If you are doing work on your yard over the weekend, you can now get away with doing everything using only electricity. Lawnmowers, pressure washers, and other tools that commonly used gas can now be purchased in models powered by electricity. If you are using these electrical powered tools you need to ensure that you have electrical coverage around your home to plug them in. Here are some tips for having outdoor GFCI outlets installed in your home’s exterior.

Most homes come standard with a couple of outdoors outlets. Sometimes this is not enough and you will be restricted because the cable for your lawnmower or pressure washer can’t reach around the side of the home or to the back of your yard. When preparing to have an outdoor GFCI outlet installed, measure the length of your cables and the maximum distance you will need to go. You can then create the radius of coverage you will need and pin point the correct locations for the outlets. If you do not choose the optimal location you could end up installing more outlets then you need and will have to unplug during tasks to move outlets. This is inconvenient, so lets do it efficiently!

With a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI), the outlet can detect if there a problem in the circuit such as contact with water or a person, and then the circuit will shut off. This is especially important outside, as the outlet is more susceptible to water, from rain and snow, car washing, and interaction from animals and children. It is also wise to have covers installed overtop of the outlet as well. This adds an extra layer of protection. The covers will need to be manually opened by yourself before use and prevent unwanted interaction.

As we usually recommend, double check that your existing wires and circuits can handle the additional outlets. The tools and equipment that make use of these outlets can demand a lot of power and if the outlet is installed on circuit that is already heavily loaded, you will be experiencing trips and electrical hazards to your home. An Expert Electrician will be able to identify the proper circuits to have the outlets installed on.

Using electricity offers convenience and efficiency. Make the most of it and be safe by having a professional, certified electrician install outdoor GFCI outlets on your home.

With the DIY craze in full swing these days, do-it-yourselfers are attempting to refurbish, rehab, rebuild and remodel anything and everything within the walls of their homes. All you have to do is turn to any home improvement channel to observe a novice trying to tackle a major home renovation project. Some seem to know what they are doing, but most do not.

It is astonishing to see the number of load-bearing walls carelessly knocked down in the name of remodeling. Even more disturbing are homeowners who flirt with disaster by cutting live electrical wires! When the sparks start flying, these DIY-ers act shocked (no pun intended) that the wires are hot!

Electrical Permits

Much of this work is done without the homeowner getting the proper permits, which can create serious safety risks, not to mention invalid insurance claims regarding faulty workmanship. Scenarios like these are the perfect formula for a catastrophe!

Major or minor electrical work that is not properly permitted usually results in a denied insurance claim if damage, such as fire, results from improper work. Although it’s perfectly legal in most states for the homeowner to do his or her own electrical wiring, it can actually be less costly to have a licensed professional do the electrical work for you; it’s safe, licensed, permitted and done properly. Your insurance company will thank you!

Insurance Benefits

In fact, many major insurance companies offer a number of discounts if you have your electrical wiring upgraded to current codes. Check with your insurance company, and then contact a licensed electrician to learn the safety and cost benefits of having your home’s electrical service updated. Some DIY projects are better left to the professionals. This is one of them. After all, you can’t put a price on safety!

Do you or does someone that you know have a Federal Pacific Electrical panel in their business or home? There are a number of reasons that these panels are unsafe, which means that they should be replaced as quickly as possible. One of the first reasons is simply because they are so old. Federal Pacific panels have not been installed in many years. The main reason that they should be replaced by your electrician in Los Angeles is because the circuit breakers in the panel may not always trip whenever they should. This can lead to some very serious issues with your home’s electrical system.

An Example

A couple years ago, one of our technicians were called out to inspect a circuit wire that appeared to have bubbled up. Whenever he arrived at the location, he discovered that this particular circuit had been overloaded so far that the sheath covering on the cable started to boil. Upon further inspection, he found out that the power for this particular cable came from a Federal Pacific electrical panel. What happened, was that the homeowner’s air conditioning unit was experiencing issues that caused it to seize up, continuously pulling more and more power from the panel. Rather than tripping like it should have, the circuit breaker remained on, leading to the boiling cable sheathe.

Although we were able to correct this problem relatively quickly, it could very easily have turned out much worse. This overloaded wire could have caught fire, or remained unnoticed and poorly insulated until it came into contact with a person or with another item that led to serious electrical shock or other injury.

The moral of the story is to have your home regularly inspected by a Los Angeles electrician for proper safety. For more safety tips or information about unsafe electrical panels, visit The Electric Connection at www.theelectricconnection.com.