by Joe Main | Jan 14, 2016 | Uncategorized
Avoid a few common mistakes to drastically reduce your risk. 1 Cooking fires,never leave the kitchen while something is on the stove,keep combustibles at least 3 ft away from the cook top.This includes curtains and wall hangings.If a fire starts,slip a lid over the flames. Don’t touch the pan,many grease fires become full scale house fires when a pan is carried through the house. 2 Wood stoves and space heaters, keep space heaters at least 5 ft away from drapes,bedding and other flammables.Plug space heaters directly into outlets,not into extension cords. Don,t use space heaters sleeping.Empty wood stove ashes in to metal container. Have chimney inspected every year.3 Replace extension cords that are undersized or frayed, never run extension cords under rugs, Check all the light bulbs in your home to make sure the bulb wattages don’t exceed the fixture’s recommended maximum. Use common sense to prevent home fires.
by Joe Main | Dec 8, 2015 | Uncategorized
Your home is probably the safest place to be in an electrical storm.But lightning can still get to you though the conductive paths in your home, your wiring ,your plumbing and water.Talking on a corded phone ,taking a shower or bath,working on your desktop computer , working with power tools during an electrical storm is not much safer than standing outside.Stay away from all water and appliances until the storm passes.
by Joe Main | Nov 18, 2015 | Uncategorized
Your home electrical system is a minor miracle.It has one of the most dangerous forces in the universe and distributes it safely throughout your home,making every minute of your day more convenient. Electricity runs through underground or overhead power lines to an electrical meter, which measures your power use and tells the power company how much to charge you. From there it goes to your main panel,incoming wires are connected to dozens of smaller wires that snake throughout your house.General purpose and dedicated circuits,each of which serves a single high-demand purpose.The main panel is the gray or tan box located in the garage , basement or utility room.Behind the door you will see a main breaker,which will turn your hole house off, an smaller breakers which are your circuit throughout your home, breakers are the most important safety feature of your home’s electrical system.
by Joe Main | Oct 30, 2015 | Uncategorized
What, carbon monoxide or co, it’s a colorless, odorless gas that makes you sick ,then puts you to sleep and then kills you. Its a normal byproduct of combustion, so it’s produced by anything that burns fuel.Unless your home runs on entirely on electricity,it’s in your home Here how to protect your family.CO is produced by anything that runs on fuel:gas water heaters,heaters,oil furnaces,wood stoves,gasoline engines,kerosene heaters…if it burns it emits co.The early symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning resembles those of the flu.If anyone is experiencing headaches,dizziness,fatigue or vomiting, get everybody out of the house and call 911.Open your doors and windows to thoroughly ventilate the home Turn off all potential sources of co.Have a pro inspect all your fuel sources,appliances and chimneys to make sure they’re operating an vented correctly. So install or replace your co detectors asap.Locate them in halls near bedrooms but at least 15 ft. away from fuel burning appliances. CO is roughly the same weight as air, so it neither rises to the ceiling nor sink to the floor.CO detectors only have a five to seven year life so read the date on the back of the detector be safe. If you have small children, consider buying a talking co detector
by Joe Main | Oct 16, 2015 | Uncategorized
Everybody has appliances in there home so treat them right, if you want to keep them.Keep your refrigerator door gasket clean ,don’t let sticky foods like syrup ,jams, build up on the door gasket,clean the gasket with a light soap an water,after it dries add a light coat of Vaseline on the gasket this will keep a tight seal all around.Refrigerators an freezers require proper air flow inside the compartments to keep food at the right temperature.Blocking the vents in the back of the compartments can cause cooling problems and force the compressor and fans to run over time.Keep your coils on your refrigerator clean,vacuum dust and dirt off them this will keep food cooler an it will run more efficiently.Washer an dryer don’t overload them to save time it will cause damage to motors ,belts and other moving parts that get expensive.Dryers keep your lint filter clean after every load,keep your vent clean on the roof,a clogged vent will burn your heating element out.Dishwashers keep the screen clean,if your dishwasher has a filtering screen under the bottom spray arm,clean it regularly.If you don’t the food particles degrade into slime that blocks water flow and reduces cleaning performance.These are some tips on keeping your appliances running more efficiently with less repairs.
by Joe Main | Oct 9, 2015 | Uncategorized
Due to an aging power grid,blackouts are more common than they used to be.And things won’t get better anytime soon .So here are some tips to survive an electrical outage.When the power grid goes down, your city water my soon follow.Fill up buckets and bottles .But most drains are not all that tight, and in a few hours all that precious water may be gone.Seal the drain of the tub with duct tape and fill with water.A power inverter, which turns DC current from your car into AC current will come in handy,the inverter can recharge small units such as your computer or your cell phone ect. they make lager ones to power a fridge.LED flashlights will come in handy they allow batteries to last much longer, about six to ten times as long.Filling of your propane tank for your grill will help for cooking food in the fridge and freezer. When the power grid sputters back on ,it could probably create power surges, which can damage sensitive electronics in your TVs,computers and appliances.So unplug any thing that contains electronic components.If you use a generator,check the manual .Most inexpensive models churn out dirty power that can harm electronics.To get heat during outages people crank up fireplaces, gas stoves and all types of heaters,anything that burns produces carbon monoxide.So having a battery powered CO detector would be a great asset in a blackout.Power outages also will stop your well from working so keep buckets of water on hand to flush your toilet.These are some tips when the time comes in surviving a blackout.
