Signs Your Home's Electrical Wiring Is Faulty

Faulty and poor electrical connections in homes are very risky because they can lead to electrical emergencies such as fires and shocks. For this reason, you will want to ensure that all electrical connections and fixtures in your home are in a good working condition. Unfortunately, continued use of these fixtures may lead to wear and tear. Electrical wiring in your home is essential and the wires may need replacement after some time. Therefore, you need to be watchful for red flags that your home's electrical wiring system may be faulty. Lucky for you, your electrical system will give you a few hints that your electrical wires are failing. Here are some of these hints.

Unusual Tripping of Circuit Breakers or Blowing of Fuses

Your circuit breaker will trip or the fuse will blow when there's an overload in a circuit somewhere. This usually happens if you add home appliances such as microwaves or washing machines to a certain circuit. The power demand of the appliances could be exceeding the safe capacity of the circuit, causing the tripping. However, if everything is as usual and you start experiencing constant tripping of your circuit breaker, your electrical wiring could be the culprit. Faulty electrical wires can easily cause a short somewhere in a circuit, leading to repeated circuit breaker trips.

Hot Switch Plates or Outlets

Electrical outlets that power even heat-producing appliances such as space heaters shouldn't become hot, but it is not uncommon for switch plates or electrical outlets to feel just a little warm to the touch. However, if the switch plates or electrical outlets feel extremely hot when you plug in an appliance, unplug it and leave it for a couple of minutes. If the switch plate or outlet still feels hot without any appliance plugged in and produces a burning smell, the wiring could be faulty. Call in electrical contractors as soon as you can when this happens.

Buzzing, Flickering Or Dimming Lights

These could mean either of three things: faulty light fixtures, overloaded circuits or faulty electrical wiring. Try changing the light bulb and plugging any recently added fixtures such as microwaves to a different circuit. If none of these work, your electrical wiring is the problem and you need to have it inspected by an electrician.

Electric Shocks

A mild tingle or shock when you touch an electrical appliance or fixture, especially outlets or fixtures is never good. First, the outlet or switch itself could be damaged so check for the condition and replace if necessary. However, if the fixtures are in good condition, an electrical wire somewhere in the circuit could be shorting out, leading to the shocks.