When it comes to your home electrical system, safety should be your number one priority. Electricity can be dangerous when your wiring isn't connected properly, and a house fire can rip through your home and possessions with alarming speed, putting you and your family's very lives at risk. One common cause of fires is an electrical arc in the circuits behind your walls, when current jumps on an unplanned path from one conductor to another, potentially igniting wood or insulation along the way. Fortunately, you can protect your home against electrical arcs with arc fault circuit interrupters (AFCIs). Read on to learn more.

Your Electrician Can Keep You Safe

According to the National Fire Protection Association, there were 47,700 residential fires caused by electrical failures in 2011, causing 418 deaths and $1.4 billion in damage. Any steps you can take to prevent becoming a victim to one of these disastrous events is money well spent. And while conventional circuit breakers will automatically shut down if a circuit shorts or gets overloaded, they are unable to detect most electrical arcs. That's where the AFCI comes in.

The AFCI works by monitoring the current passing through the circuit, searching for unusual activity that could indicate an arc. When a problem is detected, the device immediately shuts down the circuit, lowering any opportunity the arc could have to start a fire. Keep in mind that some of your appliances or equipment may intentionally create arcs, but in a safe manner – the AFCI should recognize them and only trip during dangerous arcing conditions.

Find Out if Your Family is Protected

Your local code almost definitely requires your home to include ACFIs for circuits that lead to bedrooms, and if your municipality has updated its code in the past year, it may require interrupters for every circuit in the home. However, if your home was built before 2000, it may not have AFCIs installed at all, and it may be worthwhile to make an upgrade.

If you aren't sure if you have arc fault circuit interrupters, open the door of your main panel and look inside. Circuits that have AFCI capabilities are usually indicated by a yellow or green label. If you can't tell, ask an electrician to inspect your wiring and verify whatever safety features are included. The electrician can also make recommendations about whether you should consider upgrading your circuits and give an estimate on how much it would cost.

Don't Let Your Circuits Create a Disaster

If you need help installing arc fault circuit interrupters in your home, or otherwise bringing your wiring up to code, contact an expert electrician today.

If you’re a busy person, constantly running from one place to another, it can be easy to forget some of the little things you leave behind at home. The thermostat, for example, controls perhaps the two biggest energy hogs in your home, the air conditioning and thermostats help improve your home comfort by offering advanced temperature and climate features as well as remote control that simply cannot be beat. Chances are, you are one of many Americans who uses a smart phone, tablet, or computer with internet access every day. A Nest thermostat learns your preferences for daily operation, but can still be controlled from far away if your plans change throughout the day! Here’s a bit more on those features.

Confused or overwhelmed about the benefits and drawbacks of making your home a little more green? Your friendly neighborhood Mr. Electric® professionals are here, helping you understand the bigger picture in your quest for a greener life.

Energy consumption has more to do with having a green home than age. Newer homes with added square footage, vaulted ceilings and an array of high-tech electronics often consume a great deal of energy. Rather than upgrading, consider the size home that adequately fits your needs. With the help of an energy audit, air sealing and insulation, and efficient appliances, you’ll be well on your way to a green home, regardless of age.  

Simply plugging gaps, holes and other air leaks in your home and beneath insulation in your attic can reduce your demand for nonrenewable energy by up to 40 percent. Thinking about investing in a little new insulation? Don’t sweat it if the top-of-the-line insulation is out of your price range – all insulation is green. Go with what’s in your price range today and get those heating and cooling bills down tomorrow. There’s nothing greener than reducing energy consumption.

Don’t become brainwashed by greenwashing companies who put more thought into labeling their products to gain your purchase than into sustainability practices. Avoid deceitful marketing tactics by getting to know which labels are truly green in your local hardware store:

Replacing those old incandescents with CFLs or LEDs pays for itself over the lifespan of the bulbs, which not only use a fraction of the energy, but last far longer as well. Aren’t you tired of repeatedly replacing burnt out bulbs?

Huh? You heard right. Incandescents and halogens should ALWAYS be turned off when you leave the room. Why? They are less efficient. CFLs, however, are a bit more complicated. They cost 75 percent less to operate than an incandescent. However, turning them on and off reduces their operating life, which can cost you more in bulb replacements. The Department of Energy’s advice: If you’ll be out of the room for 15 minutes or less, leave it on.

Items with a power adapter, indicator light, standby function, or clock can suck up energy even when they’re turned off, draining you to the tune of 5 percent or more of your power bill. The typical cable box alone uses half the electricity of an Energy Star fridge. Multiply that times the number of these items in your house (TVs, computers, microwaves, cell phone chargers). To take a big bite out of your electric bill, plug these items into a power strip so they can be turned off when not in use. In addition, have wiring inspected to ensure poor connections and undersized wiring aren’t contributing to additional energy loss and higher bills.

Adjusting your thermostat 10 to 15 degrees for 8 hours a day can save you 5-15 percent per year on heating and cooling costs – 1 percent for each degree it’s set back. Make the savings hassle-free with the installation of an inexpensive programmable or Wi-Fi home thermostat.