Spring isn’t just the season for cleaning, but it’s also prime time for buying and selling homes. If you’re in that same boat, then you know how much work goes into prepping your home for selling. One of the biggest hurdles to jump through includes passing a certified home inspection. When the inspector finds a lot of issues with your home, it doesn’t look good to your prospective buyer, and can even drive your selling value down before the sale closes. To help you prepare for your inspection, Fusion Electric has compiled a list of six electrical problems you can take care of now.

Aluminum Wiring

Have it? Get rid of it. It’s that simple. This type of wiring was popular in the 1960’s and 1970’s as a more economical option in place of copper. Since then, it’s been discovered that aluminum wiring causes a lot of problems. Aluminum wiring corrodes when in contact with copper. This causes loosened connections, which can lead to arcing and dangerous electrical fires.

Age of Electrical Panel

Electrical panels protect homeowners by tripping a breaker when a circuit overload occurs, thus preventing a fire. That’s why it’s super important to make sure yours is working, and working at its best. As a general rule of thumb, electric panels older than 40 years should be replaced. If you’re nearing or at the 20 year mark, it’s in your best interest to call in a trusted technician to inspect it for safety.

Circuit Breaker Size

If your circuit breaker has been around for a while, you may need to have it reassessed to see if it’s sized right for the energy your home requires. With our ever increasing energy needs and technologically advancing lifestyles, the amount of electrical energy we consume and expend in a day is huge. But if you’re demanding more electricity than your circuit breaker is built to handle, you’ll end up dealing with broken fuses, tripped circuits, and blackouts more often than you’d like. Get an electrician out to your home to take a look at your circuit breaker. They should be able to tell you if you need to upgrade to a circuit breaker that can handle a higher amperage.

GFCI Installed in Proper Locations

New codes in the last several years now require that Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter circuits, or GFCI’s, are installed on certain areas of your home. Make sure you’ve got all of them covered before your inspector comes through the house. You’ll need GFCI’s in unfinished areas of your home, garages, outdoor living areas, and anything near a water source (kitchen, bathroom, laundry room). Keep your Kansas City home safer with GFCI’s installed in all the right places.

Make Sure 3-Prong Outlets Are Grounded

While three-pronged outlets are great assets to have in your home, make sure all of them are actually grounded. Occasionally we see contractors get lazy and just replace the old 2 pronged outlet cover with a 3 pronged cover, but the electrical wiring isn’t actually wired correctly to be grounded. This can cause problems when you plug a three-pronged plug  into an outlet that isn’t wired to deliver electricity to that large of a device. It’s a safety hazard. Your electrician can make sure all the right outlets are grounded, and if not, fix it for you before it’s too late.

Get Rid of Extension Cords

Just say no. No more extension cords. These nifty things are great for the holidays when you have holiday lights that are only on a few hours of the day, but they are not, I repeat, ARE NOT a permanent solution, especially for large appliances. Never have your refrigerator, microwave, garage door, or flat screen television plugged into one on a regular basis. This just has disaster written all over it. Think power surges that can fry appliances and devices, and rotten food when your refrigerator gets accidentally unplugged from the extension cord. Make sure all large appliances and devices are plugged into dedicated outlets that connect directly to your circuit breaker that has a surge protector on it. This is the best way to safeguard yourself from disaster.

Call Fusion Electric today for a home safety inspection before you put your home up for sale. It will save you a ton of hassle later on. You can reach us at (913) 563-7975.