Need An Emergency Electrician? How to Detect Electrical Problems In Your Home | Wilmington, NC
Photo By gwmullis at istock
Knowing the signs of when to call an emergency electrician is key to the safety of you and your family, and avoiding potential disaster. There are multiple signs of potential electrical problems that go overlooked by homeowners every year, or do-it-yourselfers who refuse to call an electrician.
While some problems may simply require a new light bulb, anything more than that should really be looked at by a professional emergency electrician. Having an electrical inspection completed can help solve any problems even before they develop into something bigger. You may be wondering, how do I know when my electrical needs to be inspected? Here’s a quick list to help you know when to have an electrical inspection completed.
– If you’re Wilmington, NC home is over 25 years old or if you have old wiring in your home. Old wiring is one of the main causes of electrical fires. If you purchased an older home or if it’s been in your family for decades, you may need some electrical upgrades to meet the demands of the 21st century.
– If any DIY work has been done either by yourself or a prior homeowner. Faulty DIY work is also another major reason for electrical problems. Especially if the prior homeowner was not an electrician, having their work checked is key to keep you safe.
– It’s been over 10 years since it has been inspected. If you can’t remember when the last time the electrical in your home was inspected, that means you should probably have it inspected. It’s a small price to pay to avoid major future problems lurking within your walls.
– After a major storm or flood. There can be damage caused to your Wilmington, NC home after a storm or flood that should warrant at least an inspection to ensure that is no damage that you’re unable to see.
– You just bought an older home. A basic inspection when you purchase a home may not include a thorough inspection of the electrical. Having this completed can save you a lot of troubles in the future, especially if you’re looking to upgrade your home.
Aside from having an electrical inspection completed, there may also be problems that you may experience in your home. Here is a quick list of the most common problems. If you detect any of these problems, it’s imperative that you call an emergency electrician as soon as possible.
Burning Odor
Upon turning on any light in your home, you definitely don’t want there to be any kind of burning smell. If you detect any burning odor, you must turn off the power in your home and immediately call your local emergency electrician to have the problem inspected.
The burning smell can come from any source including your electrical panel, outlets, or switches. A burning smell can be a sign of overheating electrical wires, which may lead to a potential fire if left long enough with the power still on.
Buzzing Outlets or Switches
Your outlets or switches are never supposed to buzz. Possible culprits of buzzing sounds can include faulty devices, loose wiring inside the box or overloading the switches capacity and/or maximum wattage.
If you hear buzzing from your breaker box directly, that may be a sign of a more serious and immediate problem. Your circuit breaker is specifically designed to detect problems with the electrical in your home, and shut off to prevent damage to appliances. If your breaker box is buzzing, this could mean that it’s attempting to trip and turn off power but it’s unable to. If your breaker box can’t turn off power in the home, this can cause severe damage. An emergency electrician should be called immediately to diagnose and fix the problem.
Flickering Lights
Not only can flickering lights be annoying, but they can also be dangerous. If you’ve already tried switching out the bulbs for new ones and that doesn’t solve the problem, there may be an underlying problem. Be sure that you are choosing the correct bulbs for your fixtures as well, as this can also be a common mistake and may lead to flickering lights.
If you’re in an older home, another likely cause is an old switch. This is something that an emergency electrician can fix quite easily and get your lights back to normal.
Electrical Shocks
Have you ever touched anything that uses electricity and gotten a painful zap? We hate to break it to you, but that’s definitely not normal! Getting a shock from an old appliance may signal its time to toss it to the curb, but a shock from a light switch or socket warrants a call to your emergency electrician.
If your home is carpeted, it is possible that you’ll experience small static electric shocks and these are nothing to worry about. Larger more painful shocks are however a cause for concern.
Power Outage
Almost all of us have experienced at least a power outage or two in our lifetimes. In many cases, power outages are a result from mother nature’s wrath, or simply forgetting to pay your electric bills, and pose no immediate harm to you and your family.
However, there are some cases that are a cause for concern. If your entire neighbour has power and you’re 100% sure you’re up to date with your bills, there may be a more significant problem with the electrical in your home which caused the outage.
The first step would be to of course call your electricity provider and ensure that everything is up to date and there is no problem with the power grid. Once you’ve ruled that out, an emergency electrician can help determine the cause of the outage.
To keep your home safe, be sure to contact your local emergency electricians at Mister Sparky of Wilmington!