The seven most common electrical hazards in the home and what to do to reduce the risk are listed below:
1. When you touch a tap or appliance, you experience a tingling sensation.
This is a first warning sign of a serious electrical hazard. If this happens, do not touch anything else and call a master electrician immediately to assess the situation. This scenario happens from time to time and it is very dangerous. Faulty electrical cabling from the street or changes to plumbing piping may have caused this issue. An experienced and licensed electrician will know how to rectify this fault.
2. Burning smell in your home
Do not ignore if you noticed a burning smell somewhere in your house. It may indicate an electrical fault somewhere in the house and this obviously poses a fire risk. Take note of where you think the smell is coming from then call an electrician in Narellan for them to investigate.
3. Smoke from a ceiling light
Some nesting possums in the roof may have gathered leaves onto the top of halogen light fittings for warmth, causing everything to melt. If it gets hot enough, it can generate smoke and eventually fire in the roof space.
4. Overloading of circuits may cause tripping of appliances
Running many items at once may cause overloading of electrical circuits. Existing circuits and cabling can only handle a certain amount of load. So, if you are adding large appliances to your home, such as an air-conditioner, make sure the installer checks the capacity of your exiting switchboard. Big air-conditioning units usually have their own circuit. With the help of a licensed electrician, limiting breaks can also be installed to monitor the electrical load in your house.
5. Faulty smoke alarm
Ensure that you have effectively operating smoke alarms in your home to protect your family when a fire occurs.
6. Safety switch is tripping
When your safety switch is tripping, please call a licensed electrician immediately to help you with the issue. Safety switches are fantastic safety devices that cut the power to a circuit if something on that circuit has become an electrical hazard.
Go to your switchboard and check your safety switches if all the lights or power points in one section of your house suddenly go out. See what circuit has the issue by checking your safety switch. You should be able to see that a safety switch is down.
Cabling behind the walls can also cause safety switches to trip. So, if you are having second thoughts about the cause of the problem, call a master electrician immediately to investigate it for you.
7. Sticking power point switches
When the switch on power points that are hard to turn on and off suddenly seem to become "sticky", it can be an indication that the cabling or fixture behind it has become compromised and needs to be checked.
On some occasion, the cabling behind it might be smouldered due to overheating. This is a serious fire risk and should be rectified immediately.
