Carbon Monoxide – The Silent Killer

ElectricMan’s motto is “Quality Electrical Services”, and to achieve this, we feel like it’s our duty to inform our customers of the importance of home and electrical issues that might affect them. One of these dangers is Carbon Monoxide.

Carbon Monoxide is a toxic gas that is odorless, tasteless, colorless, and non-irritating, so it is very difficult to detect unless you have a carbon monoxide detector. It’s often produced by older motor vehicles and other gasoline-powered tools, heaters, and cooking equipment such as furnaces, heaters, wood-burning stoves, electrical generators, and propane-fueled equipment like portable stoves. Simply put, carbon monoxide is produced whenever gas, oil, kerosene, wood, or charcoal is burning.

Carbon monoxide is the leading cause of accidental poisoning deaths in America. The Centers for Disease Control estimate that carbon monoxide poisoning claims nearly 500 lives and causes more than 15,000 visits to the hospital emergency departments annually.

Symptoms of mild poisoning include headaches, vertigo, and flu-like effects, but larger exposure can lead to severe heart and central nervous system problems and even death. If you do suspect poisoning, get fresh air immediately. Open windows and doors, turn off combustion appliances, and leave the house. Take your pets outside too! Go to an emergency room and tell the doctor. A blood test is the best way to make the diagnosis. Treatment usually involves high doses of oxygen using a facemask.

Prevention is the key to avoiding carbon monoxide poisoning. Have your fuel-burning appliances inspected by a professional at the beginning of every heating season. Don’t idle your car in the garage, even with the garage door open, don’t use a gas oven to heat your home, don’t ever use a charcoal grill indoors, don’t sleep in a room with an unvented gas or kerosene space heater, and don’t use gasoline-powered engines in enclosed spaces. Have carbon monoxide detectors installed.

The National Fire Protection Association says that 93% of homes have smoke alarms but the Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that only 15% have carbon monoxide alarms.

Here at ElectricMan, we can professionally install smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors in your home, because carbon monoxide poisoning is no small matter, and we care about your safety. We’re a family business and we put family first, including yours! We’re also available 24 hours, 7 days a week.

At ElectricMan Inc, we can professionally install smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors, because carbon monoxide poisoning is no small-matter, and we care about your safety. We’re a family business and we put family first, including yours!

Tripped circuit breaker: many of us have experienced them at some point in our homes, yet instead of asking ourselves, “Why Do Breakers Trip?”, we reset the breaker without much thought. Before flipping the switch back over to the “ON” position, however, it’s important to understand why the breaker tripped in the first place, and what can be done to keep it from happening again.

As a Top Dallas Electrician, ElectricMan Inc. understands the danger of ignoring the warning signs of a tripped circuit breaker. But first, you need to know what a breaker does and how it works.

The Job of the Circuit Breaker

Simply put, a home or business circuit breaker is a safety device that monitors the amount of electrical current going through the electrical wires in your home and shuts off the circuit if too much electricity is being pulled through it, or if there is any disturbance in the current that could result in a fire.

Whereas a fuse performs the same task but can only be used once, a circuit breaker can perform over and over with the use of a switch that trips to indicate when it has effectively cut off current to a particular area.

What Makes a Breaker Trip?

So, Why Do Breakers Trip and what kind of things could cause a circuit breaker to trip? Some of the most common causes of a tripped breaker include:

For example, in some homes, running a microwave, a toaster oven and a refrigerator all on the same circuit may cause your wires to overheat, tripping the breaker. In this instance, making the load a little lighter, or splitting the circuit, may do the trick in keeping it from tripping the breaker.

Ignoring a Tripped Breaker is Not a Good Idea

Because of the many reasons why your circuit breaker could be tripping, and because of the purpose of the circuit breaker, you should never take a tripped breaker lightly. It’s important to understand that the circuit breaker is a safety device; simply switching the circuit back on without investigating the culprit can become costly in the long run and, in many cases, extremely dangerous.

If your breaker trips consistently, chances are there is a potentially dangerous electrical issue that needs to be looked at. ElectricMan Inc. is a Top Dallas Electrician with over 27 years of residential and commercial experience in the electrical field. Call ElectricMan Inc. at 972-792-7270 to make sure that your home is safe and free from the risk of a short or a fire.

With the holiday season approaching, some people get really excited to celebrate the time of year. For some people, this includes decorations and lighting appropriate for the specific holidays they celebrate, for religious reasons or otherwise. Once the lighting has been set up and is functioning properly, it can be a beautiful display. Setting the lighting up will be fun, but in some cases can pose challenges and require creative solutions.

The Fun of Setting up Lights for the Holidays

Holiday lighting can be a personal project, a time for the whole family to come together as a team, or even a community effort for the whole neighborhood. Think of it as a creative craft project, but rather than something you work on at a kitchen table or work bench, it's the size of the entire house. Some decorations are bought, others are built, and they all have to go up to form a visually appealing end result based on the imagination of whoever is in charge. Beyond the cosmetic appearance, there is a practical nature to the project of getting everything plugged in while keeping the wires discreet and without overpower any circuit line of electric power in your home.

The Draw of Lighting on Circuit Breakers