Your safety, your family’s safety is of the utmost importance. You need to be sure that the home you live in and provide for them is safe in all ways. 

Ten signs you might need professional help

• Electrical surges happening regularly – Electrical surges are not completely unusual. During storms, if a power line is damaged by a tree branch, if you have a faulty appliance, these things can cause surges. But if you are experiencing them regularly this is worrying. Not only is it a fire risk and a risk to your home and you, but it could also indicate a number of issues and could cause further electrical damage. A professional electrician should be consulted.  
• Plugs not staying in the sockets – If you are having problems with your electrical equipment not staying plugged in, this is likely a problem with worn contacts in the socket. When this happens they stop gripping the prongs of the plug so when you push it into the socket, it hangs or slides out. This is a fire risk and the solution is to replace the old sockets. This is something you can do yourself or you can bring in an electrician. 
• Problems with the light switches – It might be dimmer switches that are not actually turning the light down or up as it used to. It might be switches that do not seem to do anything at all! Sometimes it is because of poor workmanship from past work done, or sometimes there might have developed a fault in the wiring or outlet at some point.    
• An overloaded circuit breaker – Does your circuit breaker trip often? Is it when you are turning on something high powered like a hairdryer or a kettle or microwave? Sometimes you can just adjust how you are using that item, so use the hairdryer on the lower-powered setting. You could limit what you plug into that circuit. Don’t put in your phone charger there. Spread your needs.    
• A problem with frequent electrical shocks – Electrical shocks can vary in intensity and are not something to ignore if they are happening often. Speak with an electrician and be sure to describe to them where the shocks are happening.  
• Not enough plug sockets – This is a problem a lot of people face as more and more appliances and devices require electrical power. People turn to extension chords and such but often end up overloading some of their outlets. This is also a fire risk. Have an electrician come and put in some outlets for you!   
• Replacing light-bulbs too often – Do you find yourself having to change your light-bulbs more than you ever had to before? The wattage might be too much, it might be from bad wiring and so on. It is a tricky one to narrow down if you are not a professional electrician, so call one in.
• Some lights are too dim and some are too bright – You might have some lights that are overly bright and some that are not bright enough. This is another issue an electrician would need to check out.  

• Lights flickering when it’s windy outside – When you have lights flickering because of the weather this could be a case of frayed wiring. This should not be ignored as it is a high risk for causing a fire.  
• The energy bill is too high – Most people are happy to lower their energy bill. Moving to energy-efficient appliances, unplugging at the end of the day, maintaining your electrical system properly are all things that can help that.