Electrical Safety issues in a home
As a home environment professional I come across many issues on a daily basis. One of these issues I think many of us are guilty of and not even aware were doing it.
I had a call the other day from a client who we just installed a new heating and cooling system for.
Their complaint was a burning plastic smell throughout the home when the AC was running. When I got to the house I found nothing wrong, but being the professional nosy person I am I wanted to find the source of the smell. So I started looking all over the home particularly near the return duct openings where this odor could have been drawn into the system.
What I found really scared me. Not so much from what caused the smell which I never did fined, but from all the electrical goodies, extension cords, outlet multipliers and charging units for all the phones, computers, TVS, radios etc. And this was just in four rooms! Did not even get into the upper levels.
Many outlet extension cords that have those several spaces you can plug several things into at once were pushed tightly down behind cabinets, laying over heating ducts, or placed behind cloth furniture. Several of these had plugs that were hardly plugged in exposing a lot of the plug itself. Combine that with a lot of dust that simply collects in these areas and you have a recipe for a fire.
Ideally more hard wired outlets need to be installed in this home. But we must be careful when using these extension cords and the transformers that come with computers and printers. These all heat up and if placed in a poor location a fire could result.
The photos are a bit blurry, sorry about that. Need new glass on phone. But you can get an idea of what I am talking about. Take the time and look around your home. I bet you will find this same issue not realizing your even doing it.
Unplug everything when its not being used. Or put the extension cords on a switched outlet that you can turn off when not using these appliances. Make sure no dust is collecting and that your not burying the transformers on the wires under clothing or piles of paper and other flammable materials that could over heat and burn.
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Thanks for the information!!
I'm currently using slotted wiring ducts or open slot type cable ducts, they are not very aesthetic but does the job at a very low cost. I use it for my work from home setup. You can find smaller sizes at
https://goswitchgear.com/.
https://goswitchgear.com/product-category/accessories/wire-duct-cable-trunking/