A Great Anytime Resolution: Electrical Safety Care For Your Home From Your Electrical Contractor | Irving, TX
As you’re taking down those outdoor holiday lights or putting away decorations inside, are you thinking about how many extension cords you’re using? It’s a great starting point for taking a look at the ways you can have our electrical contractor service at Tioga Plumbing & Electric in Irving, TX upgrade and expand your home’s electrical wiring to modernize it and increase your safety. The risk of electrical shock is an important concern, but homeowners often don’t realize that, according to the National Fire Protection Association, electrical causes are among the top three origins of home structure fires, many with tragic outcomes. As your professional electrical contractor, we take your family’s safety very seriously. Our knowledge and experience can help catch electrical safety issues, even hidden ones, and our skills ensure that the work you have us do is done carefully and done right.
Start with an Electrical Inspection If You Aren’t Sure
As a top local electrical contractor, our team members have broad experience in electrical wiring and equipment, from commercial use to residential power for basic homes and large, feature-rich residences. We also know a lot about electrician practices in the area over many decades, and the different ways that they wired and upgraded local homes. When we perform an electrical inspection for you, we check wiring and connection styles and materials, capacity matches from the fuse box or circuit breakers to the wire size and outlet type, and special concerns like outdoor wiring methods.
We also make note of variations from current electrical code, many of which are quite acceptable legally due to “grandfathering,” but may be worth talking about for your family’s safety. We’ll also look for signs of damage to your home’s wiring and fixtures, from creatures living in your fuse box to water damage to the wires. When it comes time to talk about the results, we can provide information about how we can help you not only get safer electrically but also meet your family’s needs with improvements that our electrical staff can quote for you. We’re here for you.
Instead of Creative Solutions to Power Needs, How About Safe Ones?
In the past, there have been many devices available to make creative use of existing wiring, including two-prong adapters for three-prong plugs, expansion adapters that change one outlet into three, and even devices that screw into light bulb sockets to provide a two-prong outlet instead. There’s also the familiar extension cord and its cousin, the power strip, still in common use today. These are all solutions to problems that can be better addressed with permanent changes or additions to your home’s wiring and fixtures, including a larger number of outlets in your rooms to meet modern power and access needs. Electrical contractors see amazingly risky uses of these devices, including “permanently installed” extension cords stapled to the wall, combinations of adapters or extensions creating a snake’s nest of cords, and outdoor use of devices that were never meant to get wet.
Wiring Capacity and Durability Are Important for Fire Prevention
Your home’s permanent wiring is designed to carry a specific maximum amount of current, with a fuse or circuit breaker rated at that amount as protection. When a device such as a blow dryer, microwave, or space heater is connected using any available extension cords it may work, and even be drawing less than the circuit is designed for, but the weak link is often the extension cord. When high power devices are connected through these, the extension cord is often rated for less.
Multiple extension cords for greater length is an even bigger problem, as capacity is further reduced. The problem is that the wiring is likely to heat up, and if it gets worn, it could heat up a lot. Extension cords are often subject to foot traffic, vacuuming, and other potentially damaging activities. Putting them under a rug might help a little, but it might not prevent damage and it definitely will hide it so you won’t realize there’s a problem. When our electrical contractor installs the wiring you need, you can conveniently plug into the wall and use the power you need, without taking risks and creating unsightly tangles of cords.
An Improvement on Power Strip Protection
Power strips provide advantages over extension cords, in that they usually have more durable and shorter wires, built-in protection from circuit breakers to surge protection, and the convenience of a single “off” switch to help save energy when you’re not using the devices that are plugged into it. Did you know that most electronics draws power even when it’s off? The reasons include chargers that are always at the ready, AV devices that are waiting for a remote control signal, and computers that are in a “sleep” mode ready to wake up quickly without having to go through the boot process. Almost everything electronic these days has some reason to keep drawing power, and it can add up.
The power strip also may contain a surge protection device, and that’s where as an electrical contractor we can do better. Whole house surge protection is now available, covering all devices in your home whether they’re on a power strip or not. That means the electronics in your fridge and laundry appliances are protected, for example. Our electrical contractor team can also provide whole-house lighting arrester protection, with the same coverage and protection for your home’s circuits.
Your Caring, Conscientious Electrical Contractor in Irving, TX
Tioga Plumbing & Electric in Irving, TX watches out for your family’s safety when we’re working on your home’s electrical wiring, fixtures, and power. We have decades of experience in protecting our community’s homes and businesses, and we hope you’ll look to us for preventive care, professional electrical contractor services, and useful information about ways you can use modern electrical system improvements to enjoy life more. Give us a call and get to know all we can do for you.
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