Are you thinking about upgrading some areas throughout your home? If so, look no further than your electrical system! Your home’s electricity is the best place to start – it’s the center of your whole home. Because we use it so often, it’s important to keep things running smoothly and safely. Here are a few ways to upgrade your electrical components.

Which Parts Need to be Upgraded?

If your home is old or your electricity is outdated, you may want to consider the following electrical upgrades:

• Your home’s wiring. Outdated wiring is much worse than fumbling with an outlet or making the occasional trip to the circuit breaker. If your home’s wiring is old, it puts you at risk of an electrical house fire. Old, outdated wiring is prone to overheat when overloaded. Your wiring is also located between your walls and insulation, and any damaged or exposed wiring can result in starting a fire when in contact with the insulation. Updating your home’s electrical wiring will not only prevent the risk of an electrical fire, it also protects your appliances, and there’s usually less fuss with the electrical panel.
• The electrical panel. Whether your home is in need of rewiring services, there is still the issue of your electrical panel. An outdated electrical panel is just as problematic as outdated wiring, as it can’t handle your home’s current electrical load. Updating your home’s electrical panel also spares you the risk of a house fire, and can even help you save money your electric bills.
• New surge protectors. Whether your home already has surge protectors, or needs them, updating your home’s surge protection is always a good idea. Power surges can be a common electrical problem, but some of them can wind up devastating your sensitive electronics. Surge protectors aren’t built to last forever, and usually after one nasty power surge, it’s time for a new one. Upgrading your home’s surge protection ensures that your sensitive electronics, such as your computers and entertainment systems, won’t be fried during a power surge.
• Better outlets. Depending on the age of your home, and maintenance records, it’s possible that not every outlet is up-to-date and grounded. One electrical upgrade that shouldn’t be ignored is your outlets, or more specifically, the lack of ground fault circuit interrupter (gfci) outlets. Installing gfci outlets is cheap to do and it helps prevent dangerous and harmful electrical shocks.
• Energy efficient appliances. If you decided to upgrade your home’s electrical system, upgrading your current appliances can help. Major appliances such as your HVAC system and water heater, can eat up a lot of electricity and make for costly utility bills. Upgrading to energy efficient models can not only help cut costs, but take a lesser load on your electrical system.
• Standby generator. It’s best to be prepared for a major power outage, especially if you live somewhere prone to power outages. Installing a standby generator prevents most problems that can happen from a lack of power such as throwing out a fridge full of food, thawing frozen pipes, clearing a flooded basement, or replacing damaged appliances from a power surge.

Ryan Gath Electric offers a wide range of services to help you update the electrical features of your Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire home. Call us today to schedule your service!

By Ryan Gath Electric