Keep Your Home Safe with These Spring Cleaning Tips

Published March 26, 2020 Tags:

With Spring, comes the natural desire to clean and declutter. As a new season begins, spring cleaning is very common. Yet, within your spring clean, do you consider the safety and usability of your electrical items? It’s highly likely that, like a large majority of the population, the testing of your electrical appliances is last on the list; probably on the list that never gets touched.

Yet, as ever, it is very important that you do test and maintain your electrical devices, appliances and connections. Here at Peninsula Electrical Services, we highly recommend including them into your spring-cleaning activity.

Here’s some effective spring-cleaning tips to follow, to add to your safety checklist… That will hopefully get completed!

Why is it important to keep your home safe?

Many individuals will do their utmost to keep their house clean and tidy. Many will also ensure they try their hardest to deter break-ins. Yet, electrical safety is commonly overlooked by homeowners.

However, just like the severity of a break-in, electrical damage can be detrimental for your home. A faulty electrical connection, a hazardous appliance or dangerous electrical works can impact your home and health.

With this in mind, as you complete your spring clean, we advise you to check your plugs, assess fire hazards, fix electrical problems and prioritise your home safety. Here’s our top spring-cleaning tips to implement over the next few months…

Our top spring-cleaning tips to keep your home safe

Change batteries in your alarms

Do you have smoke detectors or fire alarm systems in your home? It’s likely that as you clean, you’ll brush off any cobwebs. As you’re in that space, we recommend testing the usability of your alarms. If need be, change their batteries, ensuring that they can still protect you in the event of a fire.

Check lightbulbs

Do you know exactly what wattage your light bulbs should be? To avoid future electrical safety issues or hazards, it’s advised that you do familiarise yourself with this information, along with replacing any defective light bulbs.

Examine electrical appliances

Examining electrical appliances should always be maintained. However, we appreciate how we are all human and full inspections cannot be completed regularly. With this in mind, it’s a very important spring-cleaning tip to follow, ensuring that your appliances are safe for purpose.

One of the most effective ways you can complete this is by turning off the power and visually examining the appliance for any faults or damages. It’s also important to test its usability when on. However, if damages are detected, this should be completed by a qualified electrician who prioritises health and safety.

Change worn our extension cords or plugs

Do you use extension cords? As you complete your spring clean, we recommend checking your extension cords and plugs, and changing those which have worn. Unkept electrical cords, wires and plugs can cause a fire hazard. Check all electrical outlets and connections to ensure they are fit for use.

However, do remember to turn off the power to avoid an electric shock or injuries.

Clean out air vents

Another of our top spring-cleaning tips is to clean out your air vents. It’s likely that over winter months they will become clogged. Clean your dryer vent, and any further filters you have in the home. This will help to keep your appliances clean and also safe for use.

Assess your home for fire risks

As you’re busy sorting through your home, now is the ideal time to assess your home for fire risks. As recommended above, check your wires, investigate any burning smells or sparks, ensure you have a clear area in the event of a fire, and check for circuit breakers in your electrical systems.

If you do spot any fire risks or electrical problems, it is recommended to get them resolved sooner rather than later this spring.

Utilise energy efficient alternatives

A large majority of us are now passionate about sustainable and renewable energy sources. Now is a great time to utilise energy efficient alternatives in your home. Add this to your spring-cleaning checklist to do your bit for the environment, while reducing electrical hazards in your home.

Reduce clutter in your home

Did you know that clutter is a fire hazard? Overstocking your plugs, a large amalgamation of wires, piles of flammable materials – all can influence the start of a fire. With this in mind, aim to declutter your home, especially around electrical appliances while working through your spring-cleaning list.

Request a professional electrical safety inspection

If you’re really looking to improve the safety of your home, we recommend requesting professional safety inspections as one of our spring cleaning tips. Have peace of mind that your electrical systems, appliances and cords are all safe for use by requesting a professional safety inspection by qualified electricians.

If you do spot any electrical problems in your home, we urge you to make use of professional services. Attempting to complete any repairs yourself can be hazardous, along with causing more electrical faults in your home. Avoid fire risks by following our advice here at peninsula Electrical Services.

Our services here at Peninsula Electrical Services

Here at Peninsula Electrical Services, we are a team of qualified and experienced electricians, passionate about all thing’s health and safety. We offer a wide range of electrical services, along with advice on electrical and fire safety methods.

Feel free to get in touch with our team today if you do require any electrical works completed in your home. Likewise, if you do run into any electrical problems while following our spring-cleaning tips, please reach out to our team. Attempting to repair any electrical equipment or circuits yourself is highly dangerous. You may damage your appliance, cause a fire hazard and even experience electrical injuries or shocks.

With this in mind, we urge you to act quickly this spring and source the help of electrical specialists. To reduce the need of electrical services, keep your home safe with our spring cleaning tips.