Are your smoke detectors being set off? Is the smell lingering or coming and going? Check your appliances, all your outlets, ducts and your breaker box to see if you find the source. An unidentified order may well be an electrical hazard, especially if you smell plastic burning.

Whether it is in your electrical or around your home, if it runs an electrical current and making a slight humming sound there is a problem. If you notice the buzzing or humming getting continuously louder, address it quickly as it may mean the circuit breaker is overloaded. An overloaded breaker can generate excess heat and cause a life-threatening fire.

There are many reasons why a circuit breaker is tripping. Some of the main reasons we see is the circuit breaker box is going bad, or a ground fault is occurring meaning a hot wire is touching a ground. Either way, this is disruptive to your life and needs to be checked to reduce wear on your breaker.

Does your lights occasionally flicker? Do they become very bright then dim? It is likely a minor problem with your lightbulb or light switch, however it might also mean the circuit is overloaded. Excess voltage and loose wiring can be dangerous and should be inspected immediately.

Have you touched an object with an electrical current and received a shock? This could be many things such as old outlets with no ground wire as a safety barrier, the screws are loose or wiring making the current unstable, faulty appliances including fray wiring or broken cords and lastly, there is a water source near electricity causing an arc. These all seem minor but can cause overheating or increases shock if kept unchecked.

Debris build-up is common issue with electrical systems. This could be dirt, dust or rodents making a home which causes arcing. Arcing creates heat, which is an immediate indicator of an electrical emergency that may start a fire. Loose plugin connect or connecting too many devices to one outlet can also cause the same effect.

It is normal to experience a loss of power from storms or when everyone on the block loses power due to a problem with your local electrical company, however when you have paid your monthly bill and everyone around you has power and you don’t, that is serious problem! it could be cause by a hazardous problem with your breaker box that needs immediate diagnosis.

Electricity and water do not mix. Water can get into your electrical panel through an improper seal on the box or soak through older cables of a meter box and through the panel. If this has been happening, corrosion can ruin multiple components of your electrical panel and increase resistance in the circuits causing more heat production which will cause a electrical fire.