Electrical Safety Around the House

Cords

An extension cord is for temporary use. Running one under a rug, through a doorway or behind furniture for years is how cords get crushed, heat up and fail where nobody can see.

Power strips are for electronics. A space heater, an air conditioner, a microwave or anything else with a heating element goes straight into a wall outlet. A strip is not built for that load held for hours.

Warning signs worth acting on

A warm outlet or switch plate. A brown or yellow tint on a plate. A smell like fish or hot plastic near an outlet. Lights that flicker in one room. A breaker that trips every few days. A buzzing sound at the panel.

Each of those is heat, and heat in electrical work means a connection that is failing. None of them fix themselves.

Water

After a flood, a burst pipe or a roof leak into a ceiling, shut power to the area before anyone goes in. Water and electricity in a wall or a fixture makes anything metal a risk.

Any device that has been underwater is finished, including breakers and outlets. They get replaced, not dried out.

What to keep clear

The panel needs about three feet of clear floor in front of it and a clear path to reach it. Not behind a shelf and not behind boxes in the garage. In an emergency someone has to get to it fast in the dark.

Teach everyone in the house where it is and which one is the main.