Common Electrical problems at home | Electrical Problem Solutions

While building the home, the one thing you give least attention to is the electrical supply system at home. People in Nepal often don’t plan electrical system. Electrical drawings are not made compulsory in all residential homes by all municipal authorities. Therefore, electricity gets less attention. The problem caused in electrical system at home arises due to low workmanship and low and inadequate materials.

In this article, we have listed some of the problems that arises in the electrical supply along with their possible solutions.

Lack of grounding or earthing

Though this doesn’t occur in many homes, lack of grounding can give a severe problem. Actually, the electrical system with grounding and circuit breaker will give you a two-way protection to electrical system and protection to the entire building against fire. But as circuit breakers in most homes are not well-designed, grounding holds higher importance.

Loose wire

Loose wire in an electrical circuit means that not all the current can pass the system because some wires are not completely carrying the expected electric current. Then the wattage in the circuit becomes very high, resulting in the overheating of the wires that are well connected. This causes problem of tripping of circuit breakers if they are available. If there is too much heating, current density develops and it’s the grounding of the current that protects the building from fire. The easy solution to this problem is to see the loose wire by inspection and fix them tight with an electric tape.

High bill of electricity

High cost of electricity can be reduced by making some changes in the electrical functioning of the home. You should unplug unused electric devices. If available, you might install electric supply from a cheaper service provider although in some countries like Nepal, the government run electricity authority is the only electricity provider. You could change the high watt bulbs to LED bulbs and this hugely reduces cost of bill. You should also repair damaged wires in the electric system.

Electrical Shocks

You might experience electrical shocks in appliances even when they are not turned on. This happens because there is a problem in the internal circuit of the appliance and the electric current is leaking to the other parts of appliance as eddy current. This is also one of the reasons why you will have high bill of electricity. Such appliances at home should be maintained on time or rejected altogether.

Tripping Circuit Breakers

There are mainly two reasons for tripping circuit breakers. One reason is that the electricity requirement of the home has increased and more appliances have been connected. This results in overloading of the circuit and tripping of circuit breakers occurs. The second reason could be the malfunctioning electrical or electronic device. Overheating might cause creation of short circuit. This causes eddy current and the system uses more current. The circuit breaker trips because of the influence of high current in the system.

Worn out circuit breakers

If the home you are referring to is old, the case may arise that the circuit breakers are worn out. The only solution to tripping the electrical line out of worn out circuit breakers is to replace the circuit breakers. If you have enough workmanship, you can replace the circuit breaker. If you don’t have the knowledge of replacing circuit breaker, you have to call electrician near you. Otherwise, you have to close the main line supply and then start changing your circuit breaker.

Worn out wires and Circuits

Every construction material undergoes wear and tear and electric materials are no exception. And because of multiple tripping, wires in the circuit get worn out because of multiple heating. That’s why most of the wires need replacement after a long period of time.

There is a preventive method of it. You have to calculate the wattage of every electrical appliance used at a particular location of a building during its planning stage. This will give you the optimum wire size. If this optimum sized wire is placed, then the circuit breaker will work properly and there will be less instances of tripping because you know how much load your electrical wires can provide you at a particular point.

Problem in light switches

The problem in light switches usually occurs after a few years of building a modern home. The switch usually cracks, exposing the inner wires. If you turn a such a switch with a wet hand, you will easily get electric shocks. In most of the case, this problem can be solved by a DIY approach. You just have to replace the switch by a new one. The precaution that you have to take is that you should close the circuit from the main circuit board itself and then start replacing the switch. If the circuit breaker is not working, it is advisable that you close the main line of the home for a certain time, replace the switch and then turn on the main line.