Home Restoration: Working with electricity

Although most, if not all, home restoration jobs require a high degree of carefulness, there is no other that needs you be very careful than that of working with electricity, not just because you can get seriously hurt but also because most fires that start in houses are caused by poorly done electrical installations.

First and foremost there is something in electricity called and known and circuits, a circuit is the route followed by a cable from the start point where the flip-on switches are, and back to it. Each circuit is capable of sustaining a certain electrical load, meaning a certain amount of electrical devices connected to it, including those that you connect to the wall and the bulbs in the ceiling. This is the first thing you need to know because you can not exceed this load, first because if you do, the flip-on switch on the board corresponding to that circuit will jump the minute the load is surpassed and will cut the power to said circuit.

This is important to know when you add a new area to a home because technically (and any electrician will agree) you should either add it to the circuit with the least load or better yet, made its own circuit with its own flip-on switch. That way you will be sure of how many devices you can connect in the new area, specially if you plan to make it an entertainment room with TV sets, home theaters and so on.

Also you need to be aware that in most houses there are two different voltages present: 110 and 240 volts, this is very important because you need to know to what voltage you are adding a circuit, if you mistakenly connect 240 volts to a circuit where you will use 110 volts devices you will burn them out for sure.

We recommend that before you connect anything, you use a tester to see how much voltage is coming out the wall socket. In electricity never, ever, assume anything. Be 100% sure. Furthermore, use the aid of experts so you don’t get hurt or cause an accident.

Remember that any and all home restoration projects require knowledge and finesse and while you can undertake most of them, it is also a good idea to have an expert at hand.