Category: Do It Yourself

20 Home Electrical Safety Tips

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home electrical safety tips

May is National Electrical Safety Month, and we believe in spreading awareness at The Happy Outlet! National Electrical Safety Month serves to educate the public with tips to keep them safe while using electricity every day at home.

To kick off the education celebration this month, our team of expert electricians has compiled a list of 20 electrical safety tips for our customers to remember at home. Check them out before you plug it in!

General Electrical Safety Tips

These general electrical safety tips apply to all rooms in your house, and even your backyard. Think carefully before using electrical appliances and be sure to teach your kids these safety rules.

  • Check electrical cords for damage frequently. Frayed cords can cause electrocution or electrical fires.
  • Never yank electrical cords out of outlets. Gently pull them out by their plastic base.
  • Don’t plug too many devices into the same electrical outlet or power strip at once. This can overload your circuits and trip a breaker.
  • Only use extension cords as a temporary fix, not a permanent solution. Never cover them with blankets or rugs because the heat this generates is a fire hazard.
  • Remember that even if an appliance is turned off, it is still connected to an electrical current as long as it is plugged in.
  • Install GFCI outlets that will shut off your power if they detect a problem with the flow of electricity to an appliance. They prevent electrocution, and they are required in every room with a source of water to meet the National Electrical Code.

Kitchen Electrical Safety Tips

These electrical safety tips apply specifically to the kitchen. Since kitchens have a source of water from the sink, it is important to stay extra vigilant about electrical safety.

  • Always unplug handheld appliances before cleaning them or removing a piece of stuck food. (This includes toasters, blenders, coffee pots, and more.)
  • Plug handheld cooking appliances into GFCI outlets only.
  • Vacuum the coils of your refrigerator regularly. If dirt builds up on them, it can create a fire hazard.
  • Make sure there is some space left behind your refrigerator for air to circulate.
  • If you feel even a tiny shock from a major appliance, turn it off right away. Turn off the power to the appliance from your circuit board, and then call a professional immediately. There could be a serious problem with your wiring.

Bathroom Electrical Safety Tips

Here are a few electrical safety tips for the bathroom. Between the sink, toilet, shower, and bathtub, there are lots of opportunities for water to come into contact with electronics. Stick to these rules to help you prevent a dangerous electrocution.

  • Never operate electrical appliances near a bathtub full of water or a running shower.
  • Leave unnecessary electronics such as radios or laptops outside of the bathroom. Use hair tools with caution.
  • Never use any electrical appliances while your hands are wet.
  • Never install regular recessed lighting in your shower area. Use a vapor-tight recessed light instead.
  • If you notice any electrical problems like flickering lights or dead outlets, have a professional inspect and troubleshoot them right away.

Outdoor Electrical Safety Tips

Electrical safety doesn’t stop when you step out the back door. Bring these tips along with you to your next barbecue or pool party and keep your guests safe.

  • Stay away from power lines. Don’t fly kites or drones near them. If you see one on the ground after a storm, call to report it to the police.
  • Don’t touch transformer boxes, and don’t let kids play near them.
  • Keep all electronics at least 10 feet away from swimming pools.
  • Use only extension cords designed to withstand outdoor wear and tear.
  • Never run extension cords through doors or windows, even temporarily.
  • Use GFCI outlets outdoors to protect yourself and your electrical system from moisture caused by precipitation.

Now that you know some basic electrical safety tips, remember one more important lesson: never attempt any DIY electrical repairs or replacements. Always call a licensed and insured professional to handle your electrical panel, circuits, and wiring.

If you need any electrical repairs, replacements, or upgrades in your Carson City home, contact The Happy Outlet! Give us a call at 833-2B-HAPPY to schedule an appointment and get started.

Spark Joy with 5 Organization Tips

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organization tips

Home organization can seem totally overwhelming at first. But the trick is not necessarily to get rid of all your stuff, it is to find ways to sort your items and use space more wisely.

If you’ve been binge watching Netflix’s newest home organization show Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, you know exactly what we’re talking about. When you tackle your living space one room or one category at a time, you can work slowly to create a place for everything you need.

Our team at The Happy Outlet has five organization tips that we hope will help you spark joy and get organized in 2019.

1. Start with one focus area.

If your whole home needs some major reorganization, you will feel overwhelmed and burnt out if you try to tackle everything at once. Start with one cabinet or closet and slowly work your way throughout one room.

You can also try Marie Kondo’s KonMari method and focus on one category of items at a time. Start with all of your clothes or all of your paperwork instead of trying to organize your entire bedroom or office in one go.

2. Strategize your time.

If you have several days in a row to dedicate hours just to organization, that’s awesome. But if your life is too hectic to block out a large amount of time, that’s ok too. You can take small steps toward organization each evening when you come from work or during pockets of time while kids are at school or extracurricular activities.

Know that whether you can devote an entire weekend to organization or you are stuck with a spare hour at the end of a long day, it is going to take time. Organizing your whole home from top to bottom is a process that will take several weeks. But the results are so worth it!

3. Curate your most useful or meaningful items.

If you have large collections of items that matter to you, it is perfectly ok to keep them. But before you can start finding the best organization method for your home, it helps to get rid of unwanted junk. If you have ill fitting clothes, old receipts, outdated technology, or random knick-knacks you no longer want, donate them or throw them out.

Pushing yourself to address junk that serves no purpose and has no meaning to you will help you make space for items that do matter.

4. Divide up your spaces.

Once you have removed all of your items from their storage spots and determined which ones you want to keep, maximize your remaining space by layering different organizational containers. Use boxes, baskets, plastic storage bins, and standing shelves inside your cabinets, closets, and drawers. If you use the space you have wisely, you will be able to find your items quickly and easily.

5. Focus on visibility.

With the last tip in mind, remember that visibility is key. If you store something away and you can’t see it easily, you might forget where it is or that you own it at all. Store smarter and make sure you can see all of the items available in any given cabinet, container, or drawer.

We hope these organization tips spark joy for you!

Don’t let home organization feel like a daunting monster. You can take charge of your space again if you remember to tackle your stuff section by section and use these tips to help.

We hope these organization tips help our customers have a happier 2019. If you need any electrical upgrades for your newly organized home, give us a call at The Happy Outlet!

If you need any electrical repairs, replacements, or upgrades in your Carson City home, contact The Happy Outlet! Give us a call at 833-2B-HAPPY to schedule an appointment and get started.

Maintaining Smoke and CO Detectors

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A peaceful night’s rest can easily turn into a real-life nightmare when something catches on fire. A rapidly spreading fire is dangerous and deadly, which is why it’s important to get loved ones out of the house quickly. A properly working smoke or carbon monoxide detector maximizes the amount of escape time and could save your life.

 

The professionals at The Happy Outlet want to ensure residents of the Carson City area remain safe. We have gathered a list of helpful, life-saving tips to maintain your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

 

Common Tips to Maintain Smoke Detectors

  • Change detector every ten years
  • Keep one in every room
  • Keep one on every floor
  • Maintained according to manufacturer’s instructions
  • Regularly clean and test
  • Change out the batteries regularly

Common Tips to Maintain CO Detectors

  • Change detector every ten years
  • Keep at least one on every floor
  • Keep one in the basement
  • Change out the batteries regularly
  • Maintain according to manufacturer’s instructions
  • Regularly clean and test

Another useful way to maintain your smoke detector is to clean it out. We have a list of the various steps to take to have a clean and properly working smoke detector. This is important to not overlook because a clean smoke detector helps avoid false alarms from dirt and dust build up.

 

Why You Should Maintain Your Smoke Detector

Safety is the number one priority in any home, however, maintaining safety of your smoke and carbon monoxide alarm can often be overlooked. Don’t let the threatening smell of smoke wake you and your family up in the middle of the night. Let the fire alarm wake you with enough time to safely get out of the house.

 

For your electrical safety, it is important to become aware of the serious threats that follow a smoke detector that hasn’t been maintained. Three out of five home fire deaths are a result from a smoke alarm that didn’t work. It’s crucial to have a detector that has been maintained.

 

In most cases, a home fire will give you and your family about two minutes to safely escape the premise. Give yourself enough time to get out of the house with a properly working alarm sound on your detector.  The Happy Outlet wants to ensure your electrical safety because we care about you and your family!

 

A fire isn’t the only danger to worry about in your home. Carbon monoxide is a colorless and odorless gas that humans can’t detect, which is why it’s crucial to have a CO detector in your home. This dangerous gas is something you don’t want to mess with. By maintaining your detector, you are giving you and your loved ones a much safer home to live in.

 

Keep a safe and comfortable home by maintaining your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors! Give us a call at 775-841-9473 to schedule an appointment with your trusted electrical professionals.  We are here to make sure maintaining your smoke detectors is a part of your electrical safety plan.

Baby-Proofing Outlets: A Comprehensive Guide

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A child’s curiosity, while playful and innocent, can also lead to dangerous situations. This is especially true if their object of interest is an electrical outlet. A child toying with an electrical outlet can get electrocuted, which can lead to serious harm or even death. Therefore, it’s important to take ample safety measures with your outlets to help protect your children from electrical shock.

The professionals at The Happy Outlet want to ensure their Carson City neighbors have all the facts on baby-proofing their outlets. We have provided a comprehensive guide below.

Block all Unused or Rarely-Used Outlets

For outlets in your home you rarely or never use, we recommend blocking them with furniture or other objects immovable by children. Although it’s not a viable solution by itself, hiding or blocking unused outlets does help prevent your children from getting close to them.

Items such as a couch, nightstand, dresser, or other heavy furniture work well when blocking an outlet. Not only will children have a harder time getting close to these outlets – they may not even realize there is an outlet hidden away. However, as we stated, this step isn’t viable by itself, and should be paired with other baby-proofing practices.

Equip Outlets with Plastic Plugs

Plastic plugs are a cheap and formidable solution to help baby-proof your outlets. Usually available at only a few cents apiece, plastic plugs are inserted into the prongs of your outlet. Plastic is non-conductive, which means children cannot interfere with the outlet’s current because of the barrier created by the plastic plug.

However, plastic plugs can be a nuisance if you use an outlet often. You’ll have to take out and replace the plastic plug each time you want to use the outlet. For outlets you use frequently, we recommend performing other steps.

Cover the Entire Outlet

Instead of just covering the prongs, you can purchase a plastic cover to shield the entire outlet. There are several different types of outlet covers. Basic outlet covers are usually just rectangular pieces of solid plastic, which you must remove if you want to use the outlet.

A more complex and user-friendly type is the sliding plastic cover. Sliding plastic covers allow you to slide the plug-holes of an outlet away from the current, hence their name. This allows you to quickly switch from an outlet being usable to unusable. Although sliding plastic covers can be used to prevent children from receiving electrical shock, they also can prevent plugs from fully engaging to a current. Therefore, avoid plugging high-power appliances into outlets with sliding plastic covers.

Upgrade to Tamper-Resistant Outlets

One of the safest ways to baby-proof your outlets is by upgrading them to tamper resistant. Tamper-resistant outlets come equipped with plastic shutters behind the plug-holes that prevent any item other than a plug from being inserted. This is done via a spring-compressing mechanism that only activates when both shutters are pressed down. This prevents children from inserting objects into the outlet such as a fork, key, or their finger. Contact The Happy Outlet to install tamper-resistant outlets in your home.

Improve electrical safety for your children by baby-proofing your outlets. And if you would like to help improve overall electrical safety for your Carson City home, contact The Happy Outlet for our electrical safety services. Give us a call at 775-841-9473 to schedule an appointment and get started.

Additional Links:

12 Safety Devices to Protect Your Children – CPSC

Making Your Home Safe for Baby – Office on Women’s Health

Storm Safety: Electrical System Preparations

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As Northern Nevada enters the spring, chances of severe storms are higher than ever! We suggest you keep an umbrella on hand when leaving your home. However, your electrical system will need stronger storm protection. Severe storms are a known electrical hazard, often causing power outages and even electrical fires.

The Happy Outlet recommends that every Carson City homeowner follows storm safety for their electrical system. We have assembled a guide below detailing these preparations.

Monitor Your Circuit Breakers

  • Check the labeling on the electrical panel to determine which rooms go to which switch. If there is no labeling, contact The Happy Outlet to have a technician study your electrical system.
  • Keep track of the associated appliances connected to the circuit breaker.
  • Monitor your circuit breakers for any tripping during a storm. When lightning strikes a power line, your circuit breaker may shut off power to its circuit, known as tripping. Tripped circuit breakers place themselves in either the middle or off position.
  • Unplug any appliances from a circuit that has tripped. Doing so will avoid the possible power surge when the power comes back on.

Maintain Smoke and CO Detectors

Your smoke and CO detectors alert you to hazardous smoke and levels and help to give ability to escape in the case of a fire. According to the NFPA, lightning accounts for about 22,600 fires a year. That means you should have constant detection of dangerous smoke and CO levels at all times during the spring season.

  • Know every location of smoke and CO detectors, as well as their battery levels. Smoke and CO detectors generally require a battery change every 1-2 years, but this can vary on battery type.
  • Test your smoke and CO detectors once a month to ensure proper functionality. To test smoke detectors, hold down the button for a few seconds and if the alarm is loud and clear, your detector is working fine. CO detectors are tested the same but emit beeps instead.
  • If lightning has affected your smoke or CO detectors, often the alarm will sound for a few seconds before returning to normal. After the storm has ended, test the affected detectors to see their condition.

Whole Home Surge Protection

Lightning strikes are a known cause for power surges, which are massive spikes in your electrical current. Power surges can damage appliances possibly beyond repair but can be prevented with surge protectors.

Whole home surge protection is the most adequate form of surge protection, avoiding damaging your plugged-in appliances.

Contact The Happy Outlet for whole home surge protection services.

Have a Backup Generator

With storms being a leading cause for power outages, you’ll need sufficient backup power during potential blackouts.

Backup generators provide the necessary power that is needed during an unexpected outage, allowing you ample time to resume any necessary tasks or prepare. Backup generators come in a wide variety of sizes and wattages. You’ll need to determine what option is best for your home.

More information about backup generators can be found here.

Storm safety for electrical systems is a rule all Carson City homeowners should follow as we enter storm season. If you are ready to install whole home surge protection, contact The Happy Outlet today! Our electrical safety services encompass every aspect of whole home surge protection. Give us a call at 775-841-9473 to schedule an appointment and get started.

Spring Cleaning: Tidying Up Your Electrical System

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Not sure how to begin spring cleaning? Start by tidying up your electrical system! Cleaning and organizing your electrical system can offer a boost in both safety and energy efficiency. The experts at The Happy Outlet want to make sure that you kick off the spring season right with a comprehensive guide for “tidying up” your electrical system. Add this to your spring cleaning list!

Practice Proper Organization

  • Always unplug appliances and equipment after use, as energy can still be drawn from plugged-in appliances (known as “phantom energy”)
  • Wrap up your extension cords before storing and use Velcro to secure them.
  • Store appliances in an airtight container away from any water source.
  • Never leave appliances in the bathroom or next to plumbing, as dripping water can get into the circuitry.
  • Consider labeling shelves with the appropriate appliance name to maximize organization.

Clean Out Your Smoke Detectors

  • Cleaning out your smoke detectors helps avoid false alarms from dust-buildup interfering with the sensors.
  • Dry your hands completely before cleaning your smoke detectors.
  • If the outer casing can be removed, clean the inside using a simple wet wipe.
  • The brush of a vacuum cleaner can be used to remove dust or debris from your smoke detector.
  • Be careful not to touch the wires or battery when cleaning your smoke detector.

Cover Your Electrical Outlets

  • Shielding your outlets provides formidable defense against dirt and dust compromising the plugs, as well as children inserting objects into the sockets.
  • You can use individual plastic electrical plug caps, or plastic covers to shield the entire outlet.
  • Consider replacing outlets with tamper-resistant receptacles, as these come with a built-in plastic covering to avoid unwanted insertion. Contact The Happy Outlet to install these new outlets in your home!

Dust Off Your Ceiling Fans

  • When your ceiling fan rotates with dust build-up, the room’s IAQ is negatively affected by the circulated particles.
  • Make sure your ceiling fan is completely off before cleaning and wait for the blades to stop spinning.
  • Use a feather duster to brush off and remove any dust from the top of the blades, as well as around the fixture.
  • If you would like to avoid using a duster due to dust falling on furniture, try a dry sweeping cloth such as a Swiffer.

Troubleshoot Issues with an Electrical Professional

  • After tidying up your electrical system during spring cleaning, schedule your next electrical inspection to ensure the actual function of your system is at peak performance.
  • Contact The Happy Outlet for your next electrical inspection to ensure only trusted professionals are handling your electrical system.

Kickstart your spring cleaning right by tidying up your electrical system! If you would like to install new tamper-resistant outlets, or are ready to schedule your next electrical inspection, contact The Happy Outlet today! Our electrical installation and safety inspection services can help your electrical system in your Carson City home. Give us a call at 775-841-9473 to schedule an appointment with your trusted electrical professionals.