Need to know about the electrical hazards that could bring your home on fire? If you built your dream home that lacks proper installation of electricals switchgear and electronics, you will impact braces!
How to Prevent electrical fires During winter?
Need to know about
the electrical hazards that could bring your home on fire? If you built your
dream home that lacks proper installation of electricals switchgear and
electronics, you will impact braces!
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THE
BIGGEST RISKS LIE IN HOME HEATING
Source from the NFPA:
“heating equipment was involved in an estimated 54,030 reported U.S. home
structure fires.” Reported during years of 2011-2015. The statistic is awkward,
and as you might expect you should be very care of your HVAC and alternative heat
sources.
To avoid HVAC
equipment risks be sure your boiler, Heater or whatever heating system is
checked commonly. Many fires that ignite in an HVAC system occur because it
hasn’t been serviced and the electrical
switchgear haven’t been inspected in a while.
Avoid space heater
risks by setting it away from any flammable objects. Also, be sure to power the
space heater with correct outlet support (a dedicated circuit) and never leave
space heater unattended. Those things consumes lots of wattage and run hotter
than your oven!
IF
YOU’RE HAVING A GENERATOR, USE IT RIGHT
For most of us, a home generator is all
that stands between us and a days-long power cut during winter days. It doesn’t
usually get as frigid around here as other places, but when we get it, it
really matters! Generators are an awesome way to keep power up, but Generators
come with their own Dangers; namely, they’re at risk of sparks a flame if
they’re not well maintained or the fuel in the generator is old. If your
generator has been sitting idle for couple of months, get it inspected before
you try to use it!
BE
ALERT WHEN COOKING
There’s nothing like
hot food when being out in a winter day. But before you start cooking, be sure
your kitchen has the installments equipped safely! GFCI’s (Ground-Fault
Circuit Interrupter) should be in use in all kitchen spaces within a certain distance
from water sources, and additionally ovens, microwaves, and refrigerators
should be on seperate circuits to avoid overloads that may lead to an
electrical fire. Also, be sure to stay in the kitchen when cooking. A small
portion of kitchen fires reported were found to be due to appliances being left
alone heated..
OLD
FAULTY APPLIANCES
Most electrical fires
are caused by defective electrical outlets and old, outdated appliances. Other
fires are caused by faults in appliance cords, receptacles and switches. Never
use an appliance with a damaged cord which can outsource heat onto combustible
surfaces like floors, curtains, and rugs that can ignite a fire.
Running cords under carpets is another cause of electrical fires.
Discarding the ground plug from a cord so it can be used in a two-prong
electrical outlet can also cause a fire. The reason of appliances that have the
extra prong is so they can be only used in outlets that can handle the excess
amount of electricity that these appliances draw.
CONTINUAL
OVERLOAD
Many vintage homes are really low in their capabilities to safely provide enough power to operate all the electrical things we use in nowadays. There just isn't enough power available to the home or there aren't enough dedicated circuits. In Olden days only one circuit was designed into kitchens, and that isn't enough to properly operate a microwave, refrigerator, toaster, electric grill, mixer, toaster oven, etc. The result is that the circuit breaker or fuse is always breaking. This is the same case in bathrooms; the bathroom circuit commonly supplies bedrooms as well, but add in a curling iron and a hair dryer along with the bedroom Television and thus circuit is often overloaded as well.
Everytime when a circuit trips or a fuse blows, it is an
indication that the circuit is excess loaded, but most people will simply reset
the breaker and do the drill again. The inevitable result is that the circuit
breaker is slowly getting damaged to the point it doesn't work properly anymore
and the complete panel itself can be damaged as well.Nowadays, we can see house
panels that have the massive bus bars inside, carrying the entire power to the
whole home, half melted from repeated overloads and this is a recipe for
disaster!
If you are frequently stumbling a breaker or replacing blown
fuses, have additional circuits installed as necessary. It might be expensive
but it's better than burning the house down.
According to the NFPA, the main cause of electrical fires
are lamps and light fixtures. Such fixtures are designed to withstand only the
heat from the rated size light bulbs - do not overload the fixture with bulbs
that are too big. While it is quite acceptable to use a 100 watt equivalent CFL
bulb to replace a 40 watt incandescent bulb as an energy saving measure in your
home or office, the fact is that the CFL is only using a few watts of energy
and isn't nearly as hot. It won't damage either the thermal insulation or the
electrical wiring of the fixture.
ELECTRICAL SAFETY & SWITCHGEAR WITH
ELECTROSHOPE
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