Buying a home is an exciting time. With each new listing comes the chance to imagine your life in a new setting, one that propels your life forward in the direction you’d like to go. That excitement, however, may cause you to miss important steps in vetting a house for its true potential to be your new home. An electrical inspection may not seem like a top priority, but including one in your home buying process will help in preventing unexpected problems once you’ve gotten the keys and moved in. Here are some reasons why taking this extra step will help to ensure you stay grounded through this chapter in your life.
Get a full picture
You might be surprised to learn that a lot of houses, especially older homes, have different electrical wiring schematics. This makes it difficult to make broad general statements to homebuyers about what electrical work is needed. That is, without taking a harder look. A lot of these details depend on a house’s age, details about service panel updates and whether work was done by a professional or not. The answers to these questions often aren’t apparent because they’re hidden behind walls, which makes an electrical inspection that much more important. In an electrical inspection, you’ll ensure that the house’s service panel and subpanels (also called circuit breaker and fuse box) is working properly. An expert will check outlets, light fixtures and the type of electrical wiring. They’ll also learn whether a house has of ground fault circuit interruption protection, a fast-acting circuit breaker designed to shut off electrical power in the event of a ground fault.
Safe and up to code
The most important aspect of an electrical inspection is safety. Electrical failures and malfunctions may at first seem like a simple inconvenience, but they can have devastating consequences. According to the National Fire Protection Association, electrical distribution or lighting equipment ranked as the third leading cause of major house fires. Because of this, the Electrical Safety Foundation International recommends an electrical inspection for not only previously-owned homes, but also any house that is more than 40 years old, undergone a major renovation or has added major appliances in the past 10 years. An electrical inspection will ensure that a house is up to the National Electric Code, the industry benchmark for safe home electricity.
Know the problems
Even if you feel like you could notice a glaring electrical problem on your own – and in many cases, you may be able to – an inspection will help you find a number of problems that you may not otherwise even consider. In addition to exposed wiring and defective breakers, an electrical inspection will draw your attention to ungrounded three-prong outlets and aluminum or knob-and-tube wiring, both of which are problematic. An inspection is all about being an informed homebuyer and homeowner, but you can’t do that without getting an expert inside to take a look.
While it might seem like one more annoying thing to do in the long process toward buying a new home, an electrical inspection is an important step that shouldn’t be overlooked. A home is a place where you should feel safest to retreat to, but you can’t do that if you have unknown electrical problems lurking within your walls. In the end, doing so will amount to you sleeping more safely and soundly.
If you have questions best to call the experts at Simply Shocking Electric, who have been providing excellent service in the Oregon City, Portland, OR, and Clackamas, OR., area for more than a decade. If you’re thinking of a home electrical inspection, reach out to Simply Shocking Electric for a free estimate at 503-309-0866.
