Every year, over 20,000 households experience an electrical fire. If there’s an odd odor coming from one of your outlets, unplug everything from it immediately.
Flickering lights and buzzing noises are also ominous signs. If your light fixtures are hot to the touch, that could mean there’s something wrong with your insulation.
In all these circumstances, it’s crucial to get in touch with your local electrician. They can find the source of your problems and fix them before they cause a fire.
Funny odors and flickering lights are only a few electrical problems that you should be on the lookout for. Check out this guide to learn more.
1. Issues With the Circuit Breaker
When you overload your outlets by plugging too much into a surge strip, it’s the job of your circuit breaker to disrupt the flow of electricity to prevent a fire.
It’s not too unusual for a circuit breaker to trip every now and again. It can happen if there’s a storm going on outside or, again, if you’re using too many electronics at once.
You don’t have a problem on your hands unless it trips for seemingly no reason or there’s a strange odor coming from it. In both these instances, hiring an electrician right away is the best move.
2. Flickering Lights
If your lights are flickering, don’t worry, you’re not dealing with a ghost. This is a common issue that often happens during bad weather.
It could also mean that there’s a poor circuit connection somewhere or a loose bulb. In most cases, you can troubleshoot these problems on your own.
Tighten the bulbs throughout your home, or consider switching to smart bulbs. Calling an electrician to make sure your circuit breaker is capable of powering all of your electronics isn’t a bad idea either.
3. Broken Light Switch
You walk into your living room and flip on your light switch, only for nothing to happen. Take a moment to check your lightbulbs.
If none of them are burned out, it’s the switch itself. If it loosened, that means that it’s not powering anything anymore. It could also be an issue with your circuit breaker or wiring.
The good news is that a malfunctioning light switch is a pretty quick and easy fix. The person you hire for electrical repairs will turn off your circuit breaker and remove the switch to find the source of the issue. If the light switch is completely dead, they’ll install a new one.
4. Electrical Surge
An electrical surge is something that occurs when powerlines experience a sudden charge of power. When this happens, your TV or computer will turn itself off and turn back on again.
Power surges are often caused by lightning. Since you can’t control the weather, you can’t control surges to a point.
If you experience a surge when it’s sunny out, you may need to contact a home electrician. It’s possible that you have a faulty control panel on your hands. If it’s not fixed, it could permanently damage your appliances.
5. You Don’t Have Enough Functioning Outlets
You need to charge your phone, but the only working outlet in your living room is across the room. While you’re capable of doing without your phone for a half hour while it charges, you are expecting an important call, so you need to have your cell close by.
Not being able to have your phone by the couch with you is the least of your problems, however. The fewer outlets you have in a room, the more likely you are to overload and blow out the ones that you do have.
If you attempt to make a dead outlet work, you could cause a fire. That’s why you should let a professional replace the problem outlets instead.
6. Counterfit Electronics
Those 50-cent extension cords from the flea market might seem like a good idea, but they’re not. The price is right, but they could be incredibly dangerous because they’re not up to industry standards.
For the sake of your home, only buy electronics from reputable stores and dealers.
7. Warm Outlets
Your outlets conduct quite a bit of electricity, but that shouldn’t cause them to spark or be warm to the touch.
If one or more of your outlets are running a bit hot, talk to an electrician before they cause a fire. They may need to fix your wiring or replace the outlet altogether.
8. Buzzing
When you plug a lamp or phone charger into your wall outlet, it should work silently.
Buzzing and sizzling are signs that you need to pull out all of your plugs and consult an electrician right away. If you don’t, there’s a good chance that a fire will break out.
9. Your Bulbs Don’t Last Long
Every time you turn around, you’re having to go to the store to pick up a new pack of light bulbs. Considering that most lightbulbs are built to last for at least 1,000 hours, that’s not normal.
The wattage coming out of the fixture that you’ve installed the bulbs in might be a bit too strong, or you could be dealing with faulty wiring. Either way, experienced electricians can help you.
Common Electrical Problems to Be Aware Of
While not all electrical problems need immediate attention, some of them can be pretty dangerous.
Putting off fixing your sizzling outlets and faulty circuit breakers could cause a fire. Protect yourself and your family by getting on the phone with an experienced electrician today.
For more tips that will help you keep your home electric up to standard, visit the Lifestyle section of our blog.
