It is estimated that thousands of electric shock accidents take place each year, of which some are fatal ones. Aside from this, there are incidents of electrical fires caused by poorly-installed or ill-maintained wiring. It’s important to understand that most of these fires and accidents are avoidable. There are some simple things you can do to prevent an electrical fire from erupting on your property, including:

Never try to force plugs into the outlets and don’t remove the third prong which is the grounding pin, to fit it a plug into an outlet with 2 prongs. Do not plug in too many appliances into a multi-plug outlet.

Check whether there are any loose-fitting plugs as these can be a fire/shock hazard. If you notice that any of the wall plates are broken/missing, replace them without delay. So that the components and wiring aren’t exposed. If you have very young kids in your home, make sure that you cover all used outlets.

Check the cords for fraying or cracks. Pay special attention to ones that are placed in any high traffic areas or under rugs and carpets.

Make sure that the wattage of the bulbs is compatible with the fixture requirements. If you find any bulbs with a higher-than-recommended wattage rating, replace them immediately. It’s also important to ensure they don’t overheat and that they are screwed-in securely.

These should never be used on a permanent basis. Use ones that have safety enclosures to protect kids from burn injuries and shock.

There should be GFCIs installed in the kitchen, bathrooms, garage, basement and various other indoor and outdoor outlets in your home. Test these on a monthly basis to ensure they are working as required.

Only older properties have fuse boxes and these don’t have the capacity to withstand the heavy electrical loads required by modern-day equipment and appliances. It’s far better to get these older systems evaluated by a skilled electrician and replace them with modern circuit breakers.

Faulty or old wiring is one of the commonest causes of residential electrical fires in Australia. Get these checked periodically for loose connections, loose wall fixtures or wall receptacles. If you hear any hissing, sizzling or popping sounds behind walls or from sockets, call in your local electrician without delay to get these installations inspected and replaced. If you find that any switches or electrical fixtures are hot to the touch, get those checked as well. Flickering light bulbs are another indication of problems in the electrical wiring as well and it’s best to get a thorough check conducted.

If you find that a specific circuit breaker trips repeatedly, or you experience shock when you touch it, you should unplug it immediately and get it replaced or repaired. Check for damage or cracks in the connectors and wiring and install surge protectors to protect all your expensive electronics.

When you upgrade your home, make additions or add extensions like extra rooms or an extra storey etc., or even add a large number of new equipment or electrical appliances to your home, that can overburden the existing electrical installations. At this point you would have to increase the service capacity of your home’s electrical system.

We are a company that has been operating in this space for a number of years and have the skill, knowledge as well as the resources to install, maintain and upgrade all types of electrical installations on your residential or commercial premises. For more information, contact the Allround Electrical team at this number – 1300 169 263. Alternatively, you can write to us at our email address.

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We use electricity everyday of our lives; powering our televisions, lights, and appliances. While these may seem easy enough to turn on with one click of a button, the steps that go into powering these things can be complex. Here is a look at the systems that go into powering your home.

All electricity originates from the electrical utility company, BC Hydro in most cases. The electricity is transferred through power lines or underground lines to your home where it will go through the following series of connections:

Problems can occur at any point in this process. The inner workings of all these systems are complex and dangerous if tampered with. Expert Electric understands all the complexities and inner workings of your home electrical system. We can assist at any point to diagnose and fix any problems you may be experiencing.

You must have heard how it’s important to unplug your mobile device chargers when they aren’t connected. That’s because these chargers continue to drain electricity. While this is a fact, the truth also is that the amount of power that mobile phones and other similar devices draw, is minuscule compared to the amount of power that larger electrical appliances and equipment in your home or commercial premises use.

The electronics we are referring to are the modern, advanced ones that have standby settings; they significantly escalate your utility bills even when they aren’t being used. These energy guzzlers can easily account for up to 10% of an average-size home’s energy consumption.

As mentioned at the start, mobile phone chargers are a very good example of energy guzzlers as they don’t perform any function when they aren’t charging the phones; and there is absolutely no downside to and ensuring they are unplugged most of the time. One more classic example is the microwave that uses more standby energy compared to a mobile device’s charger; this is because the former powers a digital clock.

But it’s common for people to leave that plugged in, as many people tend to use it to check the time when they are in the kitchen. These types of devices don’t account for sizeable energy wastage; however, video games, computer, flat screen TV and home theatre systems are entirely a different story. These appliances are becoming increasingly sophisticated and use advanced technology and over the years manufacturers have begun focusing more on the amount of time it takes for these machines to start up.

That is how the “standby mode” came into existence. That isn’t an “off” mode; when a device is in the “standby mode” it continues to draw power to keep various components and processes working; this helps “wake them” very quickly once you want to use them again. In most cases, the default standby settings aren’t the most energy-friendly, but you can customize them to suit your requirements. You will be able to find more information in the product manuals that come with these devices; alternatively, you can look in the device’s settings menu for the different power options.

Though these advanced technology electronics can be an energy-drain, the simplest and fail-safe method of preventing this from happening is to pull the plug. The sure-shot way to stop devices from driving up your utility bill is to disconnect them from the devices. If you find this too inconvenient, you can utilize power strips. When you hit the main power button on the power strip, the power gets fully disconnected even when you leave the strip plugged in.

The other way to add to the energy-efficiency of your home is to look for devices with higher energy star ratings when you are purchasing any new appliances and equipment. Check on which devices use less power when they are in standby mode as well. If you have any energy-efficiency concerns about any appliances and installations in your home, call Allround Electricals today.