One of the most important possessions you will ever have is a home. It is the place we seek sanctuary and shelter at the end of each day, it is where we eat our meals and raise our family. But have you checked lately how safe your home really is? 

Understand your electrics 

Main Switch

Your consumer unit contains a main switch which lets you turn off the electrical supply to the home. This is crucial for if an emergency ever occurs where you have to turn the electrics off, such as a fire or if you are having work done in the Home. 

Fuse

Most homes will have a rewireable fuse which you can disconnect in order to prevent danger. When a fuse overheats or overloads it will get hotter until it melts, which can cause a fire in your home. The good thing is that when a fuse melts, it will break the circuit and the electrics will go off. 

Circuit-breakers

A circuit breaker is similar to a fuse box but is more precise. When they trip due to a fault, they will switch off the circuit to prevent damage.

Residual current devices (RCD)

Residual current devices are used as a tool to prevent you from being seriously injured by electricity if you touch a live or bare wire. You can find more about these here: http://www.explainthatstuff.com/howrcdswork.html

Checking how old your wiring is

One of the biggest causes of fires in the home is faulty and old electricals. Ideally you will want to have regular checks to make sure that your electrics are performing well and they are still safe to have in the home. 

Keeping your electrics safe:

-check sockets and plugs for buzzing, burn marks and heat. Any of these could be a sign you need to update your plugs. 

-Never pull a plug out of the socket by the cable, you could be putting strain on the cable and this may cause a damage to occur between the connection of the socket and cable. 

-Make sure any plug has a safety mark on it 

-If you find a damaged cable, replace it immediately. You do not want to risk touching a live wire and sustaining an electric shock. 

Try to be aware of how many plug sockets you have in your home. With today’s technology, it is understandable that you may have several machines, devices, consoles and other gadgets plugged in at one time, but you need to stay aware that the more you have plugged in, the higher the risk of a fire. Try your best to stick to 4 things per room if possible. 

Kitchen Safety

Water and electricity aren’t friends. If you are plugging in appliance, make sure you keep them away from your sink. 

Bathroom safety

With us often having wet skin in the bathroom, our bodies have a reduced resistance to electricity- meaning there is much more danger of you hurting yourself seriously and even fatally from an electric shock. Ideally, keep everything electrical away from the bathroom apart from the essentials. 

Garden Safety

Lawn mowers are great devices which help take our gardening to the next level, however there is a much higher risk of us hurting ourselves outdoors. Don’t stop using your lawn mower, just avoid using it when wet. If you are installing camera or lights from homesecuritysystem.co, make sure you don’t have any cables lose in the garden.