The electrical panel is the heart of your home’s electrical system, regulating the flow of electricity throughout your house. Not only is it imperative to ensure that your home’s electrical system works properly, but it can create a hazard and become a safety issue if something is amiss. Electrical panel inspections are one of the best ways to ensure that your home’s electrical system is working correctly and safely. Here’s everything you need to know about why you need electrical panel inspections, the issues that these inspections address, and why working with an electrician is always the best choice.
Why Electrical Panel Inspections Are Essential
The electrical panel is often called the breaker box or the fuse box. It’s the command center for your home’s electrical system, receiving electricity from the utility company and distributing it to the different circuits throughout your home. Chances are you might have attempted to turn breakers on and off when an outlet didn’t seem to be working correctly.
If you need to flick switches in your breaker box more often than usual, an issue might require professional intervention. Aside from making sure that you don’t have to run downstairs to the basement or the side of your house as frequently, inspections of your electrical panel address common issues, such as:
Safety
While we often think of electrical fires as originating from faulty outlets, the internet is full of stories of fires that originated from old or poorly functioning electrical panels. Remember, the panel receives electricity directly from the utility company. That’s a lot of power to regulate, which means if the panel isn’t working correctly, you’re creating a potentially serious safety hazard in your home.
Preventive Maintenance
While an electrical panel might seem in good working order to the untrained eye, a professional electrician can detect issues such as loose connections or worn components. Aside from preventing a safety hazard or a catastrophic failure, a professional inspection can detect an issue when it’s still relatively new, allowing you to fix the problem affordably before it escalates into a much costlier repair.
Code Compliance
Electrical codes and regulations are updated over the years to meet changing requirements and safety standards. Hence, your panel that passed inspection a decade ago might no longer comply with these updated code requirements. While it might be tempting to dismiss these requirements as unnecessary meddling by utility companies, they are important for the safety and proper functioning of the electrical system in your home.
How Often Should an Electrical Panel Be Professionally Inspected?
There are a few different factors that influence how often an electrical panel should be professionally inspected:
Age of the Electrical Panel
The age of your electrical panel is probably one of the most influential factors to consider when deciding to have your panel professionally inspected. Age can lead to wear and tear on the panel’s components, as with most things. Furthermore, if an electrical panel is over a few decades old, it could be utilizing outdated technology that’s no longer compatible with the current codes and regulations. If you’ve been avoiding having an older panel inspected, it’s probably time to call an electrician.
Type of Property
The type of property you own determines how often you should have the electrical panel inspected, at least in terms of code compliance. Commercial properties may require a certain amount of inspections a year. In addition to remaining compliant with local regulations, commercial properties may use more energy than residential ones, so the electrical panel might experience wear and tear faster.
Environmental Conditions
No one living in Texas should be told that our summers can be scorchers. Extreme heat can lead to a quicker breakdown of your electrical panel, as can unexpected weather events such as thunderstorms and floods. Suppose the weather’s been unpredictable lately, and you’ve been experiencing outages. In that case, inspecting your electrical panel can be an excellent way to determine if any issues need to be fixed due to these weather conditions.
Ongoing Issues
If you frequently notice lights flickering or experience outages that only affect your property, it’s probably time to have your electrical panel inspected. It’s easy to write off these issues as just the quirks of an old property, but it’s essential to remember that these can be signs of a serious underlying problem. While you might be accustomed to the light in the kitchen always humming and flickering, it won’t be quite as charming when you realize it is a sign that you are living alongside a severe fire hazard.
The answer to how often your electrical panel should be inspected can vary if there are no issues. For a residential property, every three or five years would be a prudent schedule for routine inspections. For commercial property, an annual inspection is always a safe bet. Not only does this ensure the safety of your employees and customers, but it also ensures that you won’t find yourself stuck with a pricey fine for a code violation.
Why You Should Hire a Professional
No matter how handy you consider yourself, leaving anything electrical to professionals is always smart. You should hire an electrician for your electrical panel inspection for the following reasons:
Expertise
Licensed electricians know what to look for, even in a panel that seems to be functioning perfectly fine at a glance. They can detect potential faults and problems before they escalate into more serious problems that will require a costlier repair.
Safety
Electricity isn’t something to take lightly. Sadly, many people have seriously injured themselves attempting a DIY repair on the electrical system in their home. Professional electricians know the ins and outs of electrical safety. They can perform an inspection and any needed repairs in a manner that ensures their safety, that of you, and your property.
Compliance
If you need to demonstrate compliance with local regulations to the city or your insurance company, any inspection performed by an unlicensed person isn’t valid to them. When you work with a licensed electrician, you’ll get the documentation you need to avoid costly fines or code violations. Furthermore, an electrician can detect the early signs of potential issues in the future, allowing you to address them for pennies on the dollar instead of what you’d pay if you let these minor problems snowball into more significant issues.
Book a Professional Electrical Panel Inspection Today
At Bacon Plumbing Heating Air Electric, we know that paying hard-earned money for a service when there doesn’t even seem to be a problem can feel like a nuisance. But trust us when we say that the amount you pay for an electrical panel inspection is nothing compared to what you could pay in the event of a fire or a code violation. Bacon Plumbing Heating Air Electric is a full-service HVAC company providing heating, cooling, and indoor air quality service. Additionally, we have plumbing and electrical services. To our neighbors in the Dallas and Fort Worth area, we invite you to call us to book an inspection today.
