Approximately 24,000 residential electrical fires are reported every year. They’re dangerous for your family, your home and can be incredibly difficult to put out. With proper care, we can easily avoid electrical fires, but sometimes we can create electrical hazards without being aware of how dangerous they are for our home. Here are just a few electrical hazards we have seen across homes that you should get into the habit of avoiding if you want to save money and not have your home have a surprise fire this holiday season.

Extension Cord Usage

We often see cases of homeowners trying to extend the length of their extension cords by plugging multiple cables into one another. While this may make sense to people at first glance, you are creating a dangerous electrical hazard that can end in disaster. By connecting multiple extension cords, you run the risk of an electrical fire. If you need to connect an electronic device and your extension cord will not reach, consider buying a longer extension cord or contacting our team so we can look into the possibility of adding new outlets to your home.

Kitchen Electronics And The Sink

When using the blender or food processor, people can forget about what is on their countertop. If you are in a home where your kitchen’s main outlet is near the sink, be careful with your cables! Avoid having cable lying around pools of water and if you do not need to use a particular appliance, properly unplug the device, wrap the cord up, and place it away.

Overloading Outlets

Sometimes in living rooms or in-home offices, you need many devices connected to have everything running smoothly. From the computer to the speakers and even the TV, you need an outlet to handle your setup. However, you need to avoid overloading your outlets by exceeding the electrical load your outlets are capable of by connecting too many devices. We have seen people buy extension cords or power strips and think that will circumvent the issue of overloading an outlet. Contact our team, and we can find out the power load of your outlets to suggest the best solution to connect your devices and help you avoid overloading your outlets.

At American Mechanical we want to make sure your home is safe from electrical hazards, so call us at (757) 347-8549, and we will help you find the most cost-efficient way to keep your home protected!