In the last blog, we talked about electrical fire, one which actually happened and forced nine people from their homes.  We’d like to take a deeper look into this kind of situation and talk more about the kinds of things that can cause home fires or electrocution!  Whether or not you live in your own home or in an apartment, you really should be aware of some of the problems that are common to structures that are 20 years old or older.

IF you have the older style breaker box where the electric enters the house, there’s a good chance it is the old and dangerous Federal panel or breaker box.  These style breaker boxes are inherently unsafe and have been known to cause countless house fires.  If you find you have a Federal panel or breaker box, you should not wait to call a qualified electrician to have him come and inspect it.  The cost of a new panel box is far less than the cost of a new home or the loss of one or more of your family.  This situation is a most serious situation and should not be left unresolved.

When electric current passes through wires and especially through places where one wire connects with another, the wires heat up and expand.  Over time, electrical connections can and will loosen from repeated expansion and contraction.  When this happens – the connections loosen – a situation sets up that is called arcing.  In plain terms, there are electrical arcs going from one wire to the other and these arcs are extremely hot.  They are hot enough to set insulation, wall board, and wood on fire…another primary cause of house fires.  If you own a home that is 10 years old or older, it is time to get a professional electrician to come in and inspect your wiring connections.

The same is true for apartment dwellers.  Apartment buildings, especially older ones, are notorious for having the minimal quality wiring that passed code ‘back then’.  The probability is that the code has changed and the apartment is unsafe.  You may have to pay for an inspection, but, if the wiring is unsafe and a fire hazard, you can and should make your landlord pay for repair or replacement.

Safety, safety, safety!  I know we harp on it in these blogs, but we value our customers, our potential customers…and we want you to have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your home is as safe as you can make it when it comes to electricity.  Call us at Lon Lockwood Electric or call another professional and certified Electrician for an inspection.  Don’t put it off.  Please, for your own safety; call as soon as you can.

Canandaigua, NY, July 7, 2010: Firefighters were called to Candlewood Apartments, 2450 County Road 28, just after 9 a.m., when a fire broke out in the kitchen of Apartment 10C. It took firefighters about 30 minutes to control the fire. No injuries were reported.

The tenants of Apartment 10C and several neighboring apartments safely escaped the two-story building safely before firefighters arrived, said Canandaigua Fire Chief Matthew Snyder.

The kitchen of 10C sustained heavy electrical fire damage and there was moderate heat and smoke damage throughout the apartment. Three adjacent apartments sustained minor smoke damage.

The tenants of the four affected apartments were displaced after fire officials shut down power to the building, Snyder said.

What a sad thing to have happen to these folks – all of them displaced because of an electrical fire caused by a faulty wire or connection that could have been so easily prevented.  IF the apartment owners had contacted a qualified electrician to do a simple inspection, the fire could and would have been prevented.  These folks would still be in their homes – no smoke damage, no water damage, no confusion and all that goes along with being displaced from their homes until repairs and cleaning are complete – potentially for weeks!  Perhaps even months!!!

The important lesson to be learned here is that this kind of fire, this kind of electrical problem that caused a fire, is not confined to apartment buildings!  Somewhere in your home, there is a high probability of a similar situation with your wiring and connections that is, simply put, a disaster waiting to happen.  YOUR HOME is at risk!  You and your family could be the next victims!

To prevent a disaster similar to this one from happening to your home…your family…your loved ones, it is essential that you contact a licensed and qualified electrician as soon as possible for a thorough inspection of your home.  Take the steps now to prevent the disaster of an electrical fire from happening to you.

At Lon Lockwood Electric, we can and will be happy to set up an appointment with you to have your home thoroughly inspected.  But, whether you call us or another qualified electrician, we implore you to contact someone now!  Your safety is our primary concern!!!

This is the Third of a series of three blogs that address the electricity that enters your home, what should happen, and what can go wrong.  In short, electrical safety!

In our last two blogs, we discussed electric current that flows from the pole to your home.  In this blog, we will take a look at your home wiring and talk about why it is so very important that you consider the safety of everyone in your home!

Wires leave the circuit breakers and go to individual devices like light switches and outlets.  Most homes are built with back-stabbed connections, which is a series circuit.  That means if one of your outlets becomes damaged or worn, everything on that circuit will stop working.  (It’s like the old Christmas tree lights; one bulb falls out, and none of them work.)  To prevent this from occurring, for your safety and your convenience, your home’s electrical system would benefit from a pig-tailed screw post combination.  This parallel circuit will continue to feed electricity to all of your devices, even if one no longer functions.

If your home is five to 20 years old, and it has back-stabbed connections, they easily could overheat and possibly create an electrical fire.  Every home requires electrical safety maintenance over time.  Rebuilding the connections throughout your home with a parallel system will prevent electrical overheating due to loose connections and greatly reduce the risk of electrical fires, while providing many years of great electrical service.  Consequently, you will get many more years of safe electricity with a reduced risk of overheating connections.

We all hear the ads on TV regarding Smoke and CO₂ detectors, but we have heard them so often, we don’t really pay attention.  Well, you should pay attention to the following:  Should a fire occur in your home, immediate notification is essential to everyone’s safety.  For optimum safety, your home should have interconnected smoke detectors.  Interconnected smoke detectors communicate with each other.  If a fire breaks out in your basement, the alarm will still sound on your third floor.  This optimizes the time you have to assist everyone in your household from escaping any potential danger.

Isn’t it time you had an expert electrician from Lon Lockwood Electric evaluate your wiring from the outside in and make sure you are protected from electrical fire, costly electrical surges, or worse?  Electrical safety is not something you put off for tomorrow.  You need to act now, before it is too late.  All it takes is a simple phone call.

MISSION STATEMENT: Lon Lockwood Electric’s mission to take care of your problems… the reason why you called us.  However, on average, our expert electricians encounter one electrical fire or overheated connection (potential fire) every day.  These fires and overheated connections are a direct result of inadequate electrical equipment and unmaintained homes.  That is why every home we visit also receives a complete electrical safety inspection.  All of us at Lon Lockwood Electric sleep better at night knowing that everyone in your household is resting safely.  Your well being is our ultimate concern.

This is the second of a series of three blogs that address the electricity that enters your home, what should happen, and what can go wrong.

In our last blog, we discussed electric current that flows from the pole to your home, how it passes through the outside main electrical service, the main electrical panel/load center, and into the circuit breakers for distribution to the various circuits in the house – and why it is important that these electrical distribution points were of the right quality, properly installed, and maintained. In this blog, we will take a look at the circuit breakers and panel box and discuss what you need to know and do to keep them safely operating as they are intended to operate.

PREMUIM CIRCUIT BREAKERS: Circuit breakers within a load center protect the wires leading to the individual electrical devices.  A main breaker shuts down all power in the home. All circuit breakers are not created equally.  Circuit breakers from an aluminum panel do not provide optimum protection.  They have a high tendency of failing, resulting in your home no longer being safe from electrical malfunctions that can commonly occur which can lead to fire!  Circuit breakers from copper panel Eaton CH circuit breakers—that Lon Lockwood Electric uses—are far superior.  These circuit breakers will shut off faster when a short circuit or power overload is present.  The faster the power is shut off; the less damage will occur to your home, and the safer you will be.

AFCI CIRCUIT BREAKERS (FIRE GUARD): Arc-fault circuit breakers are a technological breakthrough that reduces the risk of electrical fires.  If you have overheating connections in your home, which can lead to an electrical fire, standard circuit breakers will not shut off for these until there is a short circuit.  The arc-fault circuit breakers do the same job as a standard circuit breaker with the added benefit of finding overheating connections and will before any damage is done.

PANEL SURGE PROTECTION: The average home contains more than $8,000 worth of appliances and electrical equipment.  Your air conditioner, big screen television, and computers are vulnerable to large surges the come from cars hitting utility poles, lighting strikes, and more.  Each could destroy these valuable items in your home.  Lon Lockwood Electric offers “Stage 1” surge protection, which can reduce these large jolts, and “Stage 2” protection by offering high-level power strips to more sensitive electronic devices.

In our next blog, we will continue this discussion, putting our focus on where the electricity goes from the circuit breakers and how best to protect yourself and your family from shock or fire.

Isn’t it time you had an expert electrician from Lon Lockwood Electric evaluate your wiring from the outside in and make sure you are protected from electrical fire, costly electrical surges, or worse?  All it takes is a simple phone call.