New Homeowner’s Guide to Your Home’s Electrical Needs

Congratulations on buying your first home! However, a new home comes with a lot of responsibility. From plumbing and HVAC to endless odd jobs around the house, you are going to learn a lot of skills you did not expect to learn, especially when it comes to electricity. Electrical issues can seem overwhelming, but our experienced team at Lippolis Electric Inc. has created this guide to explain your home electricity system.

Table of Contents

• Home Electrical System Intro
• Regular Care and Maintenance
• Considerations for Your Appliances

A Brief Introduction to Your Home’s Electrical System

Your residential electrical system holds so many components to power your house. Here’s some house wiring 101 to help you understand your home’s electricity basics.

Electricity starts at a generating plant, and the electric company distributes it over wires and through switches and transformers to supply your house with electricity. Electricity flows into your home through a network of wiring from the utility service line. Your home electricity starts at your main panel, also called a breaker box, which sends electricity throughout the house and all the electrical devices that use it. Electricity those devices don’t use goes back to the breaker box and into the ground. If the level of electricity starts getting too high, the breaker in the main panel will interrupt the flow of electricity.

We measure electricity in volts or voltage. All electrical devices have a rating for specific voltages. Typical devices and small appliances are rated at 120 volts, while higher voltage appliances such as dryers and heaters have a rating of 240 volts. Electricity flows due to voltage, which is like the pressure that makes electricity flow through wires. The electric company controls the voltage that goes through your home.

The electrical current flows to each electrical source through a circuit of wires, and larger wires carry more current. This electrical current is measured in amps. All electrical devices have ratings for a safe level of amps, just like they do for voltages. The circuit breakers located in your home’s breaker box control the electrical flow in separate circuits. Each circuit has a specific amp rating. When you trip the breaker by using too many appliances at once, you increase the power to an amp rating over what the circuit could handle. Larger devices get separate circuits to help minimize the possibility of this.

Transformers transfer energy from one electrical circuit to another through wires. Wires are either hot, neutral or ground. Two wires are hot and not connected to the earth in a transformer, while one wire is ground and connected to the earth. Hot wires are black and distribute electricity throughout your home from circuit breakers in a panel. Neutral wires are typically white and return from an outlet to the electrical panel. Ground wires connect to the earth and only take on electricity if too much electricity is flowing. With this, the breaker will trip.

Regular Care and Maintenance for Your Home’s Electrical System

Even if you don’t understand everything about electricity, you should still know basic care and maintenance for your home’s electrical system.

Electrical failure or malfunction causes approximately 44,000 house fires annually, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Many of these are from the improper wiring of different elements in the home electrical system and continually using faulty outlets. It’s best to avoid do-it-yourself electrical projects. It may seem like an easy job, but when it comes down to it, hiring a licensed professional trained in electrical safety is your best option to avoid catastrophic outcomes.

If you purchased a fixer-upper, make sure to check the wiring! Homes with older wiring or a lower capacity electrical system may need to have the entire system upgraded. A modern electrical system can prevent overheating and save your home from a fire. Most homes require 100 to 200 amps because of the large number of appliances and electrical devices.

Many homes also experience power surges, often from electrical storms or blown transformers. These power surges, while not uncommon, may cause extensive damage to your home’s electrical wiring. If you experience a power surge, it is crucial to call an electrician and make repairs before the damage spreads throughout your entire home.

Faulty electrical outlets can also cause a fire if you use them. Ways you can spot a faulty outlet include:

• Blackened stains around the electrical outlet’s cover.
• A discolored outlet.
• Sparks emitting from the electrical outlet.
• An outlet where one of the plugs does not work properly.
• An electrical outlet that makes a buzzing or crackling noise.
• A warm outlet.

Ensure you do not use any faulty outlet until after a licensed electrician inspects and repairs it.

Inspecting your home’s electrical system is a great way to catch issues before they cause a serious problem. Keep trees and bushes trimmed and away from the cables and wires outside your home.

Inside your home:

• Check all switches and outlets.
• Test outlets and GFCI outlets with a receptacle tester.
• Test your home’s carbon monoxide and smoke detectors.
• Check electrical cords.
• Check light bulbs to make sure they don’t exceed your lamps’ maximum wattage.

As a new homeowner, you need to understand electrical safety and how to act to keep you, your family and your home safe.

Considerations for Your Appliances

Have you ever noticed the wattage on your microwave? Or see the different instructions on frozen food for cooking in microwaves of different watts? Wattage is simply voltage times amperage.

Watts measures the amount of electricity that electrical devices draw from an electrical circuit. A microwave, for example, may have a rating for a max of 10 amps, and you plug it into a standard 120-volt electrical outlet. Your microwave may then draw as much power as 1,200 watts (10 amps x 120 volts). This allows you to understand how much electricity a circuit has and how many appliances you can use at once. A typical 15-amp, 120-volt household circuit has a maximum of 1,800 watts available. This means all the appliances on that circuit can only use 1,800 watts before you overload that circuit.

Trust Your Electrical Repairs to Lippolis Electric

If you’re still confused after reading our guide to home electricity for beginners, that’s all right! There’s so much to learn about electricity. Professional electricians like the team at Lippolis Electric are there so you don’t have to learn everything. If you have an electrical issue, contact us today! No job is too big or too small for our highly trained and skilled professionals! Let us lend our years of experience to help make your time in your new home as enjoyable and as stress-free as possible. We look forward to hearing from you!