Across the U.S. approximately 4,400 people are injured and an additional 400 die each year resulting from electrical hazards annually. Add in electrical fire, and you have what results in an estimated $1.6 billion in property damage each year. Could these accidents have been prevented? When it comes to electrical safety, what you don’t know can hurt you.

GFCI stands for ground fault circuit interrupter. A GFCI is required in any areas with an increased risk of shock due to electrical hazards, such as water. In order to protect you from electrical hazards, a GFCI monitors electrical current, turning off an electrical circuit when it detects an imbalance - current flowing along an unintended path. Think of a GFCI as a small, extra-sensitive circuit breaker built right into an outlet to protect you against electrocution – even in outlets that are not grounded. GFCIs are currently required for use in:

Note: Never use GFCI outlets with refrigerators, freezers, or other appliances, as they could trip without your knowledge.

AFCIs stand for arc-fault circuit interrupters, and they protect you from electrical dangers, but of a different variety – those that create heat via arcing. Examples include a rodent chewing on a wire, driving a nail through a wire, or a device overheating where it is plugged into the wall. AFCIs detect this arcing, shutting down outlets before damage can occur. They are not found in wall receptacles like GFCIs, but instead are easily incorporated into your home or business’ main service panel in the form of specialized circuit breakers. AFCIs are required in:

Though you may have an older home or business where building codes do not require these outlets, proper home safety does. Regular outlets and circuit breakers are designed to protect the house's electrical system, not people. With these devices being so easy and inexpensive to install, why wouldn’t you want to protect yourself and others from the unnecessary electrical hazards overlooking them presents?

As of 2014, the National Electric Code (NEC), the nation’s singular code for safe electrical installation, has added the following standards for the safety of your home or business:

All 125-volt, single-phase, 15- and 20-ampere receptacles installed in a laundry room now require GFCI protection, whether or not a sink is present.

As dishwashers age, the risk of electrical shock increases, thus the latest requirement for GFCI protection on all dishwashers, whether they use a receptacle outlet or are hardwired in.

As of 2014, the NEC has recently added kitchen and laundry areas to the list of areas requiring AFCI protection. This includes all 120-volt, single-phase, 15- and 20-ampere branch circuits supplying not just outlets but also devices found in these rooms.

Shocked by how inadequately prepared for electrical hazards your home or business is? Don’t get burned by ignoring the need for these inexpensive, potentially life-saving devices. Contact Mr. Electric® today.

The existing lighting solutions are efficient and provide us the kind of illumination we need; however, they are binary devices. They generally have only one switch that can be used to turn them on/off. In addition, you have to physically be present to operate them. It’s how electrical lighting has been since it was first introduced towards the end of the 19th century. Of course, the time was ripe for a change and that came in the form of smart lighting.

These lights have a completely different working; they make use of local infrastructure, either wireless/wired and provide much more control over various factors such as the colour & brightness of the bulbs you are using as well as the exact time at which they will get switched on etc.

In short, this gives us the scope to use smart lighting for regular home use, in security lighting (to keep miscreants and other unsavoury elements at bay), as well as lighting for all types of special occasions. This control also helps add to the energy efficiency and lowers your power bills as timers can be used to control exactly at what schedules and timings the lights should come and be switched off.

But that’s not the end of it. You also have a choice of a variety of Internet-based tools that can be used to manage the automation of your lighting installations; and you can do this either from your office a few kilometres away from home or from thousands of kilometres away, from across the globe. That is the beauty of smart lighting!!

When it comes to smart lighting installations, there are a couple of different approaches. This is based on whether you choose to:

If you opt for the former, the lights will be controlled using smart switches/relays. In case you choose the self-installed solutions, there are a range of products to choose from; smart bulbs being the commonest and most popular solution. In appearance, these bulbs are almost like the regular bulbs you already use, but they tend to be a tad more expensive than the latter.

All these can be installed in a hassle-free manner and then directly connected to the Wi-Fi network in your home. But that isn’t how all smart lighting solutions work. There are more complex smart lighting installations which use the lighting infrastructure (that already exists on your property), in addition to a wider network of smart switches and a variety of other automation solutions that are pieces of a broader home automation project.

If this is what you are considering to install on your premises, it’s important that you get a skilled and licensed professional to tackle the job. Keep in mind that the service provider and the products you choose will vary greatly in cost and that’s what you’d have to keep in view wile allocating a budget for your smart lighting project.

Regardless of the option you choose, while the upfront cost would be higher than that of traditional lighting solutions, you will save a significant amount of money on your energy bills, in the long term. For more smart lighting ideas and the best electrical solutions, call Allround Electrical at 1300 169 263. You can also drop us a line via email.

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