Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Have New Devices Outstripped Your Home's Ability to Deliver Electricity Safely?


The electricity requirements of new appliances and other devices keeps going up and up, but the electrical infrastructure of many homes has not been upgraded to meet this new demand. Added electrical load creates safety issues in homes and makes it imperative that homeowners obtain a professional assessment to determine if the home's electrical system can meet a family's needs.

The amount of electricity a home needs is measured in amperes, more commonly called amps. An ampere is the amount of electrical energy flowing through an appliance at any given time.  Just 30 years ago, the average home only needed a 60 amp electrical service to function well. In only 10 years, homes began to need upgrading to 100 amp electrical service as new electrical appliances and devices became available. 
 
Why is it important to upgrade your home’s electrical service?  Here's a simple example : A home built in the 1970’s may have had 12 circuits to service the entire house.  Typically a circuit would be run to serve outlets, or maybe a fixed appliance in the kitchen or utility room.  At that time bedrooms would be rated to have a clock radio and a ceiling light fixture as average load.  In the event new loads ( i.e. appliances or stereos multiple televisions) are introduced to the circuitry, now the circuit is being asked to deliver more amps than it was originally designed for , thus the possibility of tripping a circuit breaker, blowing a fuse, or overheating the wiring in the walls.  As home electrical demands increased, circuit breakers were introduced into home electrical systems that interrupt the flow of electrical current when a circuit becomes overloaded with more amp demand than the circuit can handle. 

Increasing home amp capacity is a result of Americans becoming more and more power hungry.  For example,  average homes today are wired with 30 to 40 circuits .  Even a modern  air conditioning system will consume more power than an entire home did 30 years ago.  Many kitchens are now wired with over 15 circuits, which is more than an entire house 30 years ago!   That modern kitchen now needs circuits  capable of supplying more than 60 amps of demand as we have introduced microwaves, coffee machines, undercounter lights, subzero refrigerators and more.  Yet as this demand has increased, many people have not thought about increasing the capacity of their home’s electrical panel.

“Many people fill their homes with the latest electronics, such as computers, massive televisions, and high-tech stereos," said Tim Emsley, owner of Bel-Red Electric.  "Yet these same people often have an old, outdated electrical panel!  They’re plugging in thousands of dollars worth of electronics into a panel that may not be able to safely serve and protect them.  It’s a potential disaster waiting to happen!”

A common sign that a home is drawing more electricity than its system can safely distribute is frequent circuit breaker trips or flickering lights. 

“At Bel-Red Electric, during National Electrical Safety Month (May), I’m offering all homeowners 50 percent discount on electrical safety inspections," Emsley said.  "One of my highly trained technicians will conduct a multi-point check of every room in your home, as well as give your electrical panel a complete diagnostic. This service normally costs $197, but we’re doing it for HALF PRICE to raise awareness of electrical safety.  Having an outdated or inadequate electrical panel is a big concern and we want to alert as many people as possible to the problem and its solution.”

For more information on Bel-Red Electric, visit  www.belredelectric.com   and to schedule a electrical safety inspection, call 425-883-7178.

42 comments:

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  5. A lot of people don’t really mind if the electric panel they’re using at home is old and outdated. As long as they know it’s still working, they actually no plans to replace it. Well, it’s fine practically, but when we talk about safety, you should at least have regard on this matter. The best thing to do is to let an electrician inspect your home’s electric system. If he advises you to replace broken ones, then you must do it. This is important to keep your home safe from any disaster.

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  7. To improve safety, electrical work very often requires a handful of permits and inspections by your local building authority. This is very normal, and your contractor should be completely up front with you about any permit questions that you may have. If you doubt any of the answers that you receive, you should always call the local building department. Never allow your electrician to skip a permit for nay reason.

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  10. So is there an electrical service that can upgrade your home? We have a lot of technology that we are always plugging in. My husband is always watching the TV and my kids are always on their computers. I'm worried that all of our electricity usage might be dangerous.
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  11. This was very helpful! My home is about 20 years old, so much of the electrical wiring and equipment is out-of-date. I am always worried about overloading the circuits and starting a fire. It sounds like I need 30-40 circuits in the house. I will call in an electrician to find out how many circuits my home currently has and find out what we can do to add more.

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  13. Thanks for some good advice on how to bring my home up to code. I didn't realize that there were so many safety concerns on an older house. I'm starting to think after reading this that I need to get a residential electrical service to come check out my house. I don't know if I have all of the expertise to see if my home is safe. http://electriciankc.com/residential/

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  14. That's exactly what my parents are doing right now. It's awful living there, we don't have a kitchen or anything to cook in. We just have a few camp chef's in the basement, it's time to get the electrical done and move in.
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  15. My boss is looking into buying an old office building and he wants me to find an electrician to inspect the wiring. I'm fairly certain that the electrical system needs to be upgraded in order to accommodate all of the equipment that an office would use. I'm hoping to find a good electrical service soon.

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  17. I had never really thought about old houses not having current electrical models. It looks like you would definitely want to call in an electrician to assess compatibility for something like that. I swear, I learn something new everyday.

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  18. My old roommates live in a house that was built in 1907. I remember there being minor electrical problems when I lived there. The fuse would go out relatively easily if too many things ran at the same time. I think that house is due for an electrical upgrade for sure.

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  19. I've been thinking about this lately but I haven't got the slightest clue how to check to see if my wiring is getting old. I want to make sure that everything is up to date so I don't have to worry about my home getting burnt down. This helped a ton and I hope that I can find a service to come out and do an inspection.

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  20. With the increase of electrical power in the homes, we are most definitely going to be seeing more technicians to help keep the house safe. I think they are trying to get to lower the power usage so that we won't need as much power. Hopefully the increase in power doesn't continue to increase because the bills for electricity would be insane. http://www.wightmanmechanical.com/electrical.html

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  23. With modern appliances and everything else that runs on electricity, the times are changing. You have to be careful with what you are using if you have an older house. Like you said above, a modern air conditioner uses more power than an entire home did years ago. When deciding if you should upgrade your electrical capacity, it is important to get the help of a qualified electrician. Electrical work is dangerous and should only be done by a trained professional. http://www.carverys.com/en/electrical.html

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  25. I can definitely see how power overload is a big problem in older homes. A few years back my family and I helped update my grandparents home from 1951 technology to 2009 technology. Everything had to be switched out and replaced in order for the new electrical power levels to not blow out the entire circuit breaker.
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