightening strikes from damaging your electronics?

At this point, your probably starting to seriously doubt the importance, use or need for whole home surge protection. However, nothing besides a lightening rod and hope can keep your home safe from a lightening strike.

Another point to keep in mind is that whole home surge protection’s primarily function isn’t to protect your electronics and appliances from outside surges. It’s actually intended to protect your electronics and appliances from each other.

When we think of power surges we typically envision lightning strikes and electricity bursts from outside power lines. In reality the majority of surges are short intense shocks created by large appliances such as generators and HVAC motors. These smaller surges typically go undetected and usually don’t blow out the entire circuit.

However, over time, they add up. If you banged your knee in the same spot every day for a year, you might not have any significant damage on the first day, but on day 365 you’d probably have quite the bruise. The same logic applies to your electronics. Those little zaps might not degrade their performance immediately, but the problems are cumulative. Why shorten their expected usefulness and replace your appliances sooner than you have to?