Your switchboard’s health is crucial to your home’s safety from electrical hazards. It’s a core electrical element connecting and distributing electricity around your house. Outdated electrical switchboards can be dangerous because their fuses may be seated incorrectly, causing hotspots and electrical arcing that can travel through the entire wiring system. This may result in damaged electrical appliances and pose a significant fire risk.
Switchboards are located in invisible parts of the house. If a spark or flame starts in a faulty system, it will spread quickly, damaging property and threatening lives. Obsolete switchboards can also trigger switches too often and may have loose wires, increasing the risk of electrocution. However, updating it can help solve these issues. This article discusses eight reasons to upgrade your switchboard.
1. Enhance electrical safety
Outdated electrical switchboards are hazardous because of their wiring abnormalities. Most have wiring that can’t be approved today due to the high risk of shorting, sparking, and causing fires. Their connections may cause heat build-up in fuse and switch terminals, leading to a fire risk. Obsolete switchboards have old insulation, which upon deterioration, exposes electrical wires.
They don’t have the residual current device (RCD), which senses when people are getting electrical shocks to disconnect the circuits immediately. An updated switchboard comes with a safety switch, RCD, that saves lives by shutting off before possible electrocution can happen. Since electrical safety requirements have changed over the years, upgrading yours helps you meet them.
2. Cope with changing power demands
The continuous advancement of technology has resulted in manufacturing more electrical appliances and devices used in homes and businesses today, calling for increased power demands. If more power is drawn from your switchboard, electrical overloading occurs, causing fires and other issues. Additionally, electrical circuits are meant to handle limited electricity.
Modern switchboards have circuit breakers to stop power from exceeding the set limit. If your usage exceeds the normal circuitry capacity, it can easily trigger an overload. An outdated switchboard can cope with a modern home’s electricity needs which may cause short circuits, appliance damage, fires, and flickering light bulbs.
3. Save money
Old switchboards are usually less efficient, meaning they can waste much energy, increasing your energy bill. They might also have high maintenance costs as they are more prone to problems, leading to more call-outs. Upgraded switchboards have circuit breakers and residual current devices to reduce the need for calling in electricians for things that need to be updated in older boards. Newer switchboards are more energy-efficient, helping reduce your monthly power bill expenses.
4. Comply with electrical standards
The government and other relevant bodies usually set minimum safety levels and electrical standards for all homes and building owners to adhere to. This ensures their electrical systems can cope with the power usage demands that modern households subject their switchboards to with the high need for technology and appliances.
The set electrical standards have crucial requirements for your switchboard, including all the lighting and power switches having safety features for shutting down when the system is overloaded. This prevents electrical faults from threatening your property.
5. Your fuses are blowing
If you’ve noticed that your fuses are constantly blowing or melting, consider a switchboard upgrade the soonest possible. Outdated style fuses like ceramic ones aren’t meant to cope with loads that most modern appliances and devices put on them, causing them to blow up or melt under pressure. Ceramic fuses offer limited protection to your home and none to you from electrocution. If your fuses are constantly melting or blowing, it could pose a safety risk. Consider replacing them with the latest safety switches to enhance safety while lessening the fire risk.
6. Get rid of panels with asbestos
Most old switchboards have backing panels made of asbestos. Using these materials means electricians can’t drill into the system for repairs because of the dangers of asbestos becoming airborne and possibly entering the lungs. Older switchboards with asbestos need certified electricians to remove them and install a new backing panel.
7. Handle flickering lights
Various things may result in flickering lights, including faulty light bulbs, overloaded circuits, random power surges from the grid, or the switchboard. Older switchboards can’t sometimes regulate a constant electricity flow. Consider looking out for dropped circuits, overcrowded switchboard wiring, and blackened or melted fuses to determine the cause of flickering lights. Upgrading your switchboard can help solve this issue.
8. Prevent electrical fires
Most house fires result from electrical fires. Updating your switchboard enables you to prevent the risk of these fires. If your switchboard is older, there could be overcrowding of fuses which may loosen over time, causing wire faults and electrical fires. Drawn-down power from modern appliances on your aging electrical system means you’ll require more capacity in your switchboard to avoid blown fuses and high protection levels. Upgraded switchboards have circuits with RCDs that trip to cut off all power upon detecting a fault from your appliances and electrical wiring.
Endnote
Updated switchboards are an excellent way to prevent most electrical hazards. Consider upgrading your switchboard to enjoy these benefits.
