Powerful Tips: 8 Electrical To Do’s

• Posted on March 9, 2024
• by mikew
• in Fix It & Use It
• No Comments.

I was part of an Extreme Home Makeover in 1991 long before it became a TV show. In that experience I came to respect and understand electricity as every teenager should in that five-day adventure.

3am is early, early morning, or late, late at night depending what end of sleep you are coming from. I was 16 years old and part of a team that was helping to refurbish a house in Post Falls, Idaho. It was a community service trip organized by my church youth pastor. My dad had volunteered to supervise the electrical re-wiring of the house as an electrical engineer and pro. I had joined his team of “Sparkies” who would sleep during the day and show up at night once the carpentry, landscape, plumbing and other teams cleared the jobsite. Engineers don’t like working around people. The house is their canvas and they need room to think and work out their wiring masterpieces! Me and the four others on our crew had run wire and were performing the outlet and light installations at week’s end. We were all feeling a bit tired – loopy really. To keep the various rooms lit we kept the power on as we installed the receptacles. This meant we were handling and stripping energized wires with metal tools ready to conduct electricity if we failed to pay attention to our handiwork. In typical dad fashion our supervisor offered, “Just be careful and you’ll be fine.” I remember sitting on the floor in the garage working on one of the final outlets when I got the finger-tickle and dropped my plyers. “Whoa! I just got shocked” and started to laugh. The finger-tickle sensation is physically minor but mentally a complete blind-siding surprise. I wasn’t ready to experience it again and suggested we turn off the circuit. “You’re almost done, just finish up and we’re outta here!” I shored up and starting work again. “Dang!” You guessed it. Another shock. Now the whole crew of Sparkies was an audience and laughing. It would probably be better to not work with hot electrical wires when in a loopy-state-of-mind and full-on belly laughing. What could have taken 60-second became a 20-minute slapstick comedy show. I did finish wiring the outlet. Another half-dozen zaps and zings accompanied the effort.

Okay. First, you may be appalled by the lack safety and caution. You may consider my father negligent and foolish. Remember, this was the 1980s-1990s. Things were different back then. I remember with envy my baby brother sitting on my dad’s lap driving through town! We didn’t wear bike helmets and enjoyed playing lawn darts with metal spikes, without parental supervision! We also wired electrical outlets without turning off the circuit breakers.

Second, as awful as it may have felt, us boys like and need to feel pain. This is a whole other article, and something I address with men through my Coaching the Crossroads business. It’s now 2024 and I want to turn the corner of this story to offer home owners some lessons and advice on handling electrical stuff in our houses.

1. Turn off the power before performing replacement of outlets and maintenance. This requires a properly labeled circuit breakers in your main panel cover. If circuit breakers are not adequately labeled take some time to do so.
   
2. Aging outlets should be replaced. When plugging  in lamps, vacuums, phone chargers loose connections can be inconvenient. They can also cause arcing, sparks and burns. There is usually a favorite outlet receptacle that gets all the use and needs replacement before the others. Additionally, watch for charger, lamp and other appliance cords that are fraying or damaged. Replace and repair these as soon as you notice the insulation wearing.
   
3. Buy an outlet tester ($10) and current tester ($25) to help you in the process of electrical maintenance. These are home toolbox essentials. They can quickly tell you what is energized and what receptacles may have an issue with wiring configuration.
   
4. Avoid metal plate covers, or ensure these are properly secured before energizing the outlet circuit. I’m not a fan of these as you can see the picture from an inspection. I didn’t notice the missing cover screw as I plugged in my tester. The metal plate fell across the two prong inserts and BOOM! I saw the light and my whole life flashed before my eyes.
   
5. Like for like. When replacing switches and outlets, be sure that you are using the same size and type. Often I come across a dimmer switch installed on a light fixture controlled by switches on the other sides of the room or stairs. Dimmers can be installed but often folks will not buy the right type – a three-way dimmer is needed in this case. This feels overwhelming or confusing to many so feel free to reach out. I can likely answer what type of outlet or switch is needed if you are doing a do-it-yourself project.
   
6. Limit extension cords and power strips. Electrical codes seek to ensure outlets are adequately located so that power cords are not. We can overload outlets and circuits with power strips. We can trip over extension cords. Give some careful thought to what you are impacting and why you are adding extension cords to an outlet.
   
7. Pull at the head of a power cord and avoid the cord yank! I’m guilty of this when vacuuming. From a distance I can give a good yank and begin cord winding. This puts unnecessary strain on the cord-head connection, and can actually damage the metal inserts within the outlet receptacle.
   
8. Bathroom outlet not working? Check the GFCI reset in the other bathroom, or look in the garage. In 1970s homes the GFCI outlet reset is often located in the garage. Before you assume you have a power problem check and see if the GFCI was tripped.