As we approach the hot months, it is important to look at your electrical system to prepare it for the summer electricity overload. When the temperatures rise, you will be required to run your air conditioning equipment at full capacity to keep your house cool and comfortable.
This electricity overload becomes a burden to your electrical system and the grid. If your electrical system is not ready for this overload, you can expect frequent electrical faults and blackouts. In this article, we give you a few tips to prepare for summer electricity overloads.
Inspect Your Electrical System
As the hot season approaches, you should hire a professional electrical inspector to inspect your system. The inspector will check the wiring and other electrical connections in your house to ensure they are in perfect condition. If there are any potential faults in your system, the inspector will identify them and advise you on the best way to fix them before summer. For instance, if there are defective sockets, circuit breakers, loose wires, and worn-out cables, you will be able to address them appropriately.
Upgrade the Amperage
Electrical overload happens when you connect too many devices to the circuit. Although it is not easy to know how many electrical devices your power outlet can handle concurrently, circuit breakers are generally designed to handle about 80 percent of their amperage rating. Therefore, if your circuit breaker has an amperage of 30, it can only manage a power load of about 24-amp. So, to avoid an overload in the summer, you need to upgrade your breaker’s amperage. When you do the upgrade, make sure you remain within the 80 percent rule.
Upgrade Your Lighting Fixtures
You can easily avoid an electrical overload in your home by replacing your traditional incandescent lighting fixtures with LED lights. For instance, if you are currently using 60-watt incandescent bulbs, you can replace them with 9-watt LED bulbs without reducing the amount of brightness in your home. LED lights are more energy-efficient and reduce the power load on your electrical system. The extra watts will be used to power other devices in the house, especially the air conditioner.
Upgrade Your Air Conditioning System
If you are still using the traditional air conditioner in your home, you should consider replacing it with a modern one, which is more energy-efficient. If you do not have the resources to install a new conditioner, you should upgrade the current one and ensure that it is properly maintained to reduce its energy consumption.
