People usually don’t bother about the electrical system of a house which can cause immense damage if not dealt with in time. Understand the importance of checking the wirings before getting the electrical wires of your house inspected by a trained electrician. For instance, you need your house wires to be checked to avoid the risk of electric hazards like fires from faulty wiring, burns from live wire contact, overloading circuits, etc. How often you want to examine depends on some factors like how old your home is and how many appliances you have in it.
Below are some factors based on which you decide how regularly an electrician is required to get your house wiring scrutinized.
Selecting The Right Electrician
Electrical faults may result in blasts, wounds, or even death. How can you know that you are consulting with the right electrical technician? The answer is always to try to find a wireman who is local, registered, certified, experienced in this particular field, and recommended by people whom you trust. Great news for you if you are living in Charlotte! For the best electrician services, go for Charlotte Electrical Safety Inspections!
The electrical systems of your house consist of three components, which are meter, breaker, and wires. A responsible electrical expert will not only take care of the wires but also the entire electrical system of your house.
Discuss with him the probable problems you may face regarding the electrical wiring of your house and how you can take necessary precautions to avoid those issues. Also, discuss the present wiring conditions in your house and the frequency of its maintenance.
Benefits From A Regular Examination
There might be a question in your mind that why should you inspect the electric wires periodically? Basically, you are going to get the following benefits if you get it done by an electrical expert.
Firstly, the overloading of electrical circuits is a substantial complication. By recurrent assessment, it will be revealed whether the entire electric system is overloaded or not including your home security system. Secondly, you can realize whether there are any possible electrocution risks or combustion in the future. Thirdly, the repeated look-over also helps you recognize if there is any faulty electric wiring. Lastly, recurrent inspection will help you to highlight any absence of grounding or bonding. The linesman will also conduct specific tests on wiring to notice and make sure that they are secure enough.
Wiring System
Electrical wire is made of materials like Copper (Cu), Aluminium (Al), and Silver (Ag). Mostly Cu and Al are used in wiring since Silver is costly enough. An efficient electrician should be able to spot and separate the malfunctioning wires. For instance, in the 1960s cables coated in black rubber were terminated in Charlotte and the rest of the United States. In addition, cables coated in lead or fabric are even older and might require to be replaced.
These days, contemporary cables use strong PVC insulation because it is fire resistant and does not conduct electricity at all. If you are looking for safe wiring systems with no risk of shock where old wires can be easily changed during the renovation of the house you are living in and you don’t have budget constraints, you should probably go for a ‘concealed conduit wiring system’ for your dream house where you and your family can reside safely.
Wiring Inspection
When an electrician checks the wiring, they will consider the signs of damage which include uncovered wire swaying from ceilings or getting out of the wall, wires coming out of the protective coating, or split in the insulation.
Electricians also look out for wires that may be revealed to moist or drenched regions. In a nutshell, there are five things that an electrician usually do to check the wiring of your house which are proper grounding, more detailed inspection at the electric meter, proper functionality of circuit breaker and its capacity, making sure that your GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters) are properly wired so that they can detect moisture or water in the outlet and immediately cut off the current. Finally, they do the physical inspection of wires all-around your house.
Frequency Of Examining Wires And Cost
Your electric wires or systems must be inspected and tested every ten years for an owner-occupied home, five years for a rented home, and three years for a caravan. You can also get it examined when a property is being prepared for lease, before selling a property or buying a new home. Electrical inspections usually cost between $300 – $450. However, complete inspection costs can change depending on your home’s size or how old your home is.
You may know the estimated cost by requesting price quotes from electrical inspection services in your area. For example, if you live in Charlotte, you have to request price quotes from companies that provide electrical safety inspection services there. While the cost mentioned above may seem high at the end of the day, an electrical inspection can save you the time and money that a fire or larger electrical issue would cost you in the future.
Concluding Thoughts
It is the duty of the homeowner or building manager to ensure that the electrical structure of their home or commercial area is secured, systematic, and up-to-date. You should add a GFCI or AFCI protection, which helps prevent sparks and electrical fires.
There are different types of electric house wiring systems like cleat wiring, casing and capping wiring, batten wiring, etc. No matter which wiring systems you choose, if the wiring is not done properly and not maintained well by professionals, it may lead to dangerous situations like electrical fires. Therefore, make sure that your certified electricians take a lot of care while installing and maintaining the wiring systems in your house.