Electrical Overloads Cause House Fires

House Fire - Photo Tim Thiele

Every year people fall victim to household fires. Among these are fires caused by faulty electrical wiring. Many diiferent problems can arise with electrical wiring, but the sad part is some of these fires could have been avoided if people would just follow a few electrical safety rules.

Loose Electrical Outlets

Loose contact grips inside the outlet itself can cause the outket to heat up when something is plugged into it. This in turn transfer heat through the wire and, if it gets hot enough, can lead to the insulation of the wire catching on fire. Loose contacts make it inpossible to keep cords from falling out of the outlet.

Loose Connections In The Electrical Panel

Connection points on the neutral bar, ground bar, and the breakers themselves can cause a lot of problems. If your lights are flickerng, or you notice light bulbs that are dim in your home, a loose connection in the panel may be the cause.

Loose Splices

Loose splices seem to be the culprit in many instances as well. Whether it be in junction boxes, light switch boxes, or outlet boxes, be sure to twist wires together and use a large enough wire nut to make the connection. Most come with a spring inside that forces a tight connection. Never just twist the wires ogether and tape them. you're just ansking for trouble and a fire!

Overloading Circuits

If you are one of those types who tries to plug 15 drop cords into one oulet, go ahead and call the fire deparment right now, you'll need them. If you're not sure what an overloaded circuit is, let me enlighten you. It is a circuit that has too much load for the capacity of the breaker or fuse it is connected to. What will happen when it overloads? The fuse blows or the breaker trips. OK, so the safety devises did their job by opening the circuit. But you just replace the fuse or reset the breaker, right? That's where the trouble begins. You first need to locate the problem, whether a short circuit or too may devices on the circuit. Eliminate some of the appliances plugged into the circuit outlet and see if that clears the problem. By resetting the breaker over and over without finding the problem, the wire gets hotter and hotter until a fire starts!

Light Bulbs

Light bulbs can cause their own problem. Each light fixture has a tag on it stating the recommended maximum sized bulb to use in the light socket provided. It's unbelievable how many times I've heard that bulb isn't bright enough so I put a 100-watt bulb in. The only problem is, it was rated for a 60-watt bulb. Now the socket gets hot, the wire gets hot, and the fixture starts to smoke. And then, when the fire starts, it really gets bright!

These are just a few electrical overloads that can cause house fires and some safety tips to ponder as you go through a normal day.