Electrical Maintenance: Why You Should Do It and How To Do It Right

Your home’s electrical system is the heart of your home. The flow of electricity provides life to every room, giving you light, heat, and functionality to all the devices we rely on every day. It is also dangerous if your power surges or goes out, and a faulty electrical system could cause harm to both your home and anyone who lives inside it.

Consider, on top of this, that most homes today were built 30-50+ years ago, and those wires in the walls are equally old. Electrical maintenance is something that no homeowner (or renting resident) should ignore. Today, the Astley Electrical team is here to talk about why you should take care of your electrical system and how to do it right to keep both your home and its residents safe.

Taking Care of Your Electrical System Saves Money and Ensures Safety

Your electrical system can define both the quality and cost of life inside the home. An efficient electrical system uses the least possible power to achieve the most functionality. This not only prevents power surges and makes sure no one gets shocked at an outlet or loses their work in a power outage – it also saves you money.

Old and inefficient electrical systems can waste electricity and cost you money by running more charge through the circuits than you need and failing to block power surges. Surges and outages can also cost by damaging your circuits and harming appliances that cannot handle frequent power fluctuations that often occur in old homes with ageing electrical systems.

The occasional electrical inspection and calling in a pro for electrical repairs can go a long way to improving both the affordability and safety of your home each year.

Potential Solutions to Common Electrical Problems

Have you started to notice electrical problems in your house? There are solutions! You don’t have to “just live with” a home that seems to have electrical faults or may be in serious need of electrical upgrades. Here’s a quick list of common household electrical problems and what can be done about them.

• Your Breakers Keep Tripping
  • If your breakers keep tripping, this means you have one or more circuits in the home overloaded. If it seems unreasonable (eg: you’re not running the vacuum and microwave on the same circuit) then you might have old, damaged, or under-rated circuits that need an upgrade. Or your breaker might need replacing.
• Power Outages and Power Surges
  • Outages and power surges in a modern home are a bad sign. Your home likely lacks the protective features that prevent these issues in more modern structures. You may need a wiring upgrade, outlet upgrade, or at least a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) to protect your appliances and computers. You may also live in an area that cannot quite meet local power demand. 
• Electrical Buzzing Sounds
  • Electrical buzzing from outlets or light fixtures can be dangerous. This may indicate a loose wire or other damage inside the wiring system. If paired with sparks or a “hot” smell, switch off the circuit and call for immediate repairs. If it stops when you unscrew the lightbulb, replace the lightbulb to find out if it’s just vibration.
• Lights Flicker In Your House
  • Flickering lights with a new light bulb (always check the bulb) can mean a loose wire or an old, faulty lighting circuit. If changing the bulb doesn’t fix a flickering light, you’ll need professional repairs to replace the fixture or repair the circuit.
• Not Enough Outlets or Light Fixtures
  • Many, many older homes were designed with not enough light fixtures indoors and/or not enough outlets for modern lifestyles. New outlets and light fixtures can be installed but this will require new circuits and will take a pro.
• Old, Scary Light Fixtures
  • Many, many older homes were designed with not enough light fixtures indoors and/or not enough outlets for modern lifestyles. New outlets and light fixtures can be installed but this will require new circuits and will take a pro.

If there is a light fixture or ceiling fan that feels dangerous, trust your gut. If it flickers, if the finish is peeling, if it hangs precariously from the ceiling, prepare to replace it – and possibly to be horrified by what kind of bad previous DIY or subsequent damage made the light fixture frightening in the first place.

Why to Never DIY Electrical Maintenance – Unless You Are a Professional

When there’s something wrong with your home that impacts your quality of life, the temptation is to fix it. We understand. If it’s a leaky pipe, there’s no harm in trying to tighten that seal with a pipe wrench. If it’s a crooked door, a little screwdriver work might tighten that hinge back to the proper level. But when it comes to electrical maintenance, never DIY unless you happen to be a licensed professional electrician.

Why? Four Reasons.

1. Electricity is Dangerous to Humans:
   • You could get hurt or create a situation that will hurt someone else with less-than-perfect work. It is possible to electrocute yourself or create a situation where someone else gets a shock if a fixture, switch, or outlet is not wired correctly the first time around.
2. Electricity is Dangerous to Structures:
   • DIY work can (and has) become a fire hazard or cause shorts. You don’t want your DIY work to accidentally start a fire, damage your appliances or circuits with shorts or surges, or to leave your home without power if something is wired incorrectly.
   • Old homes are also much more sensitive to amateur wiring, even if you do everything by the book.
3. Safety Codes
   • Electrical work must be done according to local safety and building codes. If your work isn’t licensed, signed by an electrician, and up to code, then you can’t legally rent or sell the house if it fails inspection. Plus, whoever does the work is liable if someone gets hurt later on.
   • So unless you can legally sign for your own work and guarantee that your electrical work will be flawlessly up to code, it’s always better to call a professional. s Electrical System & It Will Take Care of You
4. Old DIY Ages Poorly
   • Even if it looks right when you’re done, non-pro techniques are the most likely to age poorly into worse electrical problems later on.
   • A lot of older homes today show signs of a previous owner’s poor DIY work. That flickering light or creepy fixture hanging from wires, the light switch wired backward in the garage, or the bathroom outlet that is badly caulked and never quite worked right are all likely signs of previous DIY work.

When you hire a professional to do electrical work, their fixes are built to last and the work is always done according to the latest safety codes and regulations. This means your home is optimally efficient, safe, and reliable – and won’t electrocute someone or create a future creepy light fixture down the line.

 Astley Electrical: Home Electrical

Maintenance You Can Trust

At Astley Electrical, we’re here to take care of your home electrical maintenance so you don’t have to DIY. Our skilled electricians can replace or add light fixtures, replace breakers, and build new circuits to keep your home safe and bring old wiring up to modern lifestyle standards. Contact us if you have a buzzing outlet, a flickering fixture, or are in dire need of old wiring upgrades before the urge to DIY gets too strong. We know what you need and will make it happen with fixtures and circuits that are built to last.