ELECTRIC SYSTEM UPGRADES
DOES MY HOME NEED ELECTRIC SYSTEM UPGRADES?
Many older homes have only 40 amp electrical service and electrical panels that use ceramic, glass or barrel fuses. This older wiring poses challenges because after a while, the fuses stop triggering, leading to potential electrical fire risk
Some of the signs that your home may need a panel or power supply upgrade include:
Relying on extension cords to power lights or appliances
Flickering lights
CIrcuit trips when two high-wattage items are used simultaneously
No ground fault or arc fault circuitry
Wiring that is strung on ceramic knobs
Wiring that has cloth or frayed insulation
HOME ELECTRICAL WIRING IS IN ATTICS AND CRAWLSPACES
Our technicians regularly discover subpar home electrical systems because we’re looking in the locations where wires, panels and circuit breakers are located. When these old systems are identified, our team is able to remedy these old systems to keep you family safe while giving you peace of mind. In addition, many homeowners’ insurance require updating old home electric systems before writing a policy.
POWER SUPPLY
This is the power that is brought into you home from the street. Modern homes are serviced by a minimum of 100 amp service and many will upgrade to 200 amp service to handle all the electronic demands of a home
PANEL UPGRADES
Your new power supply will be routed through a new panel with special Arc Fault Circuit breakers to prevent against dangerous electrical fires. A circuit panel will have enough circuits to accommodate all your present electrical appliances, and allow for potential future expansion.
Understanding Your Electrical System
When troubleshooting electrical problems in a house, you can avoid watts of frustration by learning or reviewing things about your electrical system. When you have learned enough, you’ll be ready to go to the page for Troubleshooting these problems in your own home. Disclaimer.
Your Home Electrical System: Electricity flows to your lights and appliances from the power company through your panel, its breakers, out on your circuits and back. Here is a schematic picture of all the major parts of your home electrical system.
The Power Company: Your electrical utility company and its distribution system bring power over wires and through switches and transformers from the generating plant all the way to a point of connection at your home.
The utility’s system itself can have trouble that can affect things in your home. Its built-in safety features can stop power in time, but other connections, broken lines, storms, imperfections, or mistakes can sometimes allow unusual voltages into your system, possibly damaging parts of it. The sensitivity of home electronic equipment to this has made us more aware of this possibility, so that our use of surge protectors has become common. But some surges are difficult to protect against and can be similar to lightning strikes in their effects
Your Main Panel: Your central breaker panel (or fusebox) directs electricity through your home as a number of separate circuits, each flowing “out” from its own circuit breaker (or fuse) on one wire and returning from whatever is using the electricity to another connection in the panel by means of another wire. The breaker or fuse will interrupt the current (the flow) if it ever starts to approach a dangerous level.
MOST DANGEROUS ELECTRICAL HAZARDS IN YOUR HOME
Poor Wiring and Defective Electric Wires:
Good quality wiring that conforms to safety standards is very important for safety. Bad wiring can increase the chances of fires, power surges, and other serious consequences. For this reason, it’s always best to avoid do-it-yourself electrical work and get professional electricians to perform Most Dangerous Home Electrical Hazards
Outlets Close to Water
Electrical outlets in bathrooms, kitchens, and other areas with water should be installed a safe distance away from the source of water. As water conducts electricity, keeping outlets away from water reduces the chance of an electric shock.
Lightbulbs
We don’t often regard lightbulbs as being potential electrical hazards and by themselves, they’re not inherently dangerous. The potential for an electrical fire arises when lightbulbs are near flammable materials. These can include beds, drapes, plastics, or other items such as upholstery.
Covered Electrical Cords and Wires
Heavy covering of wires can make the cords overheat. While it’s somewhat rare, covered cords and wires can occasionally lead to electrical fires due to overheating. This is because electrical wires and cords radiate heat. If in doubt, keep cords and wires away from items and keep them uncovered.
Pouring Water on Electrical Fires
A common error is pouring water on an electrical fire. If an electrical fire does happen, avoid pouring water on the flames as water will tend to fuel the fire. Keep a fire extinguisher on hand if you’re worried about electrical fires and use that instead of water to put out fires.
Electrical safety
Electrical appliances, plugs and cables that are old or poorly wired can be dangerous. Just because there’s no flame does not mean there’s no fire risk. Find out what to check for to make sure your appliances don’t put you, your family or housemates at risk from fire.
Danger signs
There are danger signs to look for on all electrical items you have at home. If you think something needs fixing or changing, do it immediately.
For plugs and sockets, watch for:
hot plugs or sockets, scorch marks, fuses that often blow or flickering lights – these are signs of loose wiring or other electrical problems
badly wired plugs – any coloured wires sticking out could come loose and debris could also get into the plug
overloaded sockets – plugging too many electrical appliances into one socket can lead to overheating
Don’t take risks with cables and leads. Check if leads are:
frayed and damaged – make sure the outer covering is in good condition and replace if necessary
positioned carelessly – don’t leave leads near water, cookers, other heat sources or where someone could trip
placed under rugs or carpets – don’t put leads where they can wear through without anyone noticing
For electrical appliances, you should not:
get them wet – this includes plugs and sockets, for example, don’t put a vase of flowers on top of a television
leave them on at night – unless they are designed to be left on, like freezers
put anything in the microwave that is made of metal, or has a metallic finish or parts
Learn the essential basics for electrical wiring
Note: This course is based on 220 v, the difference between the 110 v system and the 220 v system is only the number which means the same rules and laws are used to calculate the loads, on the other hand the concept of the wiring among lights and power sockets are the same for both systems.
If you are beginner, fresh graduate or electrical engineer student and you are interested to learn about the electrical system (the essential basics) in the houses and buildings
so this course will be a good choice for you because of what listed below :
1) This course will let you understand how the electricity works in our houses,buildings such as offices,restaurants,schools,hospitals and libraries …etc .
2) You will learn how to wire group of lights to switches also how to connect fans and power sockets through a lot of practical exercises at this course .
3) How to calculate the load ( current and power ) for each equipment you would fix it .
4) How to read electrical drawings and plans such as lighting layout , power layout , single line diagram and load schedule .
5) Circuit breakers will be considered in this course ( MCB and MCCB ).
6) Types of wires and cables will be considered also .
7) what is the meaning for 3-phase and single phase in our real life .
8) Whats the real benefit for earthing and why do we use earthing in electrical .
9) Moreover I will show you types of switches and power sockets .
At the end of the course you will be familiar with wiring (lights with switches and power sockets) and you will have the courage to read and understand the electrical plans , so be ready and be patient .
Meanwhile if you have a curious to learn about electrical wiring in houses, this course will give you a good experience , in addition at the end of this course you will be able to apply or to work as a site electrical engineer , or an electrical engineer designer or both.