One of the most common mistakes that people make with their home’s electrical system is neglecting it. Most people treat the electrical system in a manner where anything that’s out of sight is out of mind. Consequently, small issues can accumulate. Over time, this neglect can impose significant hidden costs. Here is a look at some of them.
1. Growing Safety Risks
A major problem with neglected electrical systems is that you don’t always see the potential risks. Take the case of an overloaded wire in one of your home’s walls. Perhaps someone installed a 30-amp breaker on a line that only supports 15-amp wires. The heat from the wire can slowly melt through the wire’s insulation.
It could take years before the exposed wire damages anything. Even if all it does is discolor a wall through the dissipated heat, the repair costs could be considerable. Worse, the damage won’t be evident until something dangerous happens.
2. Declining Energy Efficiency
Another notable issue with neglected systems is that electrical setups are often able to run in suboptimal conditions. Many things go wrong inside an electrical system over its lifetime. Contacts will corrode. Connections will loosen. Loads will become unbalanced. Each of these changes slowly erodes the overall efficiency of the system.
Worse, you won’t notice the decline all at once. Likewise, most people blame their increasing costs on the power company. However, you may want to have one of our electricians test the system to see that everything is operating as efficiently as expected.
3. Damage to Appliances, Electronics and Other Devices
The problems with a neglected electrical system don’t stop at the wall. A weakened system passes degraded electricity to your home’s appliances, electronics and other devices. The electricity can become more unstable, and poorly conditioned electricity is never good for connected systems. Something as simple as charging your phone could damage its battery. Once more, the insidious factor is that few of these issues ever blow up all at once. Instead, your phone’s battery just gets worse and worse at recharging.
Many systems are sensitive to poorly conditioned electricity. Computer power supplies don’t like it. More devices than ever before are fundamentally computers. Smart appliances add computing systems that prefer stable electricity. Also, people are connecting more expensive devices to their systems. If you have a personal EV charging station, for example, you are talking about possibly damaging your car’s battery.
4. The Cost of Coping With Obsolescence
Lots of technologies exist to let us make do with existing electrical systems. The classic example in almost every home is the USB charging adapter that folks use for their phones and tablets. These aren’t optimal solutions. In the best-case scenario, they don’t harm the device but do struggle to charge as well as a built-in outlet with USB support.
The absence of modern electrical technologies also poses risks to people and devices. Ground-fault circuit interrupters are common solutions to protect plugs in kitchens, bathrooms and garages. They protect your plugged-in devices whenever water might short a circuit. Without a GFCI, there is a chance that the short will damage something like your hair dryer. GFCI systems are relatively cheap to install, so there’s no reason to tolerate obsolescence.
5. Surges
Many people see surges as random and uncontrollable events. They may have some level of surge protection through a power strip, but most don’t realize there’s a better solution. Whole-home surge protection covers everything in the electrical system. Also, the whole-home design allows it to suppress significantly more powerful surges.
6. Property Value
An antiquated or failing electrical system is never good for you as a homeowner. If you wish to sell your house or use it as collateral for a loan, the quality of the electrical system will affect the home’s value. An appraiser is likely to work with an inspector who will identify the neglected elements of the electrical system, and you will be aware of the lost value when the time comes to sell or refinance.
Montgomery Industrial Services performs electrical, plumbing and HVAC work throughout Wingham, Ontario and the surrounding areas. We handle residential, commercial and industrial jobs, and customers have trusted us since 1992. If you need to discuss the state of your electrical system or need electrical panel service, contact Montgomery Industrial Services today to consult with one of our qualified professionals.
