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Electrical Safety Tips For Parents And Kids

As a parent or caregiver for toddlers or young children, keeping them safe is always a top priority. But as your kids grow, so do their curiosity and independence. As they find balance and footing, anything and everything becomes a potential hazard to them, electrical outlets and cords included.

But not to worry, there are plenty of ways to childproof your home and keep your kids safe from electrical hazards. Here are a few tips:

Use Outlet Covers

Outlet covers are an easy and effective way to childproof your electrical outlets. They’re inexpensive and widely available online or in most hardware stores. Just make sure to choose covers that fit snugly and cannot be removed easily by small children.

Insert outlet covers into any empty outlets around your home. For outlets in use, you can buy outlet covers with built-in plugs, so you don’t have to remove them every time you need to use them.

Keep Cords Out Of Sight And Reach 

Loose or exposed electrical cords can pose trip/fall hazards and electrocution risks for everyone in the household. By keeping cords tucked away and out of reach, you can help prevent accidents.

Use cord shorteners or cord management devices to keep cords tidy and close to the wall. For example, you can use velcro or temporary adhesive cord clips to keep lines close to the baseboard.

Inspect Your Electrical System

Generally, it’s always a good idea to have a certified electrician inspect your home’s electrical system every few years. Checking your electrical system is especially important if the house you live in is older, as the electrical wiring could fall short of meeting current safety standards.

An inspection will help ensure that your home’s electrical system is up-to-date and functioning correctly. It’s also an excellent opportunity to have any necessary repairs or upgrades made before they become dangerous or cause an accident.

(In Woodland Hills, CA, homeowners can rely on the professionals at Prime Electric for high-quality electrical inspections, repairs, and installations. Check out Customer Reviews here.)

Teach Your Kids About Electrical Safety

As your kids grow, they’ll naturally become curious about the world around them – including electricity. Therefore, teaching them about electrical safety is essential to avoid accidents and incidents. 

Luckily, more resources are available now than ever to help with this.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission provides an excellent website dedicated to electrical safety for kids. In addition, you can find coloring books, games, and other resources to teach your kids about electricity safety.

With some knowledge and preparation, you can help keep your kids safe from electrical hazards around your home. By following these tips, you can create a safe and child-friendly environment for your family.

Should I Rewire My Home?

How Do You Know That The Wiring Needs To Get Changed? There can be several signs that indicate you need to change your wiring. Humming noises of switches when turned on, sparks, and even weak currents. Many times people just overlook the need of wiring thinking it quick and unimportant problem to resolve. Or they dismiss it because of costly repair. Regardless, it is important to know that the cost of rewiring the house is much less that the cost of repairs and damage caused by inefficient or old wiring.

Signs To Tell You Need to Rewire Your Home!

Old or incorrect wiring can be quite hazardous for any type of construction. It not only affects the consumption of electricity but also hampers the safety levels of a home or business. Therefore, one needs to make sure that wiring is replaced whenever required.
How Do You Know That The Wiring Needs To Get Changed?
There can be several signs that indicate you need to change your wiring. Humming noises of switches when turned on, sparks, and even weak currents. Many times people just overlook the need of wiring thinking it quick and unimportant problem to resolve. Or they dismiss it because of costly repair. Regardless, it is important to know that the cost of rewiring the house is much less that the cost of repairs and damage caused by inefficient or old wiring.
Reasons to Rewire Your Home:
 
​Age of Home
Wiring isn’t like the ordinary electrical appliance used in the kitchen. It takes plenty of time to wear down and start showing a lack in performance. However, if your house is older than 30 years then this would probably be a good time to have it rewired.
Overloading
This is another situation faced by the ones residing in outdated homes. If you overload the existing switches by plugging in a heavy appliance, it could lead to tripping, sparking and circuit breaks. You can opt to rewire with help of an electrician in Los Angeles and increase the number of plug-ins and switchboards present in the house in this situation.
Failures
Are you experiencing sparks when plugging in your microwave? Or do you hear noise from the switches once you switch them on? These are some basic signs that show the house needs rewiring because outdated wiring causes damage to appliances, electrical shock, and possibly fire.
Burnt Smells
If it smells like something is burning in a corner of your house and you cannot make out where it is coming from and what the source is behind it, call Prime Electric right away. This could be due to the burning of wires behind the socket inside of the wall. It is a clear sign that you need to rewire your home and replace the sockets, plugs and outlets by calling the best electrical Contractors in Los Angeles.
Rewiring is not as difficult and time-consuming as it seems. Especially when carried out by professionals and experienced service providers such as Prime Electric Inc. in Los Angeles. If you also feel that you need a home inspection then start looking for a good electrician immediately! Call us!
We at Prime Electric strive hard to provide fast and reliable electric repairs to our customers. Our experience of more than 35 years has allowed us to resolve every electrical issue faced by people in both residential and commercial buildings. All you need to do is dial our number and get a free estimate for your problem instantly if the job is done by us!

How Do I Choose A Good Electrician

Choosing a good electrician can be challenging. There are so many electrical contractors to choose from – how do you know which one is reputable and will do the job properly? How much is too much for a specific job? Customers frequently ask us, ” Do I really need an electrician or should I try to do it on my own?”

These are some questions that many people just like you ask every day. The simple answer is that it is best to hire a professional to take care of your electrical issues. Why? Contrary to other trades, when electrical hazards happen, many times you find out about them when its too late and the damage has already been done! You need a professional to make sure the job is done correctly and safely. But how do you choose that professional? What should you look out for? This article will shed some light on this topic and will hopefully give you a better understanding of how to choose a good electrician.
 
Check the License and Insurance
Many electricians will claim that they are licensed and they are not. Others will claim that they are licensed for a certain duration of time, but they have just passed the exams and became licensed a short while ago. The first step would be to ask for the contractors license number and verify it with the Contractors’ State License Board. You may visit the CSLB website at http://cslb.ca.gov. There you can enter the license number and find out when the license was issued, whether or not it is active, and who it belongs to. Only because a contractor states that they are licensed, doesn’t necessarily mean that they are! Our license number is C10-484543. We are licensed since 1985. Feel free to click here to check!
 
In addition, any insured electrical contractor should be able to prove that they have adequate liability insurance. This is extremely important and it protects you, the home/business owner in case something were to happen. Also, when checking the insurance information, make sure that it is up to date.
 
 Check out Qualifications and Experience
As in any other profession, some electricians will have more experience and knowledge than others. An electrical contractor who is confident in its work should be able to offer a workmanship warranty of at least one year. Contractors in Los Angeles such as Prime Electric provide a lifetime warranty on workmanship, because they trust that the work being done will last for life! When choosing an electrician, ask him about his experience and the type of jobs he has done. Remember, you are looking for someone with a proven track record.
 
Use Your Social Network
Use your network of friends, colleagues, family, and business associates to get recommendations of qualified electrical contractors in your area. Reach out to social media and ask people for their opinion on a good electrician. Make a list of a few different companies and compare them. If you have evidence that people you know had a good experience with a specific contractor, thats a good endorsement.
 
Read Reviews
Any references that you ask your electrician are likely to be glowing. You should do your own research and check reputable review websites such as Google Reviews, Yelp, and Facebook to read about peoples experience with a specific contractor. You need to weight things up carefully when you choose a residential electrician. You need to be sure it is someone that you can work with.
 
Trust Your Instincts
If you feel that your tradesmen has a poor attitude or doesn’t seem to know the answer to your questions, this should be a sign for you to move on. Also, if the electrician does not show up in a proper uniform, does not have the company name and logo on his truck, or the interaction simply doesn’t seem right, it may not be the right electrical contractor for you.
 
In addition, all invoices out to have the company name, address, telephone number, and license information printed on them. If the invoice being provided is missing this information or this information is hand-written, this should be a red flag.