Now that your daily commute is basically the walking distance from your great room to your den, the many benefits of this new flexibility have also highlighted some common drawbacks. Your home’s wiring and electrical system.
If in the past, you only worked from home every so often, random electrical problems may have seemed tolerable. But if your home is now your full-time office, your electrical panel may not have what it takes to keep up with your workload. Fortunately, it’s easy to figure out if you should upgrade and it’s easy to get to work with the expertise of Vintage Electric electricians.
Electrical Panel Upgrade Determination Steps
Locate your electrical panel to determine what kind of electrical system you have. If you have an older house, your system may still use fuses that need replacing when they burn out. A system that still uses fuses absolutely should be upgraded to a panel with circuit breakers. If your electrical panel already has circuit breakers but is more than 10–15 years old, it’s probably due for an upgrade too. Older circuit breakers might not trip or turn off, increasing the likelihood of overheating and electrical fires.
Increased Energy Usage
Appliances and devices have become more energy-efficient over time, but most households keep amassing gadgets and electronics. It’s common in a home to have multiple televisions, video game consoles, and computers, as well as extras like hot tubs, air fryers, and so on. The more electrical devices added, the more strain to your electrical system.
When You Need to Repair an Electrical Panel
If your system is frequently tripping circuit breakers, that’s a sign that the electrical panel is overloaded. Even if a circuit breaker only trips every so often, it’s probably being caused by a system overload. However, if an electrical surge causes the breaker to trip, it doesn’t indicate a problem – that’s just the breaker doing its job.
Large appliances like air conditioners or washing machines will intermittently draw more power and can overload the system. If you have several appliances running at the same time, and then add devices like air compressors or electric saws on top of that, this can cause a system overload. Your circuit breaker may be able to handle each individual device, but not all of them at the same time. Although you may find workarounds – like not using the toaster and microwave at the same time – they are temporary fixes. You can only reset circuits by flipping breakers on and off, so many times before a more permanent solution needs to be found.
In the long run, none of these temporary fixes improves your home’s safety.
Is There an Easy Upgrade?
Reach out to Vintage Electric to determine your next steps and if a panel upgrade is right for you. Whether you need upgrades to your electrical panel, home office updates, whole-house surge protection, line conditioners, or hard-wired internet cable installation, we’ve got you covered. And, as always Vintage Electric appraisals and estimates are complimentary.