Summer is here with a vengeance, complete with sunshine, pollen and children running freely in the streets. To some, it symbolizes freedom and to others it’s nothing but the hot part of the year. For electrical systems, the summer means more risks and more reasons for routine maintenance, troubleshooting and double checking things around the house. In this section, we want to give you some guidance on what to look out for concerning strains on your electrical systems, as well as threats towards and against electrical systems.
Watch Your Outdoor Wires
Extension cords especially are at risk when you use them during the summer. There are many reasons for this, and it’s important to observe safe extension cord practices during the summer. We’ll give you some insight on what to look out for, and some extra steps you can take to ensure the safety of your property and all of its inhabitants, as well as your electrical system(s).
Extension Cords – When you’re feeding extension cords outside and they end up there overnight, whether it’s for an electrical sprinkler system, a new fountain or any other mechanism you might be running, make sure to only use the thickest possible wires. Some people even reinforce it with electrical tape.
Why, you say? Because outside there are many animals that would love to gnaw on those wires. If a rodent has its path obstructed by a wire, it won’t just climb over it, it will want to observe the wire, maybe even take a nibble at it and make sure it’s not a root. When that happens, not only is the electrical wire potentially ruined, the critter’s going to have the shock of its life. All of that aside, the summer months are hot and sometimes dry. Free-flying sparks from a busted extension cord can easily start small fires that can turn to big ones real quick.
It’s important for you to also regularly check your extension cords that get left outside for damage. They might get hit by a lawn tool or something else like a roller skate or a bike that can compromise the strength of the outer insulator, which is the only thing keeping that wire from turning into a real hazard. If you have wires that link up outside to lighting and they’ve gone through the entire winter, look at them for damage, and make sure they’re still in good enough condition. If you see minor fraying, use electrical tape. If it looks near destroyed, it may be a good idea to seek new wiring for it.
Summer Strain – Winter is bad enough on your heater. However, summer puts its own brand of strain on both your ventilation systems and your cooling systems alike. Depending on the system, it often takes a much larger amount of electricity to keep an area cool than it does to keep it warm, unless, of course, you use electrical heat. As the summer progresses, attics become extremely hot. As they heat up, cooling systems and attic fans have to run overtime to keep areas cool. It’s important to keep a careful eye on these systems and ensure that they don’t experience any difficulties. If your attic fan breaks and you don’t know it, the combination of the attic overheating and the faulty electrical systems in the attic ventilation systems can create quite a significant fire hazard—not only that, you’re wasting electricity on a system that’s not doing anything for you. Altogether it’s a complete waste of money.
Also, don’t forget that heat can transfer into your house in the form of light, as well as the heat itself. Sometimes a closed window that’s exposed to the sun is almost as bad as if it were completely open. You can take some of the burden off of your air conditioning system, if you get curtains for your windows and make sure they stay closed when there’s no need for light to be getting in. A small amount of light is inconsequential, but a little light over a long time can add up to a lot of heat that can be kept out of the house.
These are just a few easy tips to keep your house cool and your wallet happy during the summer. If you’re having any problems with your electrical systems this summer, don’t hesitate to call us. During hotter seasons, bad electrical systems are a huge problem, both because you don’t want to be hot and uncomfortable, and because you don’t want to have a fire hazard in your property threatening your safety. If you need us, don’t hesitate to contact us throughout Philadelphia and Bucks County, PA, at 800.401.6114 or by e-mail at info@a-1-electric.com. We will do everything in our power to bring you the electrical system your property deserves. We are also a trusted third party agency throughout Bucks County and Philadelphia, PA.
