A Homeowner’s Annual Electrical Maintenance Checklist
While you may not give it much thought, your home’s electrical system plays a big role in your everyday comfort and well-being. Just like any other system in your home, your electrical system requires regular maintenance service to stay in tip-top condition. Before the end of the year, there are various tasks that you’ll want to ensure you complete.
The Main Goals of Annual Electrical Maintenance
Before we dive into all the electrical maintenance tasks that you need to be doing, we’re going to take a look at the reason this maintenance is so vital. Annual electrical maintenance will help uncover any electrical concerns while they’re small and easier to fix. During the service, you can find new ways to save money on your electricity bills. This service will even go a long way in helping to ensure your electrical system is operating at its peak functionality and will have a long lifespan.
Maintenace Goals
One of the best places to start your maintenance service is with your outlets and light switches. You want to visually inspect both to look for any signs of potential damage. Some common signs of damage include yellowing of the plate cover, scorch marks around the outlet slots, a burning smell, and hotness radiating from the electrical device. Test all your outlets and light switches to ensure they’re working. If you notice there is movement as you use the light switch or plug something into the outlet, an electrician can tighten it up for you. Looseness at outlets and light switches can easily lead to loose wiring and electrical issues.
Another necessary part of your maintenance checklist includes checking the electrical cords that you’re plugging in. This includes the cords for your appliances, electronic devices, power cords, and even extension cords. Look for any signs of damage to the outer insulation layer. If the insulation feels brittle and or appears to be flaking, the cords or appliance might need to be repaired or replaced by a qualified electrician. Stop using the item immediately if you notice any bare wires.
To ensure your utmost safety throughout the winter, you need to have both smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in your home. As part of your electrical maintenance checklist, regularly test all your detectors to ensure they’re working properly. If any of them have low batteries, replace them with new ones. For your family’s safety and your home’s security, you need to have detectors outside each bedroom and on every level of your home.
Now is a good time to check over your home and note any extension cords that you’re using. Extension cords aren’t specifically designed to be used as a permanent fixture in your home. Rather, they’re meant for those rare occasions like holiday decorating. If you notice that you’re relying heavily on extension cords for daily use, consider hiring an electrician to install more outlets throughout your home.
Older homes often lack a proper amount of outlets to power all the electrical devices that we have today. It’s much safer to have new outlets installed so that you can remove the extension cords so there’s no possibility of injury to you or damage to the extension cord over time.
GFCI outlets must be present in all the wet rooms throughout your home. These include your bathrooms, kitchen, and laundry room. These outlets are much more sensitive to overloading and will trip within milliseconds to prevent electrocution. GFCI outlets are easily distinguishable due to their test and reset buttons.
You should be testing each one of your GFCI outlets to ensure that it’s responding correctly. Start by hitting the reset button and then plugging in a device. If the device is working, hit the test button. This should turn off the device. If it does, the outlet is working and you’ll need to push the reset button again to reset it for future use.
Your electrical panel box is the brains behind your entire electrical system. Take some time to examine your entire panel box for any signs of damage or corrosion developing. Additionally, ensure all of your circuit breakers are correctly labeled and that none of them feel loose in the box. If you notice any signs of damage or even a loose circuit breaker, you’ll want to have a professional electrician examine the issue sooner rather than later.
One great way to ensure that your electrical system stays in good working condition is to have a professional evaluate your system. This will include everything running from the weatherhead outside down to your outlets and light switches. An electrician will check that there’s no damage to your electrical components and that there’s no overload of power going to any items. If there is, they can recommend electrical upgrades to make your home and appliances safe.
When you have a professional electrician come out and inspect your home, you may want to consider also getting an energy audit done. This is where an energy expert will walk around your home and take note of the energy used in your home, how it is used, and how it could be used more efficiently. The electrician will then provide you with a full report with information about energy-efficient improvements you can make and how much money they can save you each year. Think of an energy audit as an optimal plan for reducing your energy bills throughout the year.
Smart technology can be a great asset to any homeowner. Nowadays, you can get smart lighting fixtures, power strips, plugs, and so much more. The beauty of smart technology is that you can control all of these items from the convenience of your smartphone. You can set your lights to turn on and off at certain hours of the day so that you don’t waste electricity. You can even monitor the energy usage of all your devices to see which ones are costing you the most to run. When you’re better informed about your energy usage, you can make better decisions about optimizing your usage.
Another thing you want to remember to do is examine your fire extinguisher. Fire extinguishers do have an expiration date and should be replaced when they’re nearing that date. Make sure that your fire extinguisher is rated for Type C fires as these are those caused by electrical fires like overloaded wiring. You can purchase fire extinguishers with a multi-rating, with the most common being Type ABC.
Finch Home Solutions offers reliable electrical inspection service for the Minneapolis, MN area. We can also help with all your electrical installation, repair, knob and tube wiring, service upgrade, EV charging, electrical panel, fixture, outlet, lighting upgrade, ceiling fan, smoke alarm installation, whole-home rewiring, and whole-home surge protection needs. Call us today to book a service appointment with one of our helpful electricians.
