Like any other device in your home your Fire or Smoke Alarm System need proper maintenance and testing to work at its best. The fact is most of us never think of our fire alarms unless the little light goes off or it starts beeping to tell us we have forgot to change the batteries.
In this howto we will look at some of the things you should do to maintain your fire alarm system …
There are a number of reasons for replacing an electrical receptacle or more commonly referred to as an outlet and with proper care most home owners can accomplish this job in about 20 minutes with just a few simple tools.
The first thing you must do when working with any wall mount electrical box whether it is a switch or outlet is making sure that the power to the box has been turned off. Since …
First off this is not a legal guide and remember that every locality is different. Even if you moved 50 miles within the same state you may find that rules are very different based on State, County, City Permit rules. The only way to know exactly when or why a Permit is required is to call the Building Official for your specific location and ask to speak to the office that performs electrical inspections.
So, …
As you probably know the standard incandescent light bulb that most of us grew up using has now been phased out by the EPA and most homes have started replacing their lighting with more efficient compact florescent bulbs.
Unfortunately there are a number of drawbacks with compact florescent designs.
The first problem most of us find is the ability to dim the bulb. Florescent bulbs can be dimmed but the cost of building a dimmable bulb …
This is a pretty specific HowTo that I hope will help some home owners that are faced with adding an outlet for their Garage Door Opener when a feed from the nearest closest outlet is obstructed.
I came across this problem when a neighbor asked to borrow a pair of needle nosed pliers because he was having another neighbor add two outlets in his garage and they couldn’t get the twist on the wire tight …
Voltage testers that are used for your home’s electrical wiring have lower requirements then those used to diagnose your cars charging system or other electronic devices.
For the most part electrical testers for 110 to 220 volt AC will test for the presence of current at a location. They are usually used to diagnose if there is a fault between the circuit breaker and the outlet or appliance, a mismatch in the wiring of a …
With so many people depending on computers and high end electronics in their homes and businesses electrical outages can cause loss of data, corruption of your operating system and basic inconvenience.
If you live in an area that does not see electrical storms or high winds on a regular basis you are still at risk from transformer breakdowns or even accidents that can take out an electric pole that …
I like many out there look for ways to reduce my monthly utility bills and alternative energy has been an interest to me since the 1970’s when I first saw a home with panels and asked what they were for.
Recently … I would say in the last 6 months I have been coming across articles on large websites not independent ones claiming that the average person who is handy can build their own solar …
In locations where water might cause a problem like in your bathroom or kitchen it is important to use a GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupt) Outlet or have GFCI protection in your Circuit Breaker Box.
Electrical Codes should mandate their use in new construction but if you are living in or buying an older home you can do the upgrade or hire someone to do it for not a lot of …
When installing appliances or working with heavy tools you should take special precautions to use the properly rated extension cords.
Tools like Air Compressors, Welders and appliances like Stoves, Washers and Dryers will use a lot of amperage. If the extension cord you use is not thick enough the cord will heat up and could cause a fire.
A simple method for getting the AMPs your item uses is
WATTS / VOLTS = AMPS
So if you have a 400 watt power supply on your computer and …