The holidays are just around the corner. If you plan to decorate your home this year, it's time to schedule an appointment with your electrician. You may not think that you need an electrician right now, especially if you're not experiencing electrical issues, but that's not the case. The fact is that the holiday season is the perfect time for a service call from your electrician, especially if you're going to be plugging in light-up decorations around your house. Here are just four of the ways that an electrician will benefit you this holiday season:
Install New GFCI Outlets
If you're going to be installing long strands of holiday lights, or multiple light-up decorations, you need to make sure that you have plenty of GFCI outlets around the house. You should never plug holiday decorations into non-GFCI outlets. That's because ordinary outlets can't provide the protection you need against shorts and other electrical problems. Before you start plugging in your decorations, have your electrician install GFCI outlets for you.
Replace Old Circuit Breakers
If it's been a while since you had your circuit breakers replaced, and you plan to install brand new light-up decorations, you need to call your electrician. Your old circuit breakers may not be able to handle the power load that your new decorations will require. If that's the case, you're going to need new circuit breakers before you plug in your decorations. Without the new circuit breakers, you could lose power to your entire house once you plug in the decorations.
Check the Wiring for Damage
If you live in an older home, or you've recently dealt with a squirrel or raccoon infestation in your attic, now's the time to have your wiring inspected for damage. As the wiring in your home ages, it may begin to crack or fray. Not only that, but if squirrels and raccoons have been living in your attic, they could have chewed through the wiring to make room for their nests. Unfortunately, either wiring problem will increase your risk for electrical fires as soon as you start plugging in your holiday decorations. To reduce that risk, you need to have your wiring inspected before you begin decorating for the holidays.
Identify Additional Problem Areas
If it's been a few years since you had your electrical system serviced, you should take care of that before the holidays arrive. You may have electrical issues that you're not aware of. The pre-season inspection will give your electrician the time they need to address those problems before you begin to decorate your home.
Share9 November 2019
After my sister moved into my house with me, she started complaining about the temperature. I had never really thought about it before, or maybe I was just used to it, but my house was pretty cold. She told me that she didn't think the furnace was working properly, so I started checking things out on my own. Sure enough, my furnace seemed to be having some serious problems. I started looking for a replacement, and I was able to find a great furnace for much less than what I initially thought I would need to spend. I wanted to make this blog for anyone out there who might need to shop for a new HVAC system. Check out these great articles for information you might need.