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A short circuit is one of the most common types of electrical issues in households. Though common, they can be extremely dangerous, cause serious fire hazards, and damage your home's electrical system. Hence, it is essential to understand how to avoid short circuits at home.
Short circuits happen when the live and neutral wires accidentally come into contact before the load is delivered, creating a low-resistance path. This results in excess voltage and current flow in the circuit, leading to the wires heating up and catching fire.
Short circuits typically occur due to improper wiring, broken insulation, or circuit overloading.
Now that you know the underlying factors of a short circuit, you should know how to prevent one from happening at your house.
Here are a few responsible steps to avoid short circuits at home:
A fuse box or circuit breaker is the short circuit protection for an electrical system. These electrical components trip and close off the circuit when there is an unstable electrical surge or overload, interrupting the current flow. Thus, installing fuses or circuit breakers is the first step to avoid short circuits.
It is imperative that you fix any damaged or exposed wires that need insulation or repair. Exposed wires are vulnerable to short circuits as their conductive ends can come into contact with each other. Ensure that industry-grade materials, like fibreglass, polystyrene, PVC, etc., are used for insulation.
Every circuit has a load-bearing capacity, and when too much power is drawn from one particular circuit, it often overloads. Unfortunately, this can also lead to a short circuit, so refrain from plugging too many appliances or devices into one outlet.
Cable management is fine until you tuck away all your cables and wires under carpets or behind showcases – which is another cause of short circuits. This creates densely cable-packed areas, resulting in these cables wearing and tearing over time without you noticing the damage.
Most electronics and appliances still draw minimal power from outlets, even when turned off and not in use. Hence, to avoid a short circuit, unplugging all electrical appliances and devices from their respective outlets when not in use is wise. These include heaters, toasters, microwaves, ovens, refrigerators, air conditioners, televisions, computers, etc.
Check all electrical appliances, such as refrigerators and air conditioners, before using them. Faulty circuitry or wiring in the appliance can lead to short circuits.
Hence, before use, check for the following:
You should professionally repair or replace the electrical appliances if you notice any of the above signs.
before plugging anything into any outlets, ensure the outlets and connections are functioning properly. Malfunctioning electrical outlets can lead to short circuits as well. Also, do not use an outlet that is more than 20 years old.
These are a few sure signs indicating that you may have faulty outlets or connections, including:
Both heat and moisture are electrical hazards that can lead to a short circuit. Keep your electrical components in dry places, away from heat sources.
Pests are notoriously known for chewing through all sorts of cables and wires in your house, exposing their ends. So make sure to perform pest control in your house from time to time to keep your home pest-free, reducing the risks of a short circuit.
Having grounded outlets is always a good idea, as they help prevent any internal short circuits. If a short circuit occurs in grounded outlets, the electricity flows to the ground, thus, saving you from any electrical or fire hazards.
Get professional electrical inspectors to check your house's electrical system at least once each year. These annual inspections can be extremely helpful in avoiding potential electrical hazards. In addition, these inspections address and fix electrical issues like exposed wires, damaged cables, faulty appliances, old outlets, and many more.
A lightning strike can cause a short circuit by overwhelming the load-bearing capacity of any circuit. Therefore, reducing your electricity consumption during a lightning storm is best to minimise any risks of frying your house's electrical system.
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Electrical short circuits can be classified into 2 types:
Electricity always travels through the quickest possible path it can find to the earth, which means it will always take the path with the least resistance. Thus, an electrical short circuit occurs when it finds a shorter and easier path to flow through than the designated wiring.
Older households are especially prone to short circuits, unlike modern households. Here are a few factors that you must know about to prevent short circuits at home:
A short-circuit-analysis is a process that helps to protect equipments by establishment of interrupted ratings of fuses, circuit breakers and other protective devices.
A short circuit protection operates instantly to protect against sudden excessive current surges or from current exceeding an equipment’s acceptable current rating.
If the amount of current flowing through the circuit is more than the acceptable rating, it causes a short circuit. In cases when the current surge is not too high, one will get an electric shock and not get electrocuted.