Iowa City Real Estate Blog

Iowa City Real Estate and Relocation Specialist - Market Reports, Community Information and Advice for Home Buyers and Sellers in Iowa City, Coralville and North Liberty Iowa.

Signs to Watch Out For to Avoid Electrical Fire or Shock in Your Home

Safety in the home. How often do you think about it? My guess is probably not that often, it's one of those things that just gets taken for granted.Light switch - If they have a grounding wire it should be grounded It was the same for me until about a month ago when I had a fire in my home. Now I'm somewhat sensitive on the subject and am likely to be writing more frequent posts on this subject that until recently I took for granted.

Let me just give you a little background info on my fire. It was an electrical fire that started in the attic.
Finding out exactly how it started was a real eye-opener - Very CSI like I have to admit. After several hours of examining the scene the fire investigator established that a wire that led to an overhead light had in all likelihood been the source of the fire. (And believe me the nick in the wire was so tiny it was barely visible without special glasses!) Was there any way I could have known I had a problem with that wire? If the light switch had been grounded it's possible that it would have tripped when I switched the light on and off. It wasn't grounded, so of course I had no idea and it was just an accident waiting to happen.

It happened and a month later I'm writing a post on signs you should watch out for to avoid an electrical fire or electrical shock in your home.

If you notice any of these danger signs in your home be sure to call a qualified electrician to check them out:

  • Recurring problems with blowing fuses or tripping circuit breakers
  • Tingling sensation in the fingers when you touch an electrical outlet
  • Discolored wall outlets
  • Sizzling sound at wall switches or outlets
  • Lights that flicker
  • Unusual odors coming from appliances (I'm not talking about new appliances, they often have an unusual odor during the first few times of use)


For more safety tips in the home visit www.midamericanenergy.com

 

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