When it comes to your home electrical system, safety should be your number one priority. Electricity can be dangerous when your wiring isn't connected properly, and a house fire can rip through your home and possessions with alarming speed, putting you and your family's very lives at risk. One common cause of fires is an electrical arc in the circuits behind your walls, when current jumps on an unplanned path from one conductor to another, potentially igniting wood or insulation along the way. Fortunately, you can protect your home against electrical arcs with arc fault circuit interrupters (AFCIs). Read on to learn more.

Your Electrician Can Keep You Safe

According to the National Fire Protection Association, there were 47,700 residential fires caused by electrical failures in 2011, causing 418 deaths and $1.4 billion in damage. Any steps you can take to prevent becoming a victim to one of these disastrous events is money well spent. And while conventional circuit breakers will automatically shut down if a circuit shorts or gets overloaded, they are unable to detect most electrical arcs. That's where the AFCI comes in.

The AFCI works by monitoring the current passing through the circuit, searching for unusual activity that could indicate an arc. When a problem is detected, the device immediately shuts down the circuit, lowering any opportunity the arc could have to start a fire. Keep in mind that some of your appliances or equipment may intentionally create arcs, but in a safe manner – the AFCI should recognize them and only trip during dangerous arcing conditions.

Find Out if Your Family is Protected

Your local code almost definitely requires your home to include ACFIs for circuits that lead to bedrooms, and if your municipality has updated its code in the past year, it may require interrupters for every circuit in the home. However, if your home was built before 2000, it may not have AFCIs installed at all, and it may be worthwhile to make an upgrade.

If you aren't sure if you have arc fault circuit interrupters, open the door of your main panel and look inside. Circuits that have AFCI capabilities are usually indicated by a yellow or green label. If you can't tell, ask an electrician to inspect your wiring and verify whatever safety features are included. The electrician can also make recommendations about whether you should consider upgrading your circuits and give an estimate on how much it would cost.

Don't Let Your Circuits Create a Disaster

If you need help installing arc fault circuit interrupters in your home, or otherwise bringing your wiring up to code, contact an expert electrician today.

Homes typically have dedicated circuits that run from their breaker box to large appliances that draw a lot of power. For example, your refrigerator, washer and dryer will most likely have their own grounded circuit, built to handle the electrical load required for that particular item. Plugging too many appliances into one circuit can cause the wires to overheat, resulting in melted insulation and a fire hazard.

You have probably heard it time and again; we need to reduce the demand on our natural resources. We also know we should be saving a little more for our retirement, but it seems like there is no way around the basic monthly bills. No matter what you do, it may seem like you are still breaking even. You shut off lights and walk to work once a week, but the electric bill stays the same and your gas bill is the same. That is likely due to rising rates. Imagine if you didn’t make an effort to reduce your monthly bills? You would be paying more! Your Pasadena electrician is here to encourage you to learn about phantom power and to do your best to fight back against it. You can always call The Electric Connection if you have questions.

Phantom power is a very real thing! You can put a few extra dollars in your pocket every month by fighting back against this electricity sucking phenomena, but it will require your whole house to be on board. According to the Lawrence Berkley National Library, every home has about 40 appliances in the home that remain plugged in around the clock. The appliances may rarely be used, but we keep them plugged in because it is convenient. This is costing us money. In fact, it is estimated phantom power accounts for about 10 percent of an electricity bill. So, assuming your electric bill is $100 every month, $10 of that is all for naught. For the blinking light on the DVD player you haven’t used in a month or the cell phone charger that stays plugged in all day and night whether your phone is attached or not.

If you are not completely sure what phantom power is or have more questions about it, call your electrician. Pasadena residents can count on the team at The Electric Connection to provide the answers to your electric questions.

When you are a homeowner, there seems like there is always something you can or want to do around the house to make it a little better. It is part of owning a home. Home improvement projects are fun and rewarding whether you are tackling them yourself or hiring a professional team to take care of the heavy lifting so to speak. There doesn’t ever seem to be an end to the things you can do to make your home a little better, safer and more valuable. One of the things that people tend to overlook because it isn’t always obvious is the electrical system in the home. An electrician in Santa Monica will tell you that despite it’s relative anonymity, it is probably one of the most important elements of your home. The team at The Electric Connection has been making homes a little safer for decades and they can help you as well.

You may not have any obvious problems, but unless you have an inspection, you truly don’t know what hidden dangers may be lurking behind the walls. Once you have an inspection by a Santa Monica electrician, you will be given a list of minor or potentially major fixes you can make to make your home a little safer.

Your upgraded electrical doesn’t have to be all about safety standards if your home is already in good electrical shape. It can be something as simple as adding a couple of outlets to a room so you can make it into a home office or gaming area. Maybe you want to change up the lights or add ceiling fans. This can all be handled by your electrician. Santa Monica homeowners will appreciate the promptness and professionalism they will receive when they call The Electric Connection to upgrade their home’s electrical.