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The overall load and strain on a home’s electrical system is typically higher during the winter as a result of everyone spending more time indoors. This increased load can easily lead to various electrical issues and safety hazards due to strain, and you might need anelectrical panel upgrades. It’s important to take a few simple steps to make sure your electrical system is ready for winter and that you can use all the appliances and devices in your home safely without encountering any major issues.
Schedule a Professional Electrical Inspection
The best and easiest way to make sure your electrical system is ready to handle the increased workload is to have it fully inspected by a licensed electrician. It’s not always necessary to have an electrical inspection performed every year as it really depends on the age of your home and your electrical system.
If you haven’t upgraded your electrical system within the past 20 years or so, it’s definitely a good idea to have it inspected annually. If all your wiring and the rest of your electrical system isn’t all that old, you’re usually fine to just have it inspected every few years or whenever any issues arise.
One essential part of inspecting an electrical system is testing each circuit breaker to make sure it still works as it should. Having a circuit breaker fail is extremely dangerous since it can easily lead to an electrical fire. A circuit breaker monitors the amperage of the current flowing through it. If the current rises above a safe level, the breaker will instantly trip and open the circuit so that the power stops flowing.
If the breaker is stuck or broken and doesn’t trip, the increased current can quickly cause the circuit’s wiring to get so hot that it creates the potential for a fire to start. Electrical overloads are quite common during the winter when everyone is indoors more often than usual. Overloads are especially common during the holiday season due to having so many lights and decorations plugged in, which is why it’s essential that you make sure all your circuit breakers still work properly.
Replace Old Outlets With GFCIs
Even though the National Electric Code (NEC) now requires GFCI outlets in many different parts of a home, you’re not legally required to update your electrical system to meet this requirement. Nonetheless, it’s still a good idea since GFCI outlets help to greatly reduce the chances of anyone getting shocked or electrocuted as the result of a ground fault. A ground fault occurs when electricity leaks out of a circuit instead of remaining confined and then ends up flowing into a metal object, causing the object to get electrified.
This can happen because a bare wire touches something metal or because wiring comes into contact with water and the water conducts the current into a nearby item. If you then touch the metal object, the current will travel straight through your body to the ground. The same thing can happen if an outlet or cord in your kitchen gets wet and you touch it while also touching something metal. The only way to prevent this from happening is if the outlet is GFCI protected; then it will detect that the current is leaking out and shut off the power instantly.
GFCI outlets used to be required only for power receptacles within 5 feet of a water source or other areas like a basement and outside where the outlet could get exposed to water. Now the NEC requires them in all power receptacles in a kitchen, laundry room, bathroom and utility room as well as in a garage, basement and outside. If you have non-GFCI outlets in any of these locations, asking an electrician to replace them will make your electrical system much safer and help you to avoid anyone getting burned, shocked or fatally electrocuted.
Familiarize Yourself With Your Electrical Panel
One of the most important things for preventing potential electrical issues and safety hazards is making sure that you know which circuit each breaker in your electrical panel controls. That way you can quickly shut off the power to any circuit should you suddenly experience an issue like an outlet or light switch that starts smoking. In most cases, the electricians who wired your house will have clearly labeled each breaker with the part of the house or appliance that it controls the power for.
If any of the breakers in the panel aren’t labeled, it’s a good idea to find out what they control so that you can be prepared for any emergencies. Most of the single-pole, 120-volt breakers in an electrical panel control the circuits that supply power to your lighting and outlets. You can easily determine which circuit each of these breakers controls by turning on the lights in each room and then checking to see which room or part of the house the lights go off in when you turn a breaker off.
There will also be a few single-pole breakers that control a dedicated circuit that only supplies power to one appliance. Appliances that require a dedicated 120-volt circuit include a refrigerator, freezer, microwave, washing machine and dishwasher. If you turn off a breaker and none of your lights go out, it usually means that the breaker controls one of these appliances. So, you may need to do a bit more detective work to determine which appliance won’t turn on after you switched that breaker off.
Most homes also have at least one “small appliance” circuit in the kitchen that supplies power only to the outlets above the counter. If the outlets are GFCIs like they should be, you’ll see that the green light in the corner of the outlet goes out when you turn off the breaker to that circuit. If they are non-GFCI outlets, you can check by plugging your phone into the outlet and seeing which breaker causes your phone to stop charging when you switch it off.
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Make Sure You Understand the Maximum Load for Each Circuit
Another important step in ensuring you never overload any of your electrical circuits is calculating your normal electrical loads and making sure you know how much power you can safely draw from any circuit. Calculating the electrical load on a circuit is as simple as checking the wattage of the things you normally have plugged in and turned on, such as your TV or stereo system.
You then add up the wattage of all these things along with the lights that are on the same circuit to determine your typical load. This enables you to determine how much additional load you can add without overloading the circuit. Calculating your electrical loads is especially important to ensure you don’t overload any circuit when you plug in and turn on holiday lights and decorations.
All of the 120-volt circuits are either 15 amps or 20 amps, and the amperage of a circuit determines the maximum wattage you can draw before the circuit gets overloaded. A 15-amp circuit can technically supply up to 1,800 watts, and the maximum load for a 20-amp circuit is 2,400 watts. However, you still risk an overload if you exceed 80% of a circuit’s maximum load since things can sometimes temporarily draw more power than their wattage rating.
MVP Air Conditioning, Heating, Plumbing & Electric is a locally owned company offering top-notch electrical, plumbing and HVAC services in Kansas City and the surrounding areas in Kansas and Missouri. If you need an electrical inspection or any upgrades or installations, you can trust our experienced electricians to handle the job safely and professionally. We take pride in what we do and work to ensure that each customer is satisfied no matter what type of home service they need.
To schedule a service call or inspection for electrical panel upgrades and ensure that all your home’s important systems are ready for winter, contact us at MVP Air Conditioning, Heating, Plumbing & Electric today.
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