5 Top electrical tips to help keep your home safe

It’s essential to have a sound array of safety tips to keep your home safe, non-more important than electrical safety measures. When you go into any shop, restaurant, or school across Dublin, keep an eye out for electrical warnings, signs, and safety measures, you’ll find them in everyone without fail. These warnings and procedures are to help prevent severe damage and health risk. However, when you arrive home, you’ll likely be in an area where a “fire safety plan” has never been made, and many simple preventative measures are not well known. Stillorgan Electrical Services has created this simple-to-follow blog to help guide and keep you safe within your own home!

Electrical safety guidelines are different in every home, depending on what equipment you have in your home, most of which will be powered by electricity. Did you know Between 2005 and 2014, there were 326 fatal fires in Ireland, claiming the lives of 366 people? In the 158 instances where the cause of the fire was known, electrical appliances were suspected in 28 fatal fires (18% of cases). In contrast, a further 3 per cent of deadly fires were attributed to electric blankets. In 2011 alone, 241 fires in Ireland were caused by electrical equipment.
Please see the top tips below to give you peace of mind and make your home safer.

Safety tip #1:

Avoid Overload

Try not overload your power unit, i.e., sockets. All sockets are designed and manufactured to deliver a specific amount of electricity. While a 6-gang extension lead may have enough space to plug in your Tv, laptop, phone, and three other appliances simultaneously, it may not have enough power. Overloading your sockets or extensions can prove very dangerous. If overloading occurs, it can cause overheating and, as a result, a fire outbreak. Stillorgan electrical services suggest getting yourself a power safety strip to help accommodate all your plug-in needs.

Safety tip #2: 

Unplug your appliances

This one is the easiest tip of all, yet also the easiest to forget! Unplug the appliances you are not using. Getting this tip down to a tee is making it a habit. When you are not using an appliance or an electronic, turn it off and unplug it. Let me ask you this, how long have you had your tv plugged in? The average answer? From the day it was installed. Unplugging such devices will save you power (yes, it uses to control and costs you money even when your tv is turned off) and help prevent a potential fire.

Safety tip #3:

Immediate Wire repair

As soon as you see a break in an electrical wire and the cable inside the black plastic can be seen, repair is needed immediately! As electrical cables, age and wear and tear occur, the thin black cable can erode, exposing the copper or electric cable inside; this can cause a severe health risk in the form of a fire breaking out or getting an electric shock. You should inspect the cords every few months in the house areas that are most used. E.g., kettle cords, tv cords, and hairdryer cords.

Safety tip #4: 

Keep electrical equipment away from water!

This will seem like the most obvious one… Keep electrical equipment away from water! Despite its obviousness, you’d be surprised by the number of fires caused by water getting into electrical appliances and causing an outbreak. Make sure the socket is a safe distance away in the kitchen (recommended 1 meter) due to splashbacks from the sink and spillages which could find themselves in the area of a poorly placed socket.

Safety tip #5: 

Get the correct light bulbs

Super simple and direct: using the wrong bulbs can cause electrical problems. Some light fixtures may show the suggested wattage, but some may not. If a light fixture does not show a recommended wattage, you should use a 60-watt bulb or less. Ceiling fixtures that are unmarked should use a 25-watt bulb.

If you feel there are items in your house that look unsafe or you have any concerns whatsoever, do not hesitate to call in the professionals. We, Stillorgan Electrical Services, provide same-day callouts and free quotations and can help ensure any electrical issues you have can be sorted most professionally. We Currently cover North Dublin, South Dublin, and North Wicklow. Have you a light fixture that looks unsecure, a light flickering, or even a fuse board tripping? Call us now.