3 Reasons Why DIY Electrical Projects Are Dangerous

Posted on: Nov 28, 2019

Hiring a professional electrician to handle a simple circuit upgrade or repair a blown wall socket might sound like a waste of money to the veteran DIY warrior. But taking on electrical repair projects around the house can sometimes end in calamities since electrical projects are dangerous.

Failing to hire an electrical repair service not only exposes you to electrocution but could void your home insurance or any warranties you have on electronics in your house. While these can be derailing, there are other worse consequences that each homeowner should be wary of;

You Could Set Your House on Fire – Electrical Projects Are Dangerous

The most significant risk DIY electrical projects expose you to is the possibility of overloading circuits and setting the house on fire. Faulty connections, the wrong gauge of wire, and other amateur mistakes could culminate into circuit overheating, sparks, and even fires.

In most cases, DIY projects rarely take into account the original circuit’s capabilities. Most homeowners will hack the system and add whatever components they need. While the new additions might work fine, they will put added strain on your electrical system that will manifest itself in due time or when you decide to upgrade your projects some more.

Code Violations that Make Your Home Hard to Resell

Unlike electrical repair service from certified electricians, DIY projects rarely take into account local building and contracting guidelines. If anything, most people will deliberately skirt the regulations to cut costs.

Since no one will inspect your home after the project, chances are you will get away with it and live a happy life – assuming the upgrades don’t go up in flames.

This isn’t much of a problem if you don’t plan to sell your home at all. However, if you ever call in the realtors, you might have a hard time getting a buyer since most home inspectors will notice faulty wiring upgrades. Prospective buyers won’t pay for the home if they see any update that wasn’t approved by the local authorities and built to comply with the latest codes.

Future Projects Might Be Harder to Handle

The main reason why electrical contractors follow a strict code of standards when installing new systems or carrying out electrical repair service is to ensure that any other technician working on the system in the future will understand what is going on.

For instance, something as simple as using the right wire gauge to wire the cooker power source will help the next technician who wants to tap into that circuit to power an electric oven. He or she will be confident that the wiring is up to standards and can accommodate the current the cooker will draw.

However, on the other hand, a do it yourself homeowner might decide to cut costs and use a flimsy wire or even go for a wrongly rated circuit breaker for that lining. This will prove messy to future electricians who will have no way of telling this hence leading to catastrophic failures or even fires from otherwise innocent improvements.

While this might not directly lead to explosions or electrocution, it could set you back financially in case you have to do a complete overhaul of the entire system.

Calling in the experts at Airco Service to handle any significant repair or upgrade on your electrical system is both safe and wise. Even though it might cost more, you will rest assured that your home is safe enough for you and your loved ones. It also ensures that you can make future upgrades easily without having to pay extra to an expert to figure out the non-standard updates or hacks you made to your electrical system months ago.