Fires break out in many homes where they could have been prevented. An electrical check-up could have prevented many of these fires by finding potential problems before they became serious problems. A professional electrician can spot problems based on their training and experience. Fixing these would have gone a long way toward preventing the 3,400 deaths due to fire in 2012 according to the U.S. Fire Administration, an office within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
FEMA said in a 2012 report of the 28,700 residential fires resulting in many deaths and serious injuries, nearly half were caused by electrical wiring or electrical supply equipment. A periodic inspection of the home’s wiring and the service panel is important regardless of the age of the home. The previous owner may have decided to become a weekend electrician. Perhaps you even decided to try your hand at DYI electrical work. Electrical work is not a task you can learn from one of those weekend handyman store books. The overwhelming majority of these fires could have been prevented by an electrical inspection by a House Electrician in Houston.
One prevalent problem is the overloaded circuit. The homeowner doesn’t check to see if the circuit can supply the electricity it is being pushed to provide. An overloaded circuit is a sure path to a major fire. A junction box buried behind the wall is a major fire hazard. The junction box could start a fire, and the homeowner may not be aware of it until it is too late.
If the service panel has fuses, it may be overloaded. For example, a 15 amp fuse carrying a 20 amp load is a serious hazard. Some homeowners put a penny beneath the fuse, so it will not blow. It will instead cause a fire. The circuit panel may be outdated for all of the modern electronics it is asked to handle.
Frayed insulation is another problem to check for because this means a bare wire is exposed. This can surely start a fire. Many homes built between 1962 and 1972 have aluminum wiring, which is now aging and wearing to the point where a fire can easily start. Many homeowners are not aware of this problem. This wiring should be replaced by a House Electrician in Houston.
